Price Paid:  $5000.00 from Quintessance, Morton

Summary:
The speakers I have been living with since I was in college were a pair of Klipsch KG2s. I was VERY happy with these speakers for years. I felt they had tremendous bass, and were very dynamic. Years later a friend of mine got a pair of Aerial 7B’s. Of course I went over to listen to them. At first I was unimpressed. My Klipschisms were defiantly getting in the way. Then one evening I realized the 7Bs had MUCH more bass than my speakers did – and a LOT more detail – and this was with a lower watt TUBE amp. I then knew I needed new speakers… So last November, I started my search for new speakers. I first bought home a pair of brand new B&W 804’s. I was trying to spend less than $3500. I found these speakers to have WAY too little bass, and they were kind of funny looking. They also did not have the dynamics I was looking for rock music (Rush, Depeche Mode, Metallica, Sting), for classical, and for movies. They were also overly bright. I then tried a pair of brand new JM Lab Electra 926’s. They have a titanium(esque) tweeter, single mid, and dual bass drivers. Most everything I listened to was way too laidback. Some parts of some songs, like the solo acoustic guitar on “Big Love” on Fleetwood Mac The Dance, were exceptional. But the vocals sucked, and the bass was poor…. TOTALLY lifeless, even after 350 hours being driven by my Ayre/Cardas burn-in CD. I listened to Revel F30’s – they sounded even worse. I then listened to Theil – their new mini floor stander all the way up to their mighty 7’s. They all sounded too laid back for me… plus the ones in my price range had too little bass. I then tried a pair of Gradient Revolutions (with passive crossovers). They imaged MUCH better than all of the previous speakers, but lacked character. And they were seriously inefficient (like 80 db) and lacked ANY dynamics at ANY volume. From the same store I auditioned Joseph Audio’s new asymmetric crossover designs (in a word: yuck. I have NO idea what Sterophile reviewers are listening to), Montanans, Triangle, and some others… anything under $8,000 lacked bass I thought I had enough messing around, so I found an old used pair of B&W Matrix 801’s… the ones with the big 12” woofer. Well, WAY TOO MUCH BASS (yes, it is possible). It was totally unrealistic bass in my 12x20x8½ foot living room…. I then tried the Meadowlark Audio Heron-I’s. These were a demo pair (they are soon coming out with the Heron2’s), and were selling for $4000. This started creeping my price point up. The Heron’s were very sweet, but their dual 7” bass drivers and the transmission line cabinet ALSO had too much bass – and it was not as crisp as the Matrix 801’s. NOTE: I actually wanted to hear the new BASSIC transmission line Osprey – but the two Meadowlark dealers in Chicago basically said they would not order one until they sold their current Shearwaters and Herons – and they still wanted close to full price for these old models… In retrospect the only speaker that matched the 7B’s performance were the new Dynaudio Contour S3.4. There were three things I did not like about the new Dynaudios: 1) for $5000, I only got a 2 ½ way with 3 drivers. 2) to get a 3 way (with 4 drivers like the 7B’s) I would have had to spend $8000 – and they don’t even have those in the US yet 3) they look a little TOO modern. My budget was now up to $5,000. I next went to Quintessance in Morton Groove, IL. I waited to go there because I thought I knew what I wanted there: Audio Physics Virgo IIs (they use to be $5,000). I had heard the Virgo II’s driven by Spectral years ago, and thought they were outstanding. I brought to demo the new Virgo III’s (they just jumped up to $7500). I just could not get enough good deep bass, and the ring radiator tweeter seemed brighter than my old Klipsch horns! I then saw how OUTSTANDING the 7B’s looked in Cherry (my friend had black). I then decided to take home the Aerials. WOW! The bass was tremendous – so detailed, and just the right amount. The mid was so clear on Fleetwood Mac The Dance. And Metallica just rocks. And movies: absolute the BEST I have heard. But most surprising was the tweeter: the speed of a titanium tweeter is expected, but the sweetness of the Aerial tweeter is the most surprising of all! In real life the 7B’s Cherry wood cabinet is EASILY the best I have ever seen on a speaker – topping Dynaudio, B&W, Meadowlark, Joseph, even Audio Physic. With a new pair of Transparent Music Wave Super XL bi-wire the Aerial 7B is complete!

Strengths:
Treble: silky smooth, detailed and FAST Mid: Incredible vocals and piano is SO good sounding Bass: Amazing. Not too little, not too much, and so much detail – I never knew there was this much detail in bass Cabinet: THE most solid I have seen. And beautiful in Cherry or Rosewood Stands: Very, VERY solid

Weaknesses:
I could not think of any....

Similar Products Used:
B&W Nautulus 804, Matrix 801, JMLab Electra 926, AudioPhysic Virgo III, Dynaudio Contour S3.4, Gradiant Revolution, Joseph Audio, Montana, Meadowlark Herron I, Revel F30, Thiel

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Price Paid:  $1000.00 from e-bay

Summary:
Wow What a wounderful speaker. Beautiful highs, solid midrange and bass. Associated equipment: Classe, BAT, Linn, and Nordost

Weaknesses:
Placement and room care is a must.

Similar Products Used:
Thiel 1.6, Soliloquy 5.3, Martian Logan Scenario.

Summary:
About a year ago I started my first venture into hi-end audio. Had been using pretty decent mass produced equipment (Denon/JBL). Upgraded amplifier and noticed improvement. Upgraded CD player to an older Wadia 6 and was totally amazed at amount of musical information I had been missing. Started looking for speakers to complete my system.
Listened to PSB Gold i, Joseph Audio RM22si, Revel F30, Paradigm Studio 100/v.2 and Aerial 7B and 6 in local stereo shops. I was taken by the Aerial 7Bs when first listening to them (they say you will KNOW when you find the right speaker-something just clicked)! Unbelievable depth and accuracy to my ears. By far the best cabinetry in this price range (2 inch MDF on 3 sides-HEAVY). My humble 12'x 14' living room is now sonic wonderland! Would have to rate the PSB Stratus Gold i as my second choice of the speakers I demoed. Also a very well rounded speaker. Looking to upgrade speaker cables next to a good bi wire setup.


Associated equipment:
Threshold T200 amplifier
Wadia 6 CD player (running direct to amplifier via XLRs)

Strengths:
Depth & width of soundstage, cabinetry and value

Weaknesses:
A little on the heavy side.

Similar Products Used:
PSB Stratus Gold i, Paradigm Studio 100/v.2, Joseph Audio RM22si, Revel F30

Summary:
This is a follow-up to my February post. I've had the 7Bs for 6 months, and all the break-in is done, including the MIT SHotguns (750). I love these speakers..in my opinion they do best with acoustic and vocals, but just don't do well with electric, rock, etc (not necessarily a bad thing). I had reason to call the company twice, and each time Michael Kelly answered the phone and spent time helping me with my questions.

Summary:

I finally bought these after listening to a pretty wide variety of speakers including some both higher and lower in price.

I tried them on a good recording of Beethoven's Sixth (Sony
Classical). The instruments were clearly defined and imaging was good. They handled the complex crescendos without sounding muddy or strained. Then I tried some rock (Stones) and blues (Etta James) and had the same impression - sounds like the band is there and the singer is right in front of you. On top of the impression of accuracy, the recordings also sounded exciting and "live", which is something other speakers I auditioned didn't quite seem to do.

The next best thing I heard were the Soliloquy 6.3, which were very nice. The Aerials seemed just a little more "integrated" - not just reproducing the parts of the music but putting them together into a seamless whole. But it was close. The Soliloquys are good.

I also tried the Thiel 2.3 but they sounded very laid back and restrained in comparison. I could see some people might like this but to me it sounded like something was just missing. B&W 803 was a bit better - it sounded very accurate, but also somewhat neutral and unengaging (however, the 803s sounded noticeably better than the 804s to me).

Dynaudios also didn't appeal to me, not even the Contour 3.3, which is about $7000. They seemed to put up a wider soundstage than the Aerials, which was kind of neat but actually seemed a bit artificial. Your mileage may vary.

I also tried a Paradigm tower speaker (Reference Studio 100), which is a less expensive product, but it wasn't even close - sounded muddy and boxy to me.

The Aerials seem very solidly build and didn't exhibit any
rattles or buzzes even at high volume. Looks are good and size is pretty modest for a tower speaker. I think they are a reasonable value given that some higher-priced speakers didn't sound as good to me. For electronics, I have an older but good quality Harmon Kardon CD player, Adcom 555II preamp and Marantz 200W monoblocks. Not high end but works well for me.

Strengths:
accurate, handles a variety of music well, well built, reasonable value

Weaknesses:
not highly efficient

Similar Products Used:
Soliloquy 6.3, B&W 803 and 804, Thiel 2.3, Dynaudio Contour 1.8 and 3.3, Paradigm Reference Studio 100