UNCOMPROMISED REALISM
It was back in 2011 when Ivo bought a new set of high-end loudspeakers, expected to be blown away by the improvements made since he bought his prior pair, almost ten years earlier. The same brand now had a newly developed model at a higher price point. To his unbelief, there had been zero improvements. No matter which room and setup he tried, including the same as before, it was impossible to get even the slightest feeling of achieving a better musical experience. Some small aspects got improved while others deteriorated. Different? Sure. Better overall? Not at all. After spending a hefty sum, the goal of getting closer to the experience of being present at the live performance, now seemed as far away as ever before.
What was going on? Visiting different venues, high end-audio shows, cost-no-object systems and the works of favored recording studios, he started to link things together. His unique mind, being able to think on many levels simultaneously, combined with his natural thirst to understand the core working principles of the physical world, made him take a deep-dive into the world of high-end audio, acoustics and more specifically: loudspeaker design. A spark turned into a flame, which turned into an inferno, which ultimately became a clear and unavoidable destiny of life.
COMPANY ORIGINS
IVO SPARIDAENS
Founder and Chief Technologist
IVO SPARIDAENS & PAUL RASSIN
Together at Mono & Stereo, 2019
CORE TEAM
Prior to that spark, Ivo was optimizing industrial plants for Royal Dutch Shell during the day, and a music producer in his spare time. With a post-master in Tribology and a history in racing (preparing engines and being part of a rally-team), he had accumulated understanding of friction, vibration and material sciences, combined with a hands-on build and test mentality. A special skillset that would prove very useful later. As soon as his lifelong friend Paul (a friendship once started by a shared hobby of making/producing music, way back in middle school) learned about the newly lit passion, he soon joined him, putting his marketing and organization skills into the mix.
Aequo was born, and its direction was clear from the start. The focus was on the most important factor in loudspeaker performance for both Ivo and Paul: realism. The more real the music sounded, the better the emotional impact and the more they felt like being present at the actual performance. To take a leap forward in realism, that was the clear goal. Hence the name ‘Aequo Audio’, which is Latin for ‘I hear the same’. The same as the listening spectator at the best seat in the venue would experience. The same as the musician intended it to be. The same as the recording engineers wanted you to hear it, and the same that only the best of the best high-end loudspeakers could make possible: uncompromised realism.
Soon Ivo discovered that realism was one of the hardest things to achieve. Everything needed to be just right, up to the smallest technical and acoustical detail; only with a deep understanding of the physics behind every aspect of the design and a building quality of the absolute highest standards, could it be done. Many high-end loudspeaker systems shined in some aspects, while compromising on others. None of them got it all right, no matter the size or price. Ivo therefore developed a design philosophy that rigorously assessed the impact of every design choice reflected back on the whole. A holistic approach focused on continuously eliminating the weakest-link. Paul and Ivo called it the Octagon Philosophy, and adapted the octagon shape in their company logo.
A CLEAR DIRECTION
First breakthroughs included the low-frequency Analog Room and Placement Extension Controller (ARPEC™, 2013), which made adjusting bass in any room possible while staying fully in the analog domain. Second was a high-frequency Enhanced Horizontal Dispersion Lens (EHDL™, 2014) system, greatly improving the holographic soundstage capabilities.
Developments together with the Skaaning family (known from founding Scan-Speak, Dynaudio etc.) of a midrange driver that combined lightning-fast motor movement with highly natural non-ringing membranes, completed the 3-way driver set of the first loudspeaker called ‘Ensis’ by the end of 2015. It got such positive reception that it enabled Ivo to fully focus on nothing else but loudspeaker design.
INNOVATION
THE FIRST SPEAKER: ENSIS
As a business, Aequo Audio with Paul at the organizational center of a growing team of passionate specialists, accelerated its growth especially after the successful ‘Stilla’ speaker arrived in 2018, often referenced as ‘the little giant’ due to its compact size but huge performance. Praised without exceptions by reviewers, dealers and consumers, Stilla won many awards and best-of-show achievements, attracting distribution and dealer partners worldwide. This enabled Aequo in 2023 to build and move to a new, advanced and high-tech 1.300m²/14,000 sq. ft factory.
GROWTH
SECOND SPEAKER: STILLA
Meanwhile, Ivo continued on the path of eliminating weaknesses, and it eventually led him diving into the depths of the Nano composite world. It was in these realms that he would invent a material technology so unique, that it has completely changed the way Aequo built their loudspeakers. It sets them apart from the rest in the high-end playing field.
Among many other Nanotech materials, he developed a castable material that is extremely hard to get into vibration to begin with, and even when it does, it immediately turns vibration into heat. It pushed the natural boundaries of what is physically possible, being the first material in the world able to eliminate any resonance as measured anywhere from 0,1 to 100.000 Hz at such consistency, in and beyond the audio band (the bandwidth far beyond the human-audible spectrum still helps to prohibit harmful effects trickling up and down into the audio band).
THE BIG LEAP FORWARD
Next to the superb acoustic qualities, the material (Diluvite MMC™) also brought the freedom of 3D shaping to new heights. It enabled a truly ‘form follows function’ design method so many loudspeaker designers rave about, but very few actually have the luxury to implement. Starting the design with an optimal acoustic shape and perfect driver time alignment, working back without making compromises, Ivo ended up with very complex organic shapes, ultra-low baffle diffraction and acoustic/phase/distortion/dynamic linearity levels like never seen before.
This is just how nature wanted it to be, and luckily for Ivo, nature seems to like beauty. The effect on musical realism? A paradigm-shifting impact on the emotional message delivered and a very real and palpable holographic soundstage.
COMPLEX DESIGN
The Diluvite family of Nanotech materials was both the end of a long journey as it is the beginning of a new one. With the first implementation on two speakers coming out in 2025, Adamantis and Ensium, the gift to audiophiles and all those with music close to the heart is a fact.
Relentless R&D is embedded in the DNA of Aequo; Ivo and his team will always be driven towards progress. Many more Diluvite-enhanced projects and products will follow in the future, each pushing boundaries of what is achievable in music reproduction. Several groundbreaking ideas are waiting to receive time, energy, and let’s be honest: funding. Pushing boundaries is an expensive exercise, but the result is a leading position at the forefront of innovation. Just where Aequo is destined to be.
A NEW BEGINNING
The mission? Build loudspeakers that have an incredible emotional impact, able to create a very real and palpable holographic soundstage, with beyond-wall stretching musical bliss and realism, removing the slightest awareness of the actual audio system and fully transporting the listener to the best spot in the musical venue.
Very different from that time in 2011 when Ivo bought his new pair of speakers, that highly anticipated huge leap forward is now available for all people around the world sharing Aequo Audio’s passion for uncompromised realism!
UNCOMPROMISED REALISM