Aerial Acoustics Owners Thread - Page 3

Very good questions but hard to answer. You're at least comparing ProAc which makes very good speakers with Aerials which are also very good. I've heard the ProAc once a long time ago. It was just as you described with the sound being very neutral. I have not heard any of the new Aerial speakers but know what my Aerial 7's sound like along with the older discontinued 8B's and 10T's. The 7's, 8B's and 10T's are on the slightly warmer side of the fence. I'm not sure what you prefer. Many times in highend audio it's a matter of synergy between all the components. One or more of the components or cables being too warm or bright can make things sound wrong or not enough power will make the music sound slow since the woofer will have a harder time keeping up to dynamic music. If you are using for home theater, I would strongly recommend Aerial. Aerial has some of the best speakers for doing both music and movies especially the two center channels in their line up. You really need good power to drive Aerial speakers. I'm not sure how sensitive ProAc speakers are. IMO, Aerials really need 200+ watts of power that easily can double into 4 ohms to really make the speakers open up and sing.

I'm not sure if all the above helped much or not. You can check out Soundstage (I believe Soundstage.com). They review products with one reviewer being a real upper end ProAc fan with owning a pair in his own system even though I don't believe they've ever reviewed Aerial speakers. It seems Aerial speakers kind of sell themselves when folks hear them in a store.

Oh, the soundstage of the Aerials is one thing that I love the most. It throws a huge sound stage so if that is important, you'll love Aerials. I haven't heard ProAc to know if they produce as big a sound stage or not but the one ProAc speaker didn't throw as big a sound stage as my 7's but that was a long time ago. I've gone out and listened to speakers that have received rave reviews in magazines only to find out the reviewer likes a small, highly detailed sound stage where they can pick this or that sound out. I hated some of these type of speakers myself since I obvioulsy love a big sound stage. I want to feel like the band is right in front of me.

I'm thinking about picking up either the McIntosh 3x 402's or 2x 501's + 205 to go with my Aerials (9's, CC5, SR3's, 7b's), or possibly the BAT VK-6200, or the Levinson 2x 433's, or the Simaudio Titan 5-channel + W8's. Anyone out there who has experienced these pairings?

I believe we need more information regarding your setup.....what amp and preamp are you using?

guys, i know i will be hanged for this. anyways, i am about to start my dedicated HT project. My big concern right now is that I have my Aerials in the box for 3 yrs or so. will the speaker cone or rubber surround become brittle since i have not used the speakers for a long time?

I have an LR5 and CC5 and looking for 2 pairs of SR3 on the used market but it seems it is hard to find SR3's in the used market.

does anybody here have a complete 7.1 all aerial set up? what speakers do you use for side and back surrounds? i am planning to get 2 pairs of SR3's to do the surround duties.

I had some Paradigm Studio 100's/40/20's in storage around the same amount of time and never had a problem with what you describe. I think if the speakers were in a climate controlled environment you will be fine.

yup, they are in my media room which is temp controlled 24/7.

When you fire them up you might want to be gentle and play some Barry Manalow for a few hours until they break in again!!

I am using a 5.1 Aerial surround set-up and couldn't be happier. Aerial 7Bs, CC3B, SR3 as sides, and a JL Audio Fathom F113 subwoofer. I find the SR3s in dipole mode installed 5 feet off the ground and directly to the sides of the seating area provide a very spacious surround sound and I have not felt the need for rear speakers in a 7.1 set-up. It comes down to room size, seating area and user preference. I think you may be better off using direct radiating speakers, such as another pair of LR5s or LR3s in the back if you want to localize sounds coming directly behind you or if you are going to be listening to multichannel music recordings. I would email or call Aerial and find out what the recommend. They have been very helpful to me.

Funny, I always heard that playing Barry Manalow was what broke speakers

I don't want to go off topic with this thread (guess I am though) but I once read somewhere on the net where there was a mall area where undesirable types would hang out. To get rid of these undesirables, security began piping Barry Manalow music through the outdoor sound system and the hooligans deserted the place never to be seen or heard from again.

Back to Aerial..Some of the best speakers in the world...

I don't know if you can use more 7B's....I have a set for sale over in the classified section. $1350 including new Sound Anchor stands. These are new, dealer-demo speakers with minor shipping damage. (Someone has made an offer on the stands, so I could also sell the speakers separately for less.)

(I hope this information is okay to post in this section.)

I have SR3's for sides and 7b's for rears.

A little late to the discussion, but I thought I'd share my set up.

I am currently running 5.1, in anticipation of going to 7.1 (or maybe .2). I have a pair of Model 6s as my front left/right, a CC5, a pair of SR3s for side surrounds, and an SW12. My plan is to purchase the Model 9s for front LR and move the 6s to the rear when I can swing it.

I have an Anthem D1 with P5 and P2 amplifiers driving everything, although the P2 sits idle waiting for the 9s :-(

Cheers,

Tom

Just demoed the LR5's with the P5 and wasn't impressed. Dialog wasn't as smooth as I was told these speakers should sound and mid bass wasn't as tight as anticipated. Going back to hear them on the Bat 6200 tomorrow. Hope that brings them to the level I expect since I was set on buying them for my home theater room.

That really sounds strange. What was the audition room like? Treated room? What was the source material? DVD? 5.1? I can't speak for the LR5's, but the CC5 has been described as the best center channel available by many and presented natural and very smooth dialog during my evaluations. The 7B's and 9's are as tight in the mid-bass as any speaker I've heard in the price range. Again, I've not heard the LR5's, but have been told by AA staff that most of the execs prefer and use the LR5's (with subs) for their home systems.

I hope tomorrow's audition goes better for you.

Glad to say that the different amp and processor made a big difference. I was impressed by how much better the system sounded and could tell that if even better equipment was used like Mac mono blocks it could sound even better. I have learned in these two demos that Anthem gear is not for me.

I wonder if any of you AA owners are thinking of up- or down-grading and are looking to sell a CC3. I find myself in need of one, and would prefer the 'B' model cherry or black. But I'm flexible.

Mudslide, Forget the CC3 and go with the CC5! I'm selling mine, PM me for a special price... Buy my 9's and CC5 and get an even special-er price!

Fugue, you ought to be a salesman (if you're not, lol).

No, I don't even really have room for a CC3 much less the CC5. I also don't have the extra grand it would cost me for the CC5! (That's reserved for the amp I'll need to drive these dudes.)

I know what a great speaker it is, and would love to own one. But unless you can sell if for a used CC3 price, I'm S.O.L.

Hello to all, I'm looking to get an audition of the 7B and 9 in the last 2 weeks of July. I'm trying to get an audition near Orlando. System is in the slow upgrade mode and will be combined HT and 2-channel. I'm working on the 2-channel side for now.

Question: wondering if Odyssey Extreme monoblocks will be sufficient for driving either? (I hope so) I've also got a Candela tube pre. Current speakers are 1989 Klipsch Forte IIs with upgraded Bob Crites crossovers and titanium tweeter diaphgrams.

Any comments greatly appreciated.
Thanks
golf

You will be fine. However, the model 9's are significantly more efficient than the 7's, 90db in comparison to 86db

When I listened to the 6,they were using a 100 watt Rotel and when I went back to listen a second time I had them switch to a CJ MV60 ( 60 watt tubes). They were fine with both so,whatever that's worth

The 7B's are a tough load on squeamish power supplies, but as rydenfan said, the Model 9 is less so. This is from Stereophile....

The 7B's estimated sensitivity was a little lower than specified, at 84.4dB(B)/2.83V/m, probably due to a lack of energy in the low treble. Its plot of impedance magnitude and phase against frequency revealed the 7B to be a moderately demanding load, with a nominal value in the midrange and bass closer to 4 ohms than the specified 6 ohms. The speaker is basically an 8 ohm design in the treble, however. The saddle in the magnitude trace at 25Hz reveals the tuning frequency of the 3"-diameter port.



Fig....Aerial 7B, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)

It's time to dig this thread out of the dust bunnies. Where's the Aerial love?!!!

I'm still looking for a cherry CC3 and/or a pair of cherry 5B's. Anyone selling?

I'm sure the love for Aerials is there but for some odd reason, Aerial owners definitely appear more reluctant to talk about their speakers, like EVERYBODY else and their brother does.
This is quite evident to me from comparing the size of the threads of speakers by the likes of Revel, B&W, Paradigm, Focal and just about anything else for that matter to this one. Myself, I just don't get it!

As to your quest for the particular Aerials that you're looking for used.
I'm willing to bet if you called Craig Shumer of theatermax.com that he could get you these for not that much more then their used price, for brand new ones.
He's the first call I made after failing 4 times to acquire a used CC5 on A'gon and I'm really happy that I failed so miserably.
Give it a shot, you've got nothing to lose.

Craig can be reached at 732-616-1010
A very nice guy in person as well.

Good Luck

Wow...thanks BigBro! He sounds like a good resource. I'll definitely give him a shout this week.

It is a little strange about the lack of activity on the Aerial owners thread...but I guess given their price, it would be expected. When you look at the more affordable speaker brands, they rack up the posts. You don't see much in the way of comparable priced speaker threads, either...say Sonus Faber, Vienna Acoustics, etc.

I am loving my 7B fronts, CC3B center, SR3 surrounds with JL Audio F113 subwoofer. Just added the stands for the 7Bs and cobbled together the money to replace the grills on my SR3s (speakers purchased used on audiogon, could not get the white grills clean, replaced with brand new black grills). My understanding is there is a replacement on the way for the LR3s and CC3B, and my guess is a replacement for the 7B cannot be far behind (they are now only available in black- I am glad I bought my pair of rosenut 7Bs when I did!)