Areil 10t Speaker Repair

Agreed, live with it or throw down the $. $500 is a steal for a new head on one of those. I talked to Mike Kelly one time, and he said fully 1/2 the cost of the 10T was in the making of the head unit. (I presume talking here about cabinets only, but maybe he meant drivers too.) It's not a cheap piece and $500 is a bargain in my opinion. I have 2 pairs of Aerials (5s, 6s) and will probably have more in the future. Good to hear they are doing what they can to make it right, esp. on a product that is out of production now too.

-Ed

The cracking of the artificial stone head on the Aerial 10T's over time is not unheard of. As such it should be considered a design or materials defect. However, you have had six good years from one of the finest speakers in it's price class. It sounds like they are splitting the cost of making it right with you. It will be hard, probably impossible, to get better sound than this for anywhere near the cost. My personal experience is that there is a certain "cost of doing business" with high-end gear. I think that the $500 bite is an acceptable part of this cost.

Id also say to take the $500 deal on the replacement head.A small price to pay considering the cost of these speakers. Though dont believe that Ariel isnt making at least a few bucks on the deal still. With Ariel, you pay alot more for R&D than you do on actual materials.

The material cost of all Aerial loudspeakers is one of the highest in the industry as a percentage of the retail value and is higher than the the similarly associated r & d costs . Aerial r & d is however held in the hands of a few of the finest loudspeaker craftsmn and engineers in the world . Compared that cost to the r & d overhead and engineering overhead of companies such as Harmon and you can appreciate the value in Aerials products . The head unit is novalith , chosen by Mike Kelley for its high density and low resonance characteristics. What better than an inert material for loudspeaker construction . The cracking is very rare and generally in the first production run. But as it is a cast head there is always a slight chance it could develop a crack. Most instances where this occurrs however , the speaker was either mishandled or in a very low humidity enviroment. When comparing Aerial material and construction to other speakers in their price range , Aerials material cost as a percentage of the speakers retail price is one of the highest in the industry and clearly higher than that which many other companies spend on their products . The driver construction xover component and hand crafted Norwegian cabinent are but two examples that clearly reflect this dedication to quality and value. The above insinuation regarding the material cost vs the r & d costs are simply incorrect .

If you all read the post carefully, it sounds like it's just the finish that is cracked/peeling - totally cosmetic, from how I read it. If that is the case, it's not a structural defect, just a cosmetic thing.

BTW, I think the cabinetry comes from Denmark. The earlier (pre-96' ? ) cabinets were not as nice as the later versions.

-Ed