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About to buy Aerial 9s, BUT want to ask first...

Hi folks, I have auditioned the Aerial 9s and the newer 7t. Although they are quite different, I LOVE both of them. I am leaning to the 9, largely because they can easily be found used at my target price of around $5k. I have three other speakers on my short list: Revel Ultima Studios, Dali Helicon 800MKII, and Coincident Total Victory II. QUESTION: Can I just go ahead and pull the trigger and buy the Aerial 9s? Or do I really need to listen to Dali and Revel first? Note that I am in Boise and would have to fly somewhere to listen to Revel and Dali. (I heard the Aerial's in Portland, Oregon)
I do realize the final preference will be a matter of my own taste... and to be honest I am just trying to justify a quikc buy. You guys need to slap my hand and tell me to listen to the others first if that is what you think. BTW, smallish room with tube amps (from flea power SET to 100WPC el-34). Almost exclusively spin vinyl. Please do not suggest the Revel Salon or the Aerial 20T or other speakers in the $8K plus range used. I am not going to spend that much this year.
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marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Aerial 9 isn't for tube amps in any room.
Aerial 9 isn't for small rooms either.
I have Aerial 10t(not tube friendly either) that are in 15'x20' with listening distance 6' and 6' appart. They're driven by 500Wpc of class D amps and I listen to them for a very long period of time equivalent to changing 7...8 vinyls in a row.
I also have Totem Forrest(will sell for dirt cheap) that are IMHO designed to be a perfect match to any tube amp >=40Wpc due to their stable 8Ohm impedance.
mitch2
3,961 posts
 
Aerial 9 isn't for tube amps in any room.
Aerial 9 isn't for small rooms either.
Marakanetz makes a couple of good points. I suspect a 100wpc tube amp could sound "good" with the Aerials but it may not sufficiently control the bass, leading in the best case to a fat or ripe bass and, in the worst case, to a boomy bass that overides the mids. My room is relatively large with 9-foot ceilings and the 100-200wpc SS amps I mentioned both didn't properly control the bass and didn't facilitate the level of dynamics these speakers are capable of. The only reason the (hybrid, but basically solid state) Lamm M1.1s sounded great (up to their power limit) is that they are exceptionally over built amps (for 100wpc) and even they resulted in a slightly fat bass. In summary, and IMO, the full sound quality of the Aerial 9s can only be realized with plenty of breathing room and lots of power. They can sound good in suboptimal set-ups, but you will not achieve all that thay are capable of.
tojohndillonesq's avatar
tojohndillonesq OP
16 posts
 
OK guys, thanks for the input. I got two things from this 1) Feed the Aerial 9 at least 200WPC. 2) Even with the right power, do not put the aerial 9 in a room that is 12' x 20' with nine foot ceilings. (Pause for a moment while I emotionally adjust to this bad news.... Ok... bitter pill swallowed.) I also listened to the 7T, in a MUCH smaller room, using it essentially as a nearfield monitor. Problem is, they are so new that they are still 50% more than the model nine on the used market.

No comments on Victory II or Dali 800 for a small room?
sarcher30
596 posts
 
I have owned the Aerial 9s and had to sell them because of a move to a smaller room. They just did not work in that room which was 13x15x8. I had the model 6 before I traded up to the 9s and they would work in your room. The model 6 are actually less efficient than the 9s or 7t though. You would need to change to a high power ss amp for any of these speakers unfortunately.

I personally did not like the dealer demo of the Dali 400 I heard. I also don't think Dali speakers are designed with tube amps in mind.

Though I have not heard Coincident speakers I believe they are a good match for tubes. I think your best bet is to go listen to some if you can.

Do you have a Tannoy dealer around? I have heard the Glenaire sound quite good in a small room.

Sean
sarcher30
596 posts
 
Looking at your room dimensions again you may be able to get the 9's to work but it's kind of iffy. I was using a Parasound Halo A21 amp with them with good results. You can pick one up for around $1200 used.

Sean
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