hi i'm leon shaw the founder of audio advice
in today's video we're taking a look at some of our favorite speakers from
aerial acoustics after 22 years at ads speakers in the
70s and 80s michael kelly left the audio industry to
get his masters at mit like many people in the business audio
stays in your blood so he founded aerial acoustics with
david marshall a co-worker from his days at ads
back in 1991 when michael showed up with a prototype of his first speaker the 10t
i took a serious listen and advised michael i loved everything except the
treble seemed a little too forward interestingly enough a few
months later michael came back with a revised version
of the 10t and we just loved it after everyone
listened to it for about a week we decided to become an aerial acoustics
dealer the 10t became an instant success at audio advice and
later in 1996 was awarded speaker of the year by
stereophile magazine the 10t had a look though that shall we
say was not exactly visually pleasing to most people
so michael set out to design speakers with a more normal appearance
which resulted in the 7 6 and 5. these models have evolved tremendously
over time and are the subject of today's video
along with their companion center channels
first i'll go over the great common technology these models share
i'll also get a little bit into the aerial design philosophy that helps endear
their sound to so many music lovers and finally i'll do an overview of the
individual models to help you understand which one might be the best
fit for your system if you want to read the full article on
aerial acoustics be sure to click the link in the description
that will take you to the full review on our site along with this review
you'll find hundreds of other reviews comparisons buyer's guides and much more
now let's get started
having known michael kelly for almost 30 years
i've learned he is an absolute perfectionist when it comes to any and
everything about his speakers when he sets out to update a model
or create a new one it's almost always a multi-year process with lots of testing
and listing michael and david literally travel all
over the world to find small niche specialty companies to make custom
components for their speakers and then put them through long-term
rigorous tests before they make it into one of their speakers
almost all speaker drivers are custom-made to their exacting
specifications from high-end facilities in denmark
norway the usa or germany the same applies to
their crossover components which all use military-grade parts for the purest
possible signal path aerial acoustic speaker cabinets are a
prime example of the extremes they go to and the 7t 6t 5t and
7cc all share the same type of cabinet
design arrow uses a curved shape cabinet which greatly reduces internal
reflections multiple layers of three millimeter
thick pieces of mdf are soaked in glue then bonded together
under high pressure for 48 hours in a 20 ton press that applies the curve
to them since the glue totally soaks into the
mdf when it dries and the multiple layers are bonded
you have something far more inert than just standard mdf
several internal cross braces are then installed to make the cabinet super
rigid in the case of all but the 5t a separate
internal box is on the inside for the mid-range driver
aerial even uses especially environmentally friendly glue made to
damp out vibrations to bond the front baffle holding the drivers to the
cabinet the baffle and the glue together give
you almost two inches of thickness aerial also went so far as to determine
which internal damping sounds the best it turns out that a long fiber wool from
new zealand sheep offers the best acoustic properties this
does cost more than standard speaker insulation
but the sonic improvement is well worth it the end result for all of these
models is a cabinet that is totally inert
and when you go to pick one up you can sure tell it even the small
5t weighs in at 23 pounds each and the 7t is almost 100 pounds
the cabinets are finished with either a wood veneer from germany or an
automotive paint both types receive eight to ten layers
of hard polyester polished by hand for a speaker that looks like a fine piece of
furniture the aerial speaker drivers are all
pretty special too the mid-range drivers are made from a special papyrus blend
cone material michael and david spent a lot of time
developing this cone which gives them something
very stiff and precisely damped the baskets are a cast magnesium frame
again a far more expensive material than you typically see
these models use a new tweeter aerial developed for the t-series
it's called a soft ring dome tweeter they use large dual magnets with a damp
chamber aerial is also all about scientific measurements and this tweeter
has super low distortion can reproduce
transients extremely well and extends way beyond the range of
human hearing the industry standard for a speaker's
response used to be plus or minus 3db but recently i've seen many companies
start to stretch these numbers and use plus or minus 6db to make it
look like their speakers play deeper or go higher than they really do
ariel has the tightest range of measurements i've ever seen
on their specs quoting at plus or minus 2 db
that's just unheard of as it could potentially make their specs not look as
good at a glance as their competition but when you make such a super accurate
speaker like aerial you don't have to worry all of the
aerial speakers are also set up with heavy duty binding posts that allow for
you to by wire or bi-amp a speaker crossover's job is to decide
which tones go to which drivers and how loud they are
in relation to the rest of the spectrum with the crossover being
inside the speaker you never see it so it's tempting for some speaker
manufacturers who are trying to hit a budget
to scrimp on it aerial acoustics has some of the best made crossovers i have
ever seen all of them use high quality components like polypropylene film
capacitors and low oxygen copper air core coils the
circuit boards are all glass epoxy and in the three-way designs
are even separated from each other for the bass and mid-range/tweeter levels
all of the internal wiring is very high purity copper with teflon insulation
to assemble them the best audiophile grade silver solder is used
these extremes aerial goes to means the music passes through the crossovers with
almost no degradation resulting in their very
sweet open and effortless sound
now let's dive into the individual models ask anyone at audio advice
if they had to pick a favorite bookshelf speaker and 90 percent of us will choose
the ariel 5t its combination of sound beauty and ease
of setup make the 5t one of our favorites the 5t
uses the special papyrus mid-range material for its 6.7 inch driver
if you know speakers you probably thought that's an odd size
most are six inches or six and a half inches that's what happens when you have
a company who custom designs drivers to their needs
the tweeter is the same soft ring dome most aerials use
the 5t is fairly tall at 15 inches but is only about 8 inches wide and 12 and a
half inches deep giving it a pretty cool look from a
ratio standpoint bass response is just outstanding on the
5t bettering many floor standing speakers with a 2 db down point at 48
hertz the tweeter extends out beyond our
hearing range to 25 kilohertz while we can't think of a better choice
if you want to put a speaker on a bookshelf
the 5t gets really magical when you get it about 18 inches off the wall
on a very solid speaker stand they can throw out this huge wide sound stage
that is just scary good if you take the next step and couple
them to a very fast subwoofer you can have a true high-end audiophile
level system that appears pretty small to the eye
yet can be as revealing of subtle musical details as about anything out
there the only bad news is to fully appreciate
the 5t you're going to need a really good amp
they really do not like to be hooked up to a modest home theater or stereo
receiver we really like the way they sound paired
up with some of the upper in cambridge N series or even better the edge
and if you can move up to mark levinson or mcintosh you'll have an even
bigger smile on your face when you listen to them
for many people with a small to medium-sized room the aerial
6t will be a great choice it stands at about 43 inches tall but is less than 8
inches wide so it has this very elegant and slender look
especially due to the curved cabinet when you think about it the footprint of
a 6t is actually skinnier than most bookshelf speakers on a stand
and has deep enough bass to reach down to give you great impact in a
medium-sized room like the 5t the drivers are all custom
sized with its 4.9 inch papyrus brace mid-range
and dual 5.9 inch woofers the dual woofers give you the area of a much
larger woofer but their small size means they have
incredible speed and accuracy like all of the t-series the tweeter is
the same here as well when you compare the mid-range on the 6t
to the 5t the 6t is even better this makes sense as the 6t has a
dedicated mid-range driver housed in its own internal enclosure the
super skinny cabinet also allows the 6t to deliver a big and wide sound stage
with the ability to have the sound extend
far outside the speakers in most rooms set up right they just
totally disappear with bass getting down to 35 hertz at only 2 db down
you really won't need a subwoofer for a music based system in a mid to small
sized room the 6t is also easier to drive than the
5t but you'll still really benefit from a
great power amplifier to our ears the 6t combines this neutral
open and transparent sound with dynamics and bass impact you would
not expect to get from a speaker that appears so small
plus a ratio of height to width coupled with their beautiful cabinets make them
look just gorgeous in most rooms the 6t is for us
the best value in the entire lineup unless you have a really large room
while the 6t looks small and slender the 7t has a much bigger and more serious
business appearance it's about 44 inches tall 10 inches wide
and almost 18 inches deep with a weight of 96
pounds with a 7t you get a different material for the woofer as aerial chooses
a special bi-laminate composite for the two
7.1 inch cones and yes once again that's a totally unique driver size
the cabinet on the 7t has the most layers of any model with nine
and has seven interlocking internal braces
the mid-range is a 5.9 inch papyrus based driver
and like all of the others has the same great tweeter
you'll get base only down 2 db at 28 hertz that is
blazingly fast but with lots of dynamic ability
the 7t can present the full weight of a symphony orchestra
or a drum kit while at the same time having a super effortless mid-range and
top-end in terms of three-dimensional imaging we
actually think the 6t has a very slight edge here
but from a power and dynamic standpoint the 7t is far
superior if your room is larger than say about
14 by 18 you'll really appreciate the power the 7t can deliver
but if you're in a smaller room you might be just fine with the 6t
in very large spaces there's no question though get the 7t
the 7t does need serious power to give you all of the bass dynamics it's
capable of many of our music loving clients feel
like it's such a great value they spend even more on the electronics driving
them to the speakers themselves that says a whole lot about how good the
7t really is the center channels 7cc and 7lcr have
identical components in different shaped cabinets to fit
whichever situation you need for one of the best center channel or
lcr speakers available today the lcr version has the ability to turn
the mid-range tweeter assembly 90 degrees to allow it to be either a
vertical wall mounted lcr or turn horizontally for a full center
channel it is 38 inches long but under 5 inches deep which means it can work
well mounted under a large flat panel tv the
7cc is more of a conventional center channel in shape being roughly 24 inches
wide 8 inches tall and about 12 inches deep
both models use the same special pressed mdf layered curved cabinets
aerial developed a special aluminum woofer cone for the dual
6.7 inch drivers again a different size the mid-range is a cross between the
ones used in the 6t and 7t with a five-inch diameter special
papyrus material cone and of course they all share that same
great tweeter with so much vocal energy being present
in the center channel aerial mounts the mid-range and tweeter
to a separate aluminum baffle which helps separate their dedicated
cabinet even more from the dual bass drivers
the dual bass drivers also allow these two to have some serious bass impact
from a center channel which helps greatly with all the special
effects we're seeing mixed into the center channel these days
when you're used to the accuracy and transparency of aerials
your center channel had better be up to the same standards
and both of these live up to that task you'll hear all kinds of subtle
emotional details in performers voices that bring you closer to being there
i hope this overview has given you a taste of one of our favorite speaker
brands at audio advice all of these models have a sound that
does not bow you over with anything at first
but just lures you in the longer you listen with their honest
and transparent presentation another thing we love about aerials
is how they sound good even at super low listening levels
the model that is right for you will depend a lot on your budget
and room size but every single one sounds fantastic to our ears
if you have questions on any of the aerial speakers or any other home audio
or home theater gear be sure to give us a call chat with one
of our experts at audioadvice.com or stop into one of our raleigh or
charlotte north carolina showrooms thanks for watching if you enjoyed this
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