AudioAficionado.org - Auditioning Speakers

*** ALERT ALERT ALERT *** This is gonna be long. :D

I recently spent some time auditioning speakers. I listened to quite a few pairs, such as the Totem Acoustics Earth A speakers, some Paradigm Tribute Anniversary series units, the Aerial Acoustics 7T's, the B&W Diamond series speakers (800d, 803d & 805d), some Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand (I passed on the Klimt "The Music" pair - can't afford them anyway so no reason to listen to unobtanium!) and a pair of Golden Ear Triton Two's.

I took CD sources with me plus let the store personnel use some of their demo tracks. At one store they fired up the TT and played Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" album so I was listening to music I knew very well. We also listened to my CD material.

So...on to the auditions. My first listen was the B&W Diamonds, specifically the 800d's. This was my first audition of speakers in quite some time, since early in 2005 when I had purchased a pair of Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grands. Not knowing what a pair of the 800d's cost, I had no idea that I was listening to something I could not afford.

However, I was certainly intrigued by what I was hearing. To re-use an old cliche`, I heard things in music I am intimately familiar with that I hadn't heard before. Honest...Cross My Chest and Hope To Die... :yes: However, seeing the price of these soured me a bit and whether or not that had an impact, the balance of the B&W line I listened to that day were disappointing in comparison.

I liked the VA Beethoven pair. Visually stunning with a very open, wide soundstage and good definition. Didn't quite have the definition or depth and width of soundstage that the Diamonds have (sometimes heard two voices when it should have been one on EmmyLou Harris's "Tulsa Queen") but they would definitely be an improvement over my Mozarts.

The Golden Ear Triton Two's would come in a distant third compared to the Diamonds, to my ear, even quite a distance from the Vienna pair. They sounded constrained, slightly hollow and a bit harsh to my ears. They may have been a new pair put out on the floor recently but I was soon tired of hearing them.

If I were to pick a pair, cost dependent, from this listening session it would be the B&W 803d's. With some time to get over how their big brothers sounded, I would be happy. I should give them another chance before I make my final selection.

Moving on to my second audition session.

We started with the Paradigm's. They have fairly well defined voices and instruments in the tweeter and mid-woofer range. They did carry a very tight and low bass line which impressed me. It was not boomy and it complimented rather than overwhelmed the tweets and mids. However, once again I was not enveloped by the sound. The speakers never disappeared from the room, even when I closed my eyes. Whatever I was hearing may have been a placement issue or the room acoustics but they just didn't "WOW" me. Another issue that bugged me was their jarring appearance. The black case is not really back but a very very dark cherry that is very hard to see. Coupled with chrome accents, I felt I was looking at a speaker case that had been designed by a Raider's football jersey aficionado! Sorry...that is only my personal opinion but it wasn't to my taste.

Next up were the Totem Acoustic Earth A's. Speak of jarring appearance! Another Raider's fan perhaps? They make better looking speakers and the Earth A's look a lot better with their grills on. Listening to them was pleasurable. Their depth of soundfield was much better than the Paradigm units but the tweeters sounded harsh to me, even at moderate listening levels. I was advised that they were relatively new and had not been on display very long which may have contributed to that.

Some would say that much ado about nothing is made regarding "breaking in" speakers and that they should sound good to you right out of the box. My experience says otherwise, however, I would admit that I cannot say that about all speakers ever made.

And so, on to the Aerial Acoustics 7T speakers. Before I dive into my impressions of these speakers I would like to pass along some tidbits of information I gleaned about Aerial Acoustics and Michael Kelly, the owner/founder of the firm.

Mr. Kelly has been involved with speaker and cabinet design for many years. He worked at ADS for quite some time when ADS was producing their highly acclaimed L series, 1200 and 1500 series speakers. In fact I own a pair of L880/2's and a pair of L700's. I am the one and only, original, owner of the L880's and the second owner of the L700's. The 880's are being used in my 2.1 channel system (McIntosh tuner & pre-amp, new tech DAC & amps) and I have enjoyed them for years. The L700's are on loan but I fear I may never get them back. The youngest daughter has them and I've been unable to pry her fingers off of them. So, whether I realized it or not, I am familiar with Mr. Kelly's work.

Aerial Acoustics is one of those small firms that does not turn out a new speaker model every year or two. They have 4 models of floor standing speakers available at the moment The 20T's, the 9's, the 6's and the 7T's. they also make a line of center channel, stand supported and subs. In my view, this describes a certain amount of perfectionism and unwillingness to compromise on design and materials, regardless of how long it takes to release a new model.

Typically we all go to the interwebs to find reviews by owners, industry insiders and professional reviewers on products we are considering to purchase. I, like many, tend to take each review with a grain of salt, especially the trade publication reviews. While it may be denied vehemently, I cannot shake the belief that some of these reviews are colored by potential of compensation in one form or another. I know...what a skeptic I am, eh? I have it on good authority, from people I trust, that no such compensation is made by Aerial Acoustics for reviews.

In the case of Aerial Acoustic speakers, and the 7T's specifically, everyone simply gushes when discussing or reviewing these speakers. This is consistent with forum reviews, showplace reviews, independent reviews and reviews provided by owners. I was astonished to not find one comment that was less than extremely complimentary about the product. Now that's a rare event, IMHO.

Lastly, I would point out that when I called Aerial Acoustics to answer my questions on their product, Mr. Kelly himself answered the phone. I would say in hindsight that I should not have been surprised based on what I now know but initially I was as this is a bit outside my experience. I found Mr. Kelly to be more than gracious with his time. He answered my questions and provided interesting insight into his business model and speaker design philosophy.

In our discussions we found we know some of the same people. He also chuckled when I told him I have two pairs of ADS speakers. Lastly, our common ground is a shared first name. All in all, regardless of the value some would place on that sort of thing, I felt very comfortable in knowing that a guy who is this passionate with respects to his craft and cares that much about his products is on the other end of my purchase decision.

Now, finally, on to the 7T's. In a word... !!!WOW!!!

Where do I start with this review??? I fear I do not have the words to describe what I heard and felt during this listening session. I'll give it a try, though...

Open, warm, clear, defined, a breadth and depth of sound I had not heard from a pair of speakers before. I've stood in the middle of an 80+ voice, well trained, acappella choir. I have sat in recording studios playing rhythym guitar with accomplished musicians. I have played guitar in raunchy roadside bars and eateries. I've listened to high end systems. I can honestly say I've never heard such sonic expanse in all those experiences.

I was immediately immersed in sound that almost had a holographic effect, coming at me as if I was center stage at a live performance or sitting in the front row in a studio as the entire band played that last track for the recording as a group. The room, the gear, the speakers and all else disappeared as the music played.

Whatever the reason, nothing else I have auditioned nor anything else I could audition (even at twice the price of the 7t's) has or will come close to what I heard.

So with that, I will say thank you to those who have read this entire review and have put up with my ramblings today. I'll leave you all to your own audio amusements and wish you the best as you continue to pursue audio nirvana.