[fmer]

Hello everyone: Great site excellent info>
 
                    I currently own a pair aerial 7b and like to know whether anyone here has done a comparison against the HT2-TL's. As I am seriously considering in ordering a pair. As there seems to be excellent feedback on any of the Salk speakers. Let alone the craftmanship and build quality. And the price is right. If anyone can provide some info on comparison. Greatly appreciated.                 Thanks Fmer         

[DMurphy]

I would be interested to hear your take on the basic sound of the Aerial.  What do you think are the strong points?  Weak points?  What would you most like to see improved if you replaced them?  They cost $4000 in !999 and sported 2" thick cabinet walls (100 lbs a side), so they were serious speakers. 

[Mudslide]

Someone ring for Mudslide?   

I currently own a pair of Aerial 7B's and have also thoroughly auditioned most Salk offerings, including the HT1-TL's, HT2's, SoundScape 12's, SongTower QWT's, etc...but unfortunately not the HT2-TL's.  It has been one of my prime targets over the last couple of years to A/B the 7B's with the HT2-TL's. 

That said, I no longer have such a desire.  Given the opportunity, if I could afford to do so, I would snatch a pair of Salks in a zippety-do-da-instant and sell my Aerials.  Remembering that loudspeaker preference is absolutely a personal judgment affair, I strongly prefer the agile dynamics, and the open and airy quality of the Salk line-up over the reserved nature of the 7B's.  That may also well be a result of my particular implementation which uses the 7B's as the mains in my home theater, as well as a large room 2-channel setup.  I think the Aerials have much to recommend them for music...but are a bit TOO smooth for dynamic movie effects, IMHO.

Dennis has probably heard my take on the 7B's before, but in case not....I find them a bit dark at the top end and, though quite clean, they are lacking the refined, crystaline resolution of the Salks I've heard.  The Aerials have great soundstage dimension, and also possess a very smooth midrange and bass that begs for high end amplification (which I currently am also unable to afford).  John Atkinson, from Stereophile measured the 7B's sensitivity at (below spec'ed) 84dB/2.83v/m and impedence dipping near 2.5 ohms at ~380 Hz.  Those figures demand power, and lots of it.  The Aerial cabinets are also beautifully crafted...but not to the hand-finished level of loveliness of the Salk pieces I've seen.

By the way, Dennis, the current price for a set of 7B's with Sound Anchor stands sits at a pedestrian $6,100!     And I have heard that they are being replaced with a new model...the 7T...at around 9 grand.  Geez.  Here's a new link... http://www.aerialacoustics.com/products/model7t/index.aspx

Good luck in your search, fmer.

[DMurphy]

Thanks for the link.  Methinks I see cheap bipolar electrolytic caps in the woofer circuit.  $9000 doesn't go very far these days.

[Big Red Machine]

 That may also well be a result of my particular implementation which uses the 7B's as the mains in my home theater, as well as a large room 2-channel setup.  I think the Aerials have much to recommend them for music...but are a bit TOO smooth for dynamic movie effects, IMHO.

Completely agree.  Had 10T's and they were smooth but not engaging.  I like my speakers to be totally revealing anyway, always have, so I am sold on the Salk sound.  My ST's with domes are soooooo much more lively and engaging in the HT than the 10T's.

And I presently have HT2-TL's in the 2 channel.  They would smoke the Aerials in dynamics department.  For the price and performance of Salks in a custom finish, how could you go wrong?!

[Mudslide]

So fmer...

Welcome to AudioCircle.

I, too, would be interested in your response to Dennis's (DMurphy) questions.  What is your take on the 7B's?

[fmer]

                   First off Thanks for all those who responded I apologize for not replying sooner as I'm working lots and have things to do at home. Having said that:

                   In response to the question Dennis asked in regards to strong points: I would have to say the bottom end and midrange seem to standout with the 7's Bass is smooth and tight with a bit of sweetness which I like. Midrange is clear and forward not to forward though. The highs I find blend in too much with the mids maybe this is what Mudslide is referring to as being a bit dark. I would prefer to have more separation. If this is the correct terminology. Equipment is probably a big factor as Mudslide stated you need a lot power to make em sing. I would say that possibly I could be a little under powered I don't know. I did email Jim a while back asking for his advice and he did recommend the HT2-TL's I would say based on the equipment I have. Big Red mentioned Dynamics would this mean more clarity all round plus separation I don't know.

[fmer]

       Here's the equipment I currently have:

Preamp: Aesthetix calypso
Amps: Nuforce se v3
Cables: power cables all stock, interconnects audience "e" balanced, single ended nuforce from dac to preamp,
Power condtioners: arp1 audience
Music server: Mac Mini pure music 1.7
Drobo harddrive unit firewire connected
Dac: right now nuforce HDP.

Like I said I think this would be a better match with the HT2-TL's maybe not I don't know the problem is I live up here in canada B.C. 0n Vancouver island and there is really no Hi-Fi shop to compare equipment to so I'm solely relying on opinons and reviews.
Overall the Aerials are very good speakers. I cannot justifying spending 9 grand on the 7T's. The HT2-TL's will more than  likely be as good. Feedback Greatly appreciated.

[DMurphy]

Thanks.  I don't think "separation" is the word you're looking for.  Ideally, you want a seemless blend between drivers--you shouldn't be able to tell whether the sound is coming from the tweeter or mid.  And hopefully the HT2's are at least as good as the Aerial in that respect.  Based on what others have said, and my look at Stereophile's measurements, the HT2's may seem to have more clarity and and presence in the lower highs, and probably more air due to the RAAL tweet.  I don't know whether that's what you're looking for or not.   

[funkmonkey]

I can't comment on the HT2-TLs but I have auditioned the 7Bs and really like the sound very much, but ultimately went with Salk HT3s.  I would refer to the 7B sound as somewhat "nostalgic", and very smooth.  The Salk family of speakers tends to be a little more defined, like Big Red and Mud already stated.  Clarity and separation (of instruments within the music) is a trait that carries through the entire Salk line, and one of the reasons that so many of us like the sound.  Thanks to Dennis' amazing work they are seamless from top end to bottom.  Even though I own the HT3s I think the HT2-TL is the current bang-for-buck sweet spot in the line-up.  That smooth and tight bass of the 7's that you like will most likely be a little bit different with a TL design, perhaps sounding a little bit tighter.  Try to set up an audition so you can hear for yourself...  you may have to take a drive to Seattle (even if you only find the non-TL version of the HT2 it would be worth your time to get an idea of the sound).

Mudslide is a good guy to talk to about about this...  he was a full fledged Aerial enthusiast before he heard the Salks. 

[fmer]

Thanks for the reply Dennis and straightening me out on use of the word "separation" I think what's really bugging me is that I have this idea in my head that a speaker should have at least 2 woofers a mid and a tweeter or a larger woofer mid and tweeter. With the HT2-tl's only 2 and a tweeter so I ask myself, am I doing to get the bass and mids out them that I guess I expect. I have read as many reviews and opinons as is out there. People are astounded by the bass response and the clarity at the top. If this is true then probably the HT2-tl's would kick the Aerials. Hopefully this is a fair question. Maybe Mudslide can chime in on his take. Thanks for replying funkmonkey. Every little bit helps.   

[jsalk]

fmer -

As I've said many times in the past, speaker design is all about balancing trade-offs.

Often when you see multiple woofers, the goal is to increase sensitivity.  When running a pair of woofers in parallel, you can achieve up to a 6db increase in sensitivity.  But there is a price to pay.  The trade-off is generally a less accurate frequency response.  Where the output of the drivers intersect, frequencies that are in phase are reinforced and frequencies that are out of phase are attenuated.  The resulting comb filtering can be seen as peaks and valleys in the summed response.

People naturally assume that more drivers equal a better speaker.  But in the ideal world, there would only be one driver.  Unfortunately, there is no single driver that can effectively do it all.  So we are faced with a myriad of multi-driver set-ups, each with associated positives and negatives.  A great design is one that takes maximum advantage of the positives and minimizes the effects of the negatives.

One other comment I can make is that, in our opinion, midrange is most important and makes or breaks a design.  That is where 80% of the information is.  We will not put our name on a speaker if we don't feel the midrange performance is stellar.  As you go to more expensive models in our line-up, you will generally get more extension on the top and bottom end.  But the midrange performance will be a constant.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Thanks for the reply Dennis and straightening me out on use of the word "separation" I think what's really bugging me is that I have this idea in my head that a speaker should have at least 2 woofers a mid and a tweeter or a larger woofer mid and tweeter. With the HT2-tl's only 2 and a tweeter so I ask myself, am I doing to get the bass and mids out them that I guess I expect. I have read as many reviews and opinons as is out there. People are astounded by the bass response and the clarity at the top. If this is true then probably the HT2-tl's would kick the Aerials. Hopefully this is a fair question. Maybe Mudslide can chime in on his take. Thanks for replying funkmonkey. Every little bit helps.

The first time I heard the HT2-TL I was quite surprise how capable they were.  I was directly A/B'ing them with my ADS L1290s which are a 3 way design with two 8" woofers, a dome mid, and a dome tweeter in each speaker.  The HT2-TL not only beat the ADS in bass extension, but also had better resolution in the midrange.  At no time did the HT2-TL sound like it was being limited by its design (and we were playing them quite loud).  I wouldn't discount any speaker just because it is a 2 way design instead of a 3 way.

Unfortunately no one can tell you if the HT2-TL will meet your expectations.  You will have to hear them for yourself to answer that question.

[Mudslide]

I just saw a report that the new Aerial 7T's are being sold at a cozy $9,700.  Yikes.     That's getting into the SoundScape territory...SoundScapes...mmmm...absolu tely the finest speakers I've ever heard...or ever expect to hear.

[Stercom]

We will not put our name on a speaker if we don't feel the midrange performance is stellar.  As you go to more expensive models in our line-up, you will generally get more extension on the top and bottom end.  But the midrange performance will be a constant.

I can certainly confirm that statement. The midrange performance is a big factor in why I bought a pair of Archos.

[fsimms]

We will not put our name on a speaker if we don't feel the midrange performance is stellar.  As you go to more expensive models in our line-up, you will generally get more extension on the top and bottom end.  But the midrange performance will be a constant.

I can confirm that too.  The midrange preformance of the one's that I have heard; the SongTowers, Pharos, Archos, H1's, HT3's and the SoundScapes are good enough that you can't tell ahead of time which one another person would prefer.  They are all that good!   

Bob