Mini Maestro: Sonodyne Antara review

“Made in India” long before it became a buzz phrase, Sonodyne has long served the serious audiophile and pro-studio markets. The brand has forayed into Bluetooth wireless speakers, and the Antara is the entry-level in the lineup. Upon first glance, Antara sports a fairly safe, inoffensive design, with a black metal grille across the front of the speaker and an ABS body – in black or white finishes - with IP65 splash resistance for poolside use. It’s small enough to be thrown into a backpack, if the 1.5kg weight isn’t a deterrent.

Playback controls are ensconced within a black rubberized panel on the top, an aesthetic I couldn’t really get behind – unless this speaker is placed in a brightly lit area, you really have to look closely as the controls lack any backlighting whatsoever. While most would use Bluetooth 5,4 to connect with the speaker, you do get connectivity ports around the rear – a USB-A for plugging into a thumb drive to play MP3s (if you still have them around), a 3.5mm aux-in for wired playback and a Type-C port for charging…although a set of LEDs would have been nice to indicate current charge levels. Interestingly, there’s a pre-out port to connect an external subwoofer, a nod to the brand’s legacy in home audio equipment, but most would consider it excessive for a Bluetooth speaker. Handier is the ability to connect two Antaras in ‘Duet Mode’ for a more immersive audio experience.

Peel back the layers and you’ll find two 2.5-inch drivers that work along with two 2.5-inch passive radiators and two 0.5-inch tweeters for a total rated power of 40W and a respectable soundstage for something this size. Used at moderate volumes, the 3,350mAh battery inside is rated for up to 12 hours of use, and charging via the bundled charging adapter takes a little under five hours to juice up the device completely. Music played off the Antara is clear and rich, if a little hamstrung on bass response. Not having a companion app means there is no way to customize the equalization to suit the music you’re playing, but there is inbuilt digital signal processing (DSP) equalization to cut out distortion even at high levels. This is a speaker best suited for personal listening to vocals, classical music or jazz, less so for hip hop or rock, unless of course, you have that sub-woofer handy.

Rating: 7/10

Price: Rs. 13,499