Audiovector has introduced the R5 Arreté, a new high-end floorstanding speaker that borrows several ideas from the company’s much larger R10 Arreté flagship, but puts them into a smaller and more living-room-friendly design.
That does not mean this is suddenly an affordable speaker. The R5 Arreté is still very much a premium product, as it lands at £17,950 / €19,950 / $24,500 per pair with availability expected from July 2026. But it does give Audiovector another option between its smaller R3 and larger R6 models, which could make it interesting for listeners who want a serious full-range speaker without moving all the way up to the company’s biggest designs.
At its core, the R5 Arreté is a 3.5-way floorstanding speaker with bottom-mounted bass reflex loading. If that sounds a little too technical, the basic idea is simple: not every driver in the speaker is doing the same job.
Audiovector uses two bass drivers with different roles. One covers a broader bass range, while the other focuses more on the deepest low frequencies. That helps the speaker handle bass output without asking the midrange driver to do too much at once. In theory, that should make it easier for vocals, guitars, piano, and dialogue-heavy content to stay clear when the music gets busier.
The R5 Arreté uses 6.5-inch AFC carbon sandwich drivers for the bass, lower midrange, and midrange sections. For the treble, Audiovector uses its latest Air Motion Transformer tweeter, based on the design principle introduced by Dr. Oskar Heil. The tweeter is specified from 2,800Hz to 53kHz, which goes well beyond what humans can actually hear. The more practical point is that AMT tweeters are often used for their speed, detail, and low distortion in the audible treble range.
Here are the key specs:
On paper, the R5 Arreté does not look especially difficult to drive. The 90dB sensitivity is reasonably amplifier-friendly, and the average impedance is listed at 8 ohms. Still, that 3.6-ohm minimum impedance suggests this is a speaker that will be happier with a capable amplifier rather than a basic entry-level integrated amp.
Audiovector has also included several of its familiar in-house technologies. One of them is the company’s Soundstage Enhancement Concept, which is designed to manage the energy coming from the rear of the speaker in a more controlled way. The goal is to help with depth, imaging, and the sense of space between the speakers.
The R5 Arreté also uses Audiovector’s second-generation Freedom Grounding system. This is designed to route unwanted currents away from the speaker and reduce noise. As with many high-end speaker technologies, the real-world effect will depend on the rest of the system and the room, but it is part of Audiovector’s broader approach to controlling unwanted vibration and electrical interference.
One practical feature that stands out is the speaker’s three-position damping adjustment. This allows the R5 Arreté to be better matched with different amplifier types, including standard transistor amps, high-power transistor amps, and valve amplifiers. That is useful because high-end systems can vary wildly, and a speaker that behaves well with one amplifier might not be an ideal match with another.
The cabinet is also a big part of the story. Audiovector says the R5 Arreté is designed, engineered, and hand-built in Denmark. The speaker uses a high-density wood cabinet and a narrow front baffle, which is meant to reduce edge diffraction. In simpler terms, the cabinet shape is designed to help sound leave the speaker more cleanly, instead of bouncing around the front edges and affecting the stereo image.
The new Arreté plinth includes precision-milled spikes and an integrated decoupling system, both intended to reduce unwanted vibration. Again, this is the kind of detail you expect at this level. It is not just about the drivers. It is also about keeping the cabinet, floor, and speaker structure from getting in the way.
Finish options include:
A black cloth grille is included, and custom piano finishes are available by request.
The R5 Arreté is clearly not aimed at casual buyers. This is a speaker for people building a serious two-channel system, or possibly a very high-end home theater where the front left and right speakers need to carry real weight on their own.
What makes it interesting is where it sits in Audiovector’s lineup. It brings some of the company’s flagship R10 thinking into a smaller and less expensive speaker, while still offering deep bass, an AMT tweeter, adjustable damping, and a carefully built Danish cabinet.
For buyers shopping in this price range, the R5 Arreté will likely be compared with other premium floorstanders from brands such as Dynaudio, Focal, Bowers & Wilkins, Sonus faber, and Wilson Benesch. The question is not whether it is cheap, because it obviously is not. The better question is whether Audiovector’s mix of adjustability, room-friendly sizing, and trickle-down flagship tech makes sense for the system and room it is going into.
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