Speakers of HT room ACI

MBurrows ... I could not agree more ... The ACI's are just plain spectacular. Actually, let me re-phrase that. They are just plain neutral, and let the music through naturally.

YOU have a great system ...

Let me chime in here.

I do a lot of business with a local high end store. Everytime I go in there to pick up a processor or an amp or whatever, they always say the same thing. "These things would mate perfect with those Revels in the other room" or "The synergy between that piece and the JM Labs is awesome". I won't deny that their comments aren't correct (they do have some great stuff in this store), but honestly, what I get from my ACI's would rival these setups at half the cost. The store never believes me when I say that I'm totally content because they think I'm cheating myself by pairing really high end gear with "no name" speakers, but I don't need their help to set things up, so they will never hear what I'm hearing...and that's a shame. But the fact of the matter is that I've bought two amps and two processors from these guys in the last 7 years and haven't sniffed a speaker purchase.

ACI followers don't really chime in much on these boards. It's probably because when you have speakers this good, there really isn't much reason to visit the speaker forums. You don't want for much when you have this setup...

Essence Center
Sapphire XL front L/R
Emerald On-Walls for sides
Emeralds for Rear Surround
Maestro Subwoofer

Few members post on this forum requesting ideas on a 5.1 system with a budget of ~$5k, so ACI often is not a fit.

For those with that kind of budget, do yourself a favor and audition their speakers.

Mburrows:

Very cool Thank you for sticking with us for 25 years. The loyalty runs both ways and great folks like you are the reason we're having as much fun now as we did in the early days. We KNOW you'll be enjoying this system for a long time!

Evan:

Very thoughtful and well said for sure. I agree with your observations. Thanks for putting them into such a good read!


Craig and Eric:

Thanks as well for chiming in. You're definitely all invited to the party

Agree with the all of above comments. Have used Mike's Titan sub for three years with great results. Been running B&W 9NT mains for three years with the matching CNT center. The CNT however, lacks the mid-range speaker of the 9NT's. Not a problem with two channel redbook, but the CNT was not a good match with movies and multi-channel music. Only option in the B&W line was to move up to a B&W HTM3S at $2,500.00. More then I wanted to spend for a center.

I know the importance of timber matching speakers and was a little reluctant to go outside of the B&W line. Sent Mike a few e-mails, liked what I heard and ordered a piano black Sapphire XLC. Had a 30 day return policy so I had nothing to lose. Fit and finish are top shelf, looks good under my screen and after only 10 hours is a better match then the CNT with my Krell processor and Cary amp.

If your looking for a sub or center or an entire system, give Mike and ACI a try. Worked for me.

It will only get better! Someday we'll need to get you a matching L-R set.

I have a very dear and longtime friend who has been a home HT installer for a very high buck company here in Minneapolis for many years. The cool thing is, he has never said to me that I should try some of his recemmendations. He has also never recemmended a thing he installs that are huge sellers to me! He just sits down and very much enjoys what he hears from my ACI Panorama's/Maestro's. He politely says, Man, that sounds nice! Those are some fine speakers! And he has said that for the last 20 years!

I've had some experiences similar to the others who've posted. I have a local high-end shop that deals in Classe, Bryston, B&W etc. I've tried buying gear from them for years, but never found the value/performance I was looking for...until recently. I bought the NAD Master Series pre/pro and amp for a great price. The owner asked me what I'd be driving with the stuff and I told him ACI. He said..."yeah...I've heard of those guys.....they just buy drivers and put them in a box....." I won't continue the rest.

I've owned or tried a number of the ACI models: demoed-Sapphire XLC, Panorama; owned-Essence V, Emerald On-wall, Essence, Force, Maestro, Jaguar/LFM.

To be honest, I've never done a side-by-side with my current reference (the Jag/LFM setup), but I do know that I'd have to spend at least twice or maybe even 3 times what I did to get similar performance from something in the shop I mentioned above. This isn't to say that their products aren't good. But when it comes down to the old cost/benefit equation, it becomes very hard to find a better answer than what ACI provides.

Will I always own ACI products?? Who knows....but if I change to something else it will be purely for the experimentation of trying something else or because I have a need for some application that ACI doesn't address....yet!

ACI Or Aerial...??? Hmmm...

I have been reading great reviews on both companies, but I have to wonder what the diferrences in sound quality arfe between the two. I have heard the Aerial and thought that they imaged amazingly and just sounded downright incredible. However, when I read the reviews on ACI speakers, I get the same kind of comments.

Has anyone here listened to both? CAn anyone tell me what the diferrences are between the two brands? (Beside a WHOLE LOT of money?)

Thanks!

Being the proud owner of Panorama R/L and Essence center set-up I can relate to the quality referenced by others in the previous posts. I will be moving and wanted to buy rear and side channel ACI spkrs and their site seems pretty limited vs. what I saw 3 years ago when I purchased from them. I see lots of subs, and no large front speakers and a few smaller ones.....what's up with ACI?

Excellent setup!

I have had the Maestro XL for about 9 months, and it has been a pleasure. All of my friends come over and exclaim "Damn thats a nice endtable! How much did it cost to get that woodwork done!" I quickly have to tell them that that is actually my subwoofer and they don't believe me until I pop in a cd. Their jaws just drop even further as they exclaim that they didn't know that subwoofers could look so nice.

Mike Dzurko does some excellent work!

I love this thread!keep it going its ACI's time on AVS.

You've got a great setup . . . please feel free to email me w/ questions on what we can provide for sides and rears.

What's up with ACI? Too much to tell right now . . . ALL very good. The XL line has just taken off BIG time. One major focus is to fill orders in 1-4 days instead of 1 to 4 weeks like it has been for the last couple years. We've made a lot of progress on this but still a way to go (need ROOM, and yes, a new facility is in the works). We're 30 years old as of Feb. and this looks to be our busiest and best year yet!

Hi...it's nice to be here with my first post!

I have heard both brands, but not ala comparo.

I currently own a pair of older ACI LX's that produce lovely music on the order of much larger and/or expensive speakers. I have also home auditioned a complete set of Proteges. My to-die-for Aerial 7B's were not quite matched by the Proteges, but they came close...at 1/4 the price!

It's really difficult to transcribe the comparable audio of the two brands without a direct A/B test...which I have not done. And the Aerials were driven with top shelf Krell gear, as opposed to lesser amping for the ACI's. But for value, I don't believe you can do much better than ACI's. And I still have a hankering to audition the Sapphires. Maybe if the LX's die ( ). And they get the nod on cabinet looks. The Aerials are so....humble looking (but are loaded with dynamite!).

I was just introduced to ACI through a forum member and was wondering if the ACI b-flats would work as rear and side surrounds for a 7.1 system? Anyone have any experience with these in wall speakers?

Hey Travis:

The short answer is yes Feel froe to PM me, or give us a call with any questions you might have.

Interesting to note that when I looked back through this thread we were still in the old "shop" and now we're in the new facility. Also noted that back then one of our goals was to cut our build and ship time to a few days and for the most part we're now able to do that. The new facility is a HUGE step up for us and our ability to get product built/tested and shipped in a timely manner.