Aphelia 8

2-way standmount natural Hoop Pine plywood Australian made SpectraFlora Aphelia 8 HiFi loudspeaker with Dynamic Waveguide horn, and a grey Seas Excel 8-inch graphene magnesium midbass driver with copper phase plug in a sealed speaker enclosure.

The Aphelia 8 is a standmount/bookshelf loudspeaker based around the Dynamic Waveguide and graphene coated magnesium driver of our flagship Celata 88, but in a smaller form suited to smaller rooms. The woofer is 8-inches and the Dynamic Waveguide was redesigned to match the smaller size of the Aphelia 8 cabinet. The cabinet is sealed, as opposed to more common ported designs, to maximise timing accuracy in the bass frequencies. Additionally, the cabinet is heavily stuffed with Victorian sheep’s wool to damp sound from the back of the woofer and prevent it from radiating back through the woofer to the listener.

The result is extreme vocal intelligibility and realism against backgrounds of crystal-clear instruments and non-obtrusive, accurate bass.

Aphelia: 1) A genus of small grasses native to Australia. 2) The Greek goddess of a positive return to simplicity.

Aphelia 8 features

  • 2-way, standmount or bookshelf passive speakers. By using a passive design, you can be sure that the speakers will not become obsolete as amplifier and connectivity technologies improve.

  • Made from responsibly sourced Australian timber species grown and processed or reclaimed and recycled in Australia.

  • Finishing options: natural clear finish or finished according to designs by you or your interior designer in consultation with us.

  • The patent pending Dynamic Waveguide design combines a cutting-edge waveguide profile in the horizontal dimension with a traditional horn profile in the vertical dimension. The result is the dynamics and intimate sound of a horn, but without horn honk colouration, combined with transparency and even horizontal sound distribution. That means instrumental and vocal timbres stay true from wall reflections even in reverberant rooms.

  • The graphene coated magnesium 8-inch woofer remains pistonic across its range. It is critically damped in the wool-stuffed sealed cabinet so it doesn’t overshoot or ring. The result is detailed, time-accurate bass, and crystal clear, lifelike vocals and instruments.

  • The crossover is as simple as possible to get out of the way of the music. There are no capacitors in the signal path of the woofer. All inductors are aircore, the capacitors for the Dynamic Waveguide are copper and aluminium foil, all capacitors are bypassed with foil capacitors.

  • Matching speaker stands are available.

A wooden sideboard with vintage speakers and audio equipment, decorative flowers in a vase, and a brick wall background.
A wooden speaker and a vintage-style decorative plaque are on a wooden table in a living room with curtains and a sofa in the background.
A wooden speaker on a stand near a window with sheer curtains, a blurred potted plant on a striped table, and an outdoor landscape with fields and trees in the background.
A wooden bookshelf speaker with a large speaker cone and a black grill, and a vintage tube amplifier with glass tubes and control knobs, on a wooden table against a brick wall background.

Technical Specifications

  • Dimensions including the Dynamic Waveguide: 310 mm x 512 mm x 395 mm, WxHxD

  • Weight: 20 kg each

  • 24 mm Hoop Pine plywood with 44 mm front baffle.

  • Impedance: nominal 6 ohms, minimum 4.4 ohms at 300 Hz

  • Frequency range: 44 Hz (-3 dB) to 20 kHz

  • Sensitivity: 85 dB (1 m, 2.83 V)

  • Maximum power: 200 W peak, meaning very brief transients; equivalent to 35 V at 6 ohms.

  • Crossover point: 2000 Hz

  • Drivers: One 8-inch woofer; one 19 mm exit compression driver with annular polymer diaphragm.

  • Gold-plated, solid-copper binding posts.

  • Recommended amplifiers: >40 W tube; >70 W solid state class A or A/B. Some high-end class D amplifiers might be suitable.