Aerial 6 or 7B ? Nearfield listening. Thanks.

Hi, I owned both the 6 and 7B, and I gotta tell you, I enjoyed them both. I purchased them while going through big system changes and found they played musically with both solid state, (Krell, Classe) and tubes (Jadis, Cat). Both appreciated power. I prefered the 6's set close to front wall, but found the added bass of the 7B advantageous to my listening pleasure. Either way, if you are able to home audition, you may find the room to be the deciding factor.

Thanks! Yep, I know Aerials like lots of clean power to shine. My 10T had brilliant-sounding vocals with a Pass X350.

Both are quite good and I don't necessarily think one outshines the other. I do prefer a fuller sound, so I would lean towards the 7B given what I know about your room. Any plans to run a sub? If not, then I would definitely go the 7B route.

I test drove both the 6's and 7B's two or three times. I felt the 6's were a better speaker so I picked up a used pair. I have a similar room setup to what you described. Small room (12X15) I listen maybe 7 foot back from the front of the speaker and have them pulled off the back wall 18-24".

System setup :

Modwright SWL 9.0 Signature Upgrade

Mark Levinson No. 23.5 (Currently off-line)

Mark Levinson No. 27 (Currently off-line)

McIntosh MC-275 V (Currently On-line)

Mark Levinson No. 360S DAC

Mark Levinson No. 37 CD Transport

Cables are a mix but mostly Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's and Magic Power cables. I also use Monster Signature power conditioners on all the front end equipment.

These speakers image fantastic ... they are so very enjoyable to listen to. When I test drove the 7B's I didn't get the same feeling at all. I thought the 7B's would fit my style of listening better but I just couldn't get them to image like the 6's. Here's the bad ... they are great for low to medium volume levels Jazz, Blues, lighter Rock but as you get into the higher volume levels they just cant handle it. Classical music at low to medium is fantastic but I am scared to push them hard with anything that has big dynamic swings. I would say for most folks, they are fine ... it's only when I mix too much beer into the equation that I get into trouble. I refuse to give up their sweet sound and have hung onto them for two years now. I would strongly advise picking up the floor stands that are designed for them. Some other characteristics I noticed are as follows :

They haven't responded to the tube amp as well as I thought. I am currently testing the new MC-275 but so far I am not as impressed as I was with the Levinson/Modwright combo. I am going to switch to copper cables and see. I was originally running Paradigm Signature S4's and they seem to shine with a tube amp but so far I like the Aerials with SS. The Aerial model 6 fit me much better than the Paradigms however. I really liked the Paradigms but the metal tweeter was a bit bright with some source material. The Aerial tweeter is fantastic.

If your not a volume pig ... I'd pick up a pair of 6's.

No, no sub planned. Thanks again.

Horseface--thanks a million for all that info. Yep,
that Aerial tweeter is great. Not too many audiophile
tricks but about as listenable and painless as any
tweeter I've heard, but not rolled off or closed in.
Good luck to you.

I have the 6's and think they sound the best bi-wired.