Aerial 5T impressions

Aerial 5t would share lots of sound characteristics with B&W only with substantially better bass definition.

More I can tell:
I was looking for the speaker that has strong and fast bass of Dynaudio or Totem, crispy and clear midrange of B&W and treble of Tannoy and got myself Aerial 10t. 

I thought Dynaudio Contour and Confidence lines were well balanced.

Dyns don't have Kevlar mid driver. It brings superior midrange definition that Dyns lack.

I'm a little surprised to not see more Aerial owners reply to this thread.  But then again, making judgements on lack of responses Is baseless. Could be all the Aerial 5T owners are happy and no longer in the hunt. 

I'm owner of 10t since 2002 and never look for upgrade. I looked at 5t as well, but found deal I couldn't refuse on 10t.

Still have and love my 7b.  The 5T has not been available for very long...and is a big price jump from the 5b

Czarivey, if Kevlar driver is so good why don't many others use it? I suspect, it is not that simple.

Hah, not for me to decide why many other speaker designers don't use Kevlar, but apparently my preference fell onto those who does. Aerial in particular. 

Right the 5T's have not been out long.
I am about to upgrade my 8 month old b&w cm6s2 to the 5Ts.  Was holing to hear some comparison others may have had to this speaker.

It.looks like the new Aerial  T line does not contain Kevlar.  It is a "Papyrus blend cone". Blend. so maybe it does have Kevlar, but specs dont say.  B&w new 805s are not using the yellow Kevlar anymore.  

The new Papyrus blend cone sounds indescribably delicious. 
 

Perhaps Kevlar is too pricey for today's profit demands. Not sure and never shopped for one separately for projects to tell for sure, but spent some time on research for choice. Loved and adored midrange of CM series of B&W with Kevlar, but didn't like their weak bass... 

Michael Green, whos free resonance speakers I have, used to have a reference two way model with 8" custom Kevlar driver. Those speakers had a frenquency range down to mid 20s and were capable of playing at high though not insane volume. Michael has an impeccable ear, he tunes studios and concert halls, and I will trust him with his choice of drivers any day.

Also, some of his refernce speakers had outboard crossovers. I believe, all reference speakers should be made that way. Do you really think that all that usual sh-t inside cabinets facilitates great sound reproduction? Unfortunately, Michael is one of those talented people who knows how to make things but not quite how to sell them.

Aerial 5T thoughts?

Sorry man, sometimes threads expand in all directions, and in fact I think it is a good thing. We are still talking about speakers and drivers.
Indirectly, maybe we are talking about 5T too, that's, there is not much to say about them.

One can hope

I'll post my impression as I just had them for a home trial for 3 Days to compare to my B&W CM6s2. 

Qualified with my equipment 

The B&W are very detailed with full bass.  Sometimes bright if listening to rock or female voices. Excruciating bright at times. 
The B&W at first inpress you with the details and the imaging.  I hear sounds coming fronm the kitchen, but that's a parlor trick Bose does that too.  They are a very good sounding speaker on well recorded music like Jazz and acoustic. Not a rock speaker too bright.  The B&W received excellent reviews.  Build quality is lacking. 

The Aerial 5T - not much has been written about them.  Maybe Michael Kelly decided to stop paying the reviewers.  Word of mouth is all you really need if you have customers that enjoy the hobby.  Well these Aerial 5Ts are musical.  They are as close as I think I will get to the sound of a live voice.  They don't try to impress you with there brightness for their bass.  The B&W in comparison were ultra bright with boomy bass.  The Aerial are precise, clear detailed where they are suppose to be and tight quick bass.  

Ask yourself when you go to listen to live music. Do you say wow that mandolin, violin, guitar, banjo piano, drums ... Sound so good so detailed.  I don't think so you hear all of the music blended together balanced.   That's when you know Aerial knows what it means to reproduce music.  

I have a pair of 5Ts at the office paired with my Luxman L590AX.  These speakers are great and incredibly detailed and musical.

I have grown to appreciate the Aerial sound so much that I will be purchasing the 7T for my home rig - they will be replacing the B&W 803 D3.

Greginnh,

I am always amazed when someone says they have such high level of audio at their office. 

The Aerial 5T sounded like authentic music not over embellished highs that I have in my current B&W cm6s2.  I just added a yggy DAC that took my music to another level.  

Did you listen to other bookshelf speakers before deciding on the 5Ts?

psickerson - yes, I listed to a whole bunch of them including KEF, Totem, Spendor, B&W and even the Wilson Duette (way out of my price range). Other than the Wilson, the 5T was a much better performer.

It's almost a shame to have a high end rig at the office during normal hours.  When the employees leave however, I can crank up the volume!

"Ask yourself when you go to listen to live music. Do you say wow that mandolin, violin, guitar, banjo piano, drums ... Sound so good so detailed.  I don't think so you hear all of the music blended together balanced."

That depends on where you sit and whether it is acoustic or amplified. I prefer up front 11th through 7th row center, in larger venues and 5th through 1 in small venues. Therefore, detail and instrument placement does happen for me and is important.   

greginnh,

My local audio shop, although wonderful and lucky to have such a high quality dealer, does not carry Wilson. I would not go to that level, but I would be like to hear them.  

You said "when the employees leave however, I can crank up the volume".   

Seems like a life time of waiting for either the parents when growing up or now wife(s) :) to leave before cranking it up!!! 

I just hope the ears out last the rest of me. 

Thanks for your response.  Glad to hear from others that have a good ear.  Time to pack up my cm6s2 and upgrade.  

Aerial 5T's have a new home.  


What speaker cables are other Aerial owners using?

Discovery Essential,  Cerious Nano

Wireworld goes really well with Aerial.  Keep us posted on the 5T.  Intriguing new speaker.  Best......

Keep us posted on your impressions.  I liked my 5Ts so much I just bought a pair of 7Ts for my home rig!

I just finished two days of attendance at IBMA -  International Bluegrass Music Association Festival.  

After listening to music live for two full days, it is the best compliment I can give to say listening to the same artists/songs on the 5T's takes me right back infront of the stage.  Some speaker brands try to lure you in with their bright sparkly sound only to drive you away with their false attempt at reproducing music.  Thanks to Aerial Acousitcs for delivering the real goods!

Sierra Hull lives in my den. She is everyone's darling.  2016 mandolin player of the year.  Balsam Range and the rest of the so many other blue grass music is acoustic music you can feel in your soul. 

To be total honest -
The only noticeable difference is the level of bass.  While these speakers for their size provide exceptional levels of tight bass,  the volume of the standup bass during the concert just goes that bit lower.  The concerts also tend to jack up the volume I suspect.  Nonetheless the bass impact is what one takes away. 

I do have an M&K sub but it's not really a sub more of a bass unit purchased for sorround sound back in the 90's only goes down to 50hz. 

Now what sub would do justice to these Aerials?
i was considering JL Audio e112.

I purchased the Aerial 5T's earlier this year to replace my Aerial 5B's that I use in my office.  The sound of the 5T's is awesome!  The bass extension and richer midrange are immediately apparent due to it's design.  While I loved the sound of the 5B's.....the 5T's are a big step up with regard to overall sound.  I'm moving my 5B's downstairs to another room.     

I liked the 5Ts so much that I just replaced my B&W 803 D3's with the 7T in my main rig room at home.  I am very impressed with this speaker line.  Excellent value with performance well beyond their price point.

I continue to be amazed with the realism of these 5T's.  I recently attended the Pump Boys musical sitting 4 rows back center being reminded of the neutrality of live music.  These speakers present music in the same way.  

Everyone raves about their imaging prowess!  I own Kef LS50. Can anyone pit on perspective how they compare to the Kefs?  Are the aerial 5t really in the Quad esl-63  or Avalon league? 

Thanks!

They are sweet......    I hope to own a pair in the not too distant future

Oddiofyl! How is the imaging as that’s quite important to me too?

Michael Kelly was at Audio Video Therapy on March 4th for their annual spring Audio Show. In his demo room he was using a Prima Luna HP Integrated w/the 5T and a Plinius preamp w/a Plinius 125 A Class A amp w/the 6T. Both of these speakers are on my radar to replace my older Aerial 6's. He also had some photos of his new 25T coming out at the end of the year. Cost around $40,000. You can see pictures of the event including Michael's demo on the Audio Video Therapy Facebook page.

Would have replied a loong time ago, but I only noticed the thread today, and like someone else said...I've been so happy with them, that I stopped looking at speaker forums.

I've owned the 5T's since March 2016.  They are incredible.  I previously owned a pair of seriously underestimated NHT Classic 4's, and I was a little worried going from a tower to a bookshelf.

No worries since.  I have a huge listening room (about 12'x22', with a high A shaped ceiling), and the imaging, bass, and overall revealing but slightly sweet and smooth demeanor impress me every day.  

I compared them to a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.4's when I auditioned them, and the Aerials made the 1.4's sound all wrong.  Overly cautious and closed in comparitively.  (And, I'm a huge fan of Dynaudio speakers) I auditioned a pair of B+W 805 d3's at home along side them, and they came across as forward and slightly cold sounding by comparison, but they were also great, but WAY more upfront.

The Aerial's seem more subtle, but still present all the detail of the B+W's, but with less obvious fanfare, but counter with far more spaciousness and depth, and more dynamic range.  They go from soft to loud VERY convincingly.

They have wide dispersion, so they sound great outside the listening position.  I'm running mine with relatively modest gear, a Parasound P7 preamp, with a McCormack DNA 1 amp, and they sound lovely.

They're the first speaker I've ever owned, that I am completely satisfied with.  They just put wholly convincing music into my room.  They do all instruments correctly, both tonally and spacially, and serve all genres of music very well.  Guitars and voices...oh my lord!!!

The problem is, if I talk about them any longer, I won't stop.

But, they're great.

After a year these 5T beauties continue to deliver a sound stage of acoustically accurate music that is amazingly balanced across lows and highs.  I play them so much I’m afraid I’ll wear them out.  

My dealer let me take a pair of 5T's home for a demo back in August. I had a pair of 10 year old Aerial 6's and was hesitant from going from a floor stander to a monitor. After 4 days of A/B testing the 5T's stayed and I sold the older 6's. I don't have a big room and the speakers were more open w/lots of detail. Excellent soundstage too. I have them on some excellent stands and about 18 inches from the back wall. One thing both Aerial models have in common you can play music all day w/out any listening fatigue.

Sunny Components Inc, www.sunnyaudiovideo.com
I have a retail store and have been carrying Aerial's for 12 years now. I have owned the Model 20T.I am partial to the sound of the 5T. Very open, amazing deep soundstage. Thet work brilliantly with Bryston Electronics. It's a match made in heaven. You will be so pleased with them. They do 85% of what Wilson Audio's Duettes do. Now we have custom built stands also.

The 5T's are easier to drive as I own both the B's and the T's. I have a Bryston 2.5 SSTs w/the 5T's also Parasound will also match well. W/5's a 200 WPC Forte 6.

Hi,

I wonder if anyone has compared 5T with ATC SCM19 v2. I am struggled to choose between these two. I listen to vocals most usually and prefer good low end. Any impression or suggestion will be appreciated.

As for the amp, I own Benchmark AHB2, which provides 100 W per channel. I would like to know if it is sufficient to drive them in a 300 square feet room.

Thanks!

There was an old comparison in Stereophile of the 5B to the SCM19 V1; kind of came out in a tie. I have the SCM20 pro passives (virtually same as the SCM19 V1). I love them, and find the low end remarkable for a sealed enclosure. It’s accurate and very well defined, but also goes deep. I’d think the SCM19 V2 would take all the good things from the bass and mids and have even better treble. They’re also very easy to place in room. You have to go listen to speakers for yourself cause it’s going to be a question of taste.

I use the P1 but others have reported the AHB2 drives the SCM19s really well (think the thread is still on this page). ATC just came out with a new SIA2-100 integrated which should be cheaper than the P1. The power amp section of the SIA2-150 integrated (which sounds really great) is the same as the P1. I believe the SIA2-100 uses the same topology but just a lower rated transformer.

Actually the AHB2 seems to in fact cost a little more than the P1. It wasn't available when I got my stuff; I find the P1 pretty perfect for the SCM19s/20s. The P1s don't really have a sound as such. 

I listened to the 5t’s when I bought my 7t’s. They are the best sounding book shelf speaker I ever heard. The new Stereophile magazine has them as an A rated component.

Out of curiosity, do any of you 5T owners feel a sub is needed to fill in the lower octaves? I’m thinking in a listening room size of say 13’x17’ with speakers along the shorter wall with primarily jazz and acoustic music.

I listen to a lot of Jazz and acoustic blues and Jazz. W/that music you really don't need a sub just keep the Speakers around 18" from the back wall. Having said that you will get an added benefit to larger ensemble music w/a sub. I use a Paradigm PDR-8 sub. For the ultimate I would suggest the Rel 7Ti.

I know this thread has been inactive for a few years but it seems the 5T is still a current model. I'm curious if anyone has ever listened to the 5T and also listened to the Usher Dancer Mini-X DMD. That's what I'm using now in a 9 ft by 12 ft room with an ATC P1 Pro amp. With both having a front slot port maybe they're quite similar. If the 5T is a significant upgrade I might try to find a pre-owned set

I posted back in 2017 that I bought a pair of 5T's. I've upgraded my amp to a Bryston 3B cube added a Luxman CL38Use preamp and a JL Audio D-110 but my 5T's have remained in the system. They produce great music. 

Did you have other speakers in your system prior to the 5T's, if yes what were they please? Also how big is your room and how close are your speakers to the rear wall? Thanks

Room is 12 ft wide and 18 ft long. Speakers are 2 ft from the long front wall and 8 ft from my listening position. Prior to that I had an original pair of Aerial 6B's which were front ported. 

Okay thank you very much