Aerial Acoustics Owners Thread - Page 25

cb450R,

Amps, preamps, speakers are all personal decisions. Money is the other factor. For a long time I used B&K amps, Reference 3220 and 2200, which served me well. However you are buying high end speakers which IMHO deserve great amps, and ideally that perform at the same high level that these speakers achieve. Monoblocks would be ideal but obviously not required. You can go two routes; buy the Emotive and if at a later date you want to take your system to the next level then upgrade them. Or skip the in between step.

I can tell you from my personal experience that I was very happy with my Aerial 7B's with my B&K amps, but when I hooked up my new McIntosh amps it took my 7B's to awhole new level!

For me personally if budget is a issue I would hold off on buying the expensive cables and other things that you may want in your system and buy one quality piece at a time which is what you have done with the Aerial 7T's.

I would say in order of importance is: speakers, amps, then preamps. Cables and such I will leave for a different discussion.

There is really no wrong way to go as you can always sell something down the road... if you have your heart set on this Emotive amp go for it...

Good luck!

Jim

McIntosh MC601 Monoblocks X 3 for L/C/R and MC452 for the surrounds... ie 600 watts for each front speaker L/C/R, and 450 watts for each surround speaker....

[quote=cb450r;21825029] I really liked the way they sounded on the Nemo electrocompaniet amps the first time I heard them but the entire front end was uber expensive, all top end transparent cable from the wall plate to the amp on every component. And then with the electrocompaniet CD player and pre amp from their classic line. All of these are pretty much out of my budget though and I really broke the bank with the aerials.


cb450r,

I have to admit I had never heard of Nemo Electrocompaniet amps so you got me to look them up and read a review from Sterophile magazine.

http://www.stereophile.com/solidpowe...tro/index.html

A great review and sounds like a great amp, but according to the article if it had one small weak spot it was in the mid range performance. But I guess my point was Michael Kelly put his 7T's on demo for all to hear with a very high quality amplifier. But at just under 15K it should be great and as you said it is definitely not cheap....

The cool part about Emotive amps if I read correctly on your previous thread is that you get a trial period. My feeling is that will probably do a descent job, but obviously will not give you the same performance as the Nemo. But here comes the big word which is budget which almost all of us have to deal with especially when it deals with me.

As I said you can not go wrong which ever route you go, but just do your homework and do not forget places like Audiogon which may have a Theta, Krell, McIntosh or other great amps that may fit your budget and may or may not work as well with those awesome 7T's!

Best of luck...

Jim

Try the para sound amps, some used Aragon 4004 ii are very budget friendly and are incredible amps. They are in the 600 range..ii believe those are early Krell design. I had a pair they they were great. They can hold you over for a few more years before you decide to upgrade. The proceed hpa 3 And hpa 2 come on the market from time to time and are wonderful in the 1600 area. Not sure the types of cables you use but keep that in mind and they can increase the listening experience. I moved from dh lab silver sonics t-14 to acoustic zen satori , to cardas clear light. If I had to do it again, I would use the acoustics zen for the more solid state amps and cardas clear for sim audio and other tube amps. Synergy with cable and amps are very important. The vendor uses transparent but they are way too expensive for me. If you do 2 channel, a front end tube preamp is a great choice. Michael Kelly uses this in his personal setup. He can provide more options.

Thanks guys, I just want to get the amp right as I know I got the speakers right. I was looking at the new parasound HALO A21 and its right in that 2k butter zone.
I do have a local dealer (not the same one that I'm getting the aerials from) that has them on hand and I actually demoed this amp on a pair of maggies so I might be able to try it on my 7t's before making a decision. I guess Michael is only a phone call away and maybe he could give me a great suggestion or some insight on what sounds best with this great speaker.

Excellent idea! MK has been a big help for me and has always given me great sound advice!

Cheers

Great choice..... With the 7t

Just a quick question, Has anyone had a chance to compare the model 9 to the 7t? Which is superior? what kind of sonic differences separate the two? Which did you prefer in terms of sound,space, & imagining?

If you can not find an answer here or demo the two side by side call Michael Kelly and ask him... Better yet try all of the above...

Good luck,

Jim

There are three Aerial's speakers on Stereophile recommended list... I do not believe the 9's are on that list...

Hi Everyone,

First time posting to this thread but have enjoyed reading through everyone's comments.

I'm just switching from a Martin Logan setup to Aerials and have the following setup:

Mains: LR3's on 30 in high custom cabinet (rests on top of cabinet with rears near wall and I have seting at "0")...
Center: CC3B with left dial at "0" and right dial at "+"
Rears: ML monopoles soon to change
Sub: JL F112

Pre: Anthem MRX 300
Amp: Bryston 9B-ST

Speaker Cables: Signal Cable Ultra's single wire

Could you give some advice on:

- I ran the ARC setup in the Anthem and Mains and Center have a significant drop off after 10kHZ... They sound very dynamic but also a little laid back. Do I have the knobs dialled in correctly on the front 3?
- I originally got the speaker cables for my ML which err on the bright side so I got the ULtra copper speaker cables... Would I see a difference with a silver stranded speaker cable which seems to be better suited for warmer speakers?

Appreciate any steer.

Thanks,
ejn1

Hi,

Congratulations on the acquisition, and welcome to the great world of Aerial Acoustics ownership!

It's just my opinion, but most folks couldn't tell the difference between either of those speaker cables and lamp cord in a blind test on any set of loudspeakers. You have described your LR3's quite nicely...laid back and dynamic.

The Aerials are generally considered 'warm' loudspeakers. I wonder if you're somewhat accustomed to the etched top end detail that you've been hearing from the ML's. They have a quite different presentation from the Aerials in the treble region. Your front end gear should play quite synergistically with the Aerials.

With regards to your environmental compensation switches, without seeing your exact setup, I'd simply suggest trying all settings (after ARC is run) to determine the sound that best suits your taste, and then just leave them in that setting unless you decide to later move the speakers.

Enjoy your new toys!!

Before I had Aerials I owned Thiel 2.3's & I also noticed a warmer top end. But I found that attribute much more pleasing and I found my listening sessions increased. Less fatigue. On another note Aerials can be real power hogs as an experiment bridge your main channels on the Bryston to your 2 main speakers and play some music you may get a bigger more dynamic sound. Aerials do love lots of power. A cost free experiment.

While bridging can deliver "double" voltage to a load, which can result in more power, it cannot increase the current at all, and doubles the source impedance driving the speaker, hence cutting the damping factor in half. None of that leads to any sonic improvement, unless the original amp is clipping. Which I doubt.

Thanks for the welcome and comments. I do agree with you guys that the Aerial sound is very pleasing to listen to. I agree completely with the "etched" comment on the ML sound which is very different than the Aerials. My amp is no where near clipping but I have heard from the previous owner that the LR3's love bi-wiring. I talked to the owner of Signal Cable and he suggested just to use good quality speaker wire to make my own jumper versus using the supplied brass jumper. This way you can preserve the full guage of the original wire (versus halfing for bi-wire). This is what I'm trying at present. I've thought of using the Anthem's MRX internal amps for the surrounds and then bi-amp the Aerials. I'm not sure the Bryston 9B-ST can do this but I'm going to investigate. The curves from the ARC certainly do seem to support the roll-off of the higher frequencies above 10k HZ which is probably the design objective.

Thanks,
ejn1

If ARC is reading a rolloff >10 kHz, is it being corrected? Or did you limit ARC to a lower cutoff (like the default 5 kHz)? Or is the rolloff so severe that ARC does not attempt to fix it?

If you have the plots handy, could we have a look?

Hi, the version of ARC that comes with the receivers only corrects 5 khz and lower. I was talking with Aerial and they said its natural for a mic 15-20 feet off the mains to show this roll off after 10 khz... Not sure but they sound great so that's all that matters i guess. I'm going to try boosting the mid/treble on the rear knob to +1 to see if I like the sound better.

^^ Ahh, the receiver version. Got it.

I'm not home but I recall doing calibrations with Dirac Live (AP-20) with a good Earthworks mic, and it showed a drop above 10 kHz of several dB in my 7B's. I'll pull them up next week and see what they showed.

I also did some listening to an ML system which was a revelation in microscopic detail. Really addictive. But after a while I felt there was something odd in the treble, that I can only describe with the visual analogy of "white clipping" where the signal is crisp and clear yet certain sounds seem to wash out. Almost some sort of dynamic limitation -- yet no sense of distortion at all. It was a very unfamiliar sensation, and I was glad it did not follow me home.

Roger, Excellent analogy of the ML's... I think it came down to the dynamics for me. They were great for that crispness but always sounded a little thin to me. But I only had the small on wall for the mains (Script-i's) that I'm sure would sound a lot better with floor standing larger panels maybe 4-5 ft off the wall. My wife did like the crispness of the dialog out of the center channel. But for me, you and Mudslide nailed it with your comments.

We Oregonians are really good with nails!

Just for fun I looked at my old notes from my evaluation of the ML Summits that I reviewed a few years ago. I had the same experience as Roger. I found the detail to be really addictive, but at the same time, it bore into me a bit like an unwanted guest...and I blamed it on the etched or ever-so-slightly distorted nature of the treble.

I guess some of us prefer to be around those that are polite. The ML's might just be a tad rude. They were like the really cute girl you met and liked a lot, but that you KNEW you couldn't take home to meet Mom.

As an aside, I use Yamaha's YPAO to EQ my theater setup. Because I have an orphanage ensemble of speakers in the rig, I set the EQ to "flat"...meaning EQ all 11 speakers to best advantage. YPAO boosts the AA 7B's a couple of dB >5k.

Do you guys have any economical recommendations for surrounds? My sofa is against the rear wall (i know not ideal) so dipoles are out and I have used monopole (onwall or inwall) mounted on the sides (above ear level) and pointed at the listening area. I actual like the localization for 5.1 music but movies could do with a little more diffusion. I have been thinking Triad inwalls (used as new are out of price range), or maybe the BW surround with the mono / dipole switch (DS3 maybe?) or a pair of used Revel S30 in monopole mode. I cant put bookshelves on stands or on floor behind sofa due to WAF.

Given my retired status, my 'economical' may be a slight step downward from your 'economical'. That said, I've come to think of Aperion speakers as value laden and having a decent and complimentary sound to Aerials. Voicing is somewhat similar and they share the neutral, slightly laid back, and dynamic style.

With your described seating constraints, I think in-wall would be the way to go. But Roger may be THE MAN when it comes to surround sound theater setup suggestions.

I have three LR3 speakers at the LCR positions in my home theater.

I use M&K SS-150THX as my surrounds, and for my ears, I think they pair nicely. However, they are tripoles, so they may not work for your particular situation.

What I like about the Aperion Versus surrounds is the angled drivers and the switchable di/bipole option. Others do that too, such as Atlantic Technology 2400SR and their in-walls. With a shallow depth to rear-mounted surrounds, these help ensure a direct arrival of HF, plus, if there are side walls, add some envelopment reflections.

So, would the Aperion Versus has the the most similar sound to the Aerials? I am trying to figure out what would work best with the CC3B/7B combo that is relatively reasonable in price.

While I cannot give judgement on the combination of speakers above, I found that Definitive Technology BPVX's blend great as rear and side surrounds with Aerial Model 9's and CC5 center and used Def Tech surrounds can be had for reasonable prices.

MikeSp

I would like to have something very dynamic with the imaging of the Aerials... am I asking too much? lol

I'm about to take delivery of my new LR5's. I've been using a single LR5 for my center speaker for a few years now and I can't wait to complete the set!!

My question now is in regards to a subwoofer. I have a 12 year old velodyne FSR15, but, i can't help but think it is time for a better sub to supplement the LR5's.

I notice that a lot of people on the Aerial Acoustics forum are using the JL F-113 with their systems. Can I conclude from that the performance of Aerial's SW-12 is not up to the level of the F-113?

Just looking for some opinions to help me decide on a sub; maybe two as finances allow. So far the three I am considering are the aerial SW-12, JL F-F113, and the Seaton subversive HP. A concern of mine with the subversive is that I can't help but wonder if it lives up to the hype created by the seaton fan-club here on the forum. It may be the cats meow; if it is then I will strongly consider it. I just have always been skeptical of internet-direct companies.

As far as use goes the sub will be used primarily for HT. I am hoping I will be able to defeat the sub for two channel music listening. Thanks for any comments or experienced comparisons.

Defeating the sub for stereo listening is up to your preamp or processor in how it is set up. You are using audiophile speakers and the Seaton (while extremely potent and a great value) is seldom or never mentioned in audiophile speaker forums while the JL F113 is often mentioned and to me, that speaks volumes. The JL F113 is a true audiophile sub -- it even comes with white gloves, although as heavy as they are, I am uncertain about using the white gloves. Compared to the ported subs, the F113 is relatively small but certainly not tiny. As I recall, the JL F113 was A rated in Stereophile IF that is correct and IF that has any real value if true.

MikeSp

The JL is mentioned in those magazines because it is a big company and is sold by retailers. That is not to say that its not a performer because it absolutely is a great sub. I just want to point that out so the OP doesn't base his decision solely on that fact.

That being said, The Submersive HP is a beast of a sub! It sounds great, it gets as loud as you could ever want, and it looks nice too! The only thing I think you should be aware of when it comes to that sub is there is not internal "tweaking " available. No high pass/low pass. No filters or eq or boost. You will have to do all of that from your receiver processor. If that is ok with you then, the SubM is AWESOME! If not, you may want to look cloer at the other offerings you mentioned...

So no love for the Aerial SW-12? I am leaning towards the F-113.