I don't have them but did hear them at CES while covering the show there.
Show conditions are never a great place to make an evaluation but I heard very good sound from the Sony SS-AR1 when I was in the room.
Sony is a big company, if they set their mind to making a great "anything" I think they are quite capable. |
Congratulations Dserota17. I heard them at RMAF earlier this year. Sony did a very nice job with these speakers. They are terrific.
Enjoy!
Mike |
Sony's US headquarters is located in a suburb of San Diego. They were gracious enough to invite our local club, the San Diego Music and Audio Guild, to a private demo last weekend. We were told they had installed a custom sound room but that turned out to be just a converted office space (maybe 12 x 18) with a typical office dropped ceiling. Even in that much less than ideal environment their speakers showed great promise.
Several Guild members had attended THE Show at Newport Beach last summer and heard the SS-AR1s in a much larger and more appropriate room so we knew their full potential was not being demonstrated at the Sony facility.
Dserota, as your pair breaks in and you refine their placement in your room I must believe you will be very pleased with them. |
Congrats. A review once you have everything settled in would be great. |
I heard the Sony Speaker in Berkeley at Music Lovers, last month; Blue Coast Music and Reference Recordings were on hand for the demo..... pretty spectacular. |
Right, Surprisingly good effort from Sony
I like em
Des |
I was considering buying the SS-AR1's, and feel sorry for those who took the plunge, and will be buying the Aerial Acoustics 7T's as soon as my sound room remodeling is complete. I heard the AR1's while I was in southern Calif. and was impressed, but after hearing the Aerial's in Portland at Fred's, the Sony is no match against the 7T's which blow the Sony's out the window. Best transparency and mid-range clarity I have ever heard. The bass was powerful, rich, very deep and very tight. Aerial's tweeter is an in house custom design, built by Scan-Speak, who also provides drivers for the Sony AR1's. The 7T midrange driver, is also a in-house design, built by SB Acoustics in Wisconsin who provides the mid-range drivers for all the Wilson Audio speakers including the Sasha's. Michael Kelly at Aerial informed me the 7T's mid-range and bass performance will equal or better any speaker regardless of price. They are that good. Before you plunk down $27K for the Sony's, check out the Aerial's and listen. You will be amazed at what you get for $10K, and think twice about buying a more expensive speaker. |
We all know there are a myriad of factors that influence a system's performance and various listening conditions. How many people have got their speakers home to discover that it wasn't the cat's meow that they heard back at the dealer.
In addition, we all place our own value of different things in our speakers and systems. So while you may be in love with one model, it could be a dog to me and neither of us will be able to fathom how that could be. I have heard the exact same assertion you attributed to Mr. Kelley at Aerial from a number of people but it was in reference to the speakers that that individual was selling on that given day. In the end, we can each be happy with a path we have taken and it does not necessarily invalidate what someone else has done or experienced. |
I do not represent Mr. Kelly or Aerial or sell his speakers. I am not a dealer. A well executed speaker design
based on the quality of the drivers and a well designed crossover network, will result in a speaker that will perform well in any environment with proper placement. Given Mr. Kelly's reputation as one of the best speaker designer's in the U.S. for over thirty years, formerly with
A.D.S., and now Aerial, speaks for itself. Do not fall into the fools gold trap thinking you have to spend well over $20K to get an outstanding performing speaker. That thinking is for the stupid rich. The Aerial 7T is a masterpiece for the price. All you have to do is listen, and when you do, you will realize its a steal for the price. It can handle enormous amounts of power. 500 watts rms is no problem. Make sure its hooked up to a high quality powerful amp before you listen. |
The OP just bought the Sony speakers and writes that he is pleased with them. He wants to read about impressions from other owners of the Sony speaker. Why denigrate the speaker, hijack the thread and then praise Aerials? What does this thread have to do with Aerial speakers? |
Cool down Pete..Its not my intention to denigrate the Sony's. They were my first choice earlier this year. They sound wonderful and the cabinet work is stunning. This is an open forum and will attract non owners as well. There is
nothing wrong raising the issue to explore options. There are a handful of speaker brands between $6K and $15K that will give Sony, Wilson, B&W a run for the money. The Sony has a better multi-layered cabinet than the Aerial's, but the performance of the Aerial's at $17K less is breathtaking, as well as the Sony's. Sony is only making a one time run of 80 pairs for the U.S. They have just about reached that number and currently have a smaller
version in production which will be out soon. |
Yes, but Audiozen you did denegrate the Sonys in your original post by saying:
"the Sony is no match against the 7T's which blow the Sony's out the window."
I'm sure you heard what you heard and that the Aerials are great speakers in their own right, but as others I'm sure have noticed, you heard these two speakers in completely different rooms with what I would have to assume were different upfront electronics. These are two of the biggest variables you could possibly introduce to comparing speakers so I'm not sure how certain your conclusions can be. Again, who knows, you may be right, but there are some huge variables here to make such bold assertions. Now, if you had heard the speakers back-to-back in the same room with the same electronics it might be a bit more meaningful. But of course there's always the moving target of personal tastes, compatibility with associated equipment, system setup, and on and on... |
I'm quite cool, thanks, and remain skeptical of your motive here.
I heard the SS-AR1 at last year's RMAF in the four-channel Ray Kimber? demo. They had stunning realism. Congratulations Dserota. They are excellent speakers. |
Audiozen, you could stand to learn some manners. feel sorry for those who took the plunge
have to spend well over $20K to get an outstanding performing speaker. That thinking is for the stupid rich. Could you be any more insulting? |
There is nothing like a new romance. Michael Kelly at Aerial informed me the 7T's mid-range and bass performance will equal or better any speaker regardless of price. The Aerial 7T is a masterpiece for the price. |
Peterayer, thanks for your kind words.
Audiozen.-...yawn....my comment to you.... Don't feel sorry for me. I just bought a pair of 27k speakers that I am enjoying immensely. Personally, i couldn't care less whether you think Aerials or Wilsons or Magico outperform my speakers. It has zero effect on my listening enjoyment.
Excuse me but I'm going back to listening to my Sony's now. Good evening and happy holidays fellow a-goners. |
Drubin..my apologies for seeming disrespectful, however, what I mean by "stupid rich" is that quite often people will plop down a pile of cash without investigating what their buying. Example, the tweeter used in the Sony SS-AR1 is a stock tweeter from Scan-Speak, the D-3004/660000 which is an inferior tweeter to the one designed by Aerial's in house engineer's, which is also made by Scan-Speak. The D-3004 has only six small button magnets on the back of the tweeter in a circle formation resulting in small magnet mass. The Aerial tweeter uses two large solid magnets doulbled up, with very large magnet mass for a tweeter, resulting in greater power handling, better detail
and dynamics. For a speaker selling for $27K, you would think Sony would put in a better tweeter equal to the quality of the one in the Aerial. If your going to plunk down $27K for a pair of speaker's, you should look under the hood to make certain technically, your getting your money's worth. |
Audiozen, because Arial's tweeter has two large ferrite magnets instead of neodymium magnets it has better detail and dynamics? You have no idea what you're talking about. |
12-12-11: Audiozen
I was considering buying the SS-AR1's, and feel sorry for those who took the plunge, and will be buying the Aerial Acoustics 7T's as soon as my sound room remodeling is complete. I heard the AR1's while I was in southern Calif. and was impressed, but after hearing the Aerial's in Portland at Fred's, the Sony is no match against the 7T's which blow the Sony's out the window. Best transparency and mid-range clarity I have ever heard. The bass was powerful, rich, very deep and very tight. Aerial's tweeter is an in house custom design, built by Scan-Speak, who also provides drivers for the Sony AR1's. The 7T midrange driver, is also a in-house design, built by SB Acoustics in Wisconsin who provides the mid-range drivers for all the Wilson Audio speakers including the Sasha's. Michael Kelly at Aerial informed me the 7T's mid-range and bass performance will equal or better any speaker regardless of price. They are that good. Before you plunk down $27K for the Sony's, check out the Aerial's and listen. You will be amazed at what you get for $10K, and think twice about buying a more expensive speaker.
Audiozen (Threads | Answers | This Thread) I was considering buying the Aerial Acoustics 7T's, and feel sorry for those who took the plunge, and will be buying the Walmart 14T's as soon as I find a job. It's has the twin turbo quad cam carbon fiber drivers made by Acme Corp that is just amazing. You will be amazed at what you get for $100, and think twice about buying a more expensive speaker. |
Knghhifi..The speakers made in Mexico at Kmart are a better deal than the one's at Walmart. |
Face..there is very little audible difference between a neodymium and ferrite magnet. It would mainly apply to air chamber differences. Neodymium became the rage in the 90's due to there higher magnetic flux, and the ability to move current three times faster than ferrite. China currently has a monopoly on neodymium, and it is far more costly than ferrite material since its a rare earth metal. The main benefit is that less mass is required with neodymium than ferrite, resulting in a lighter, more compact driver.
Large ferrite magnets are like capacitors, and can handle larger voiumes of continuous current. The tweeter in the Sony's have a maximum rms rating 0f 90 watts. The tweeter in the Aerial 7T can handle 200 watts rms without breaking a sweat, due to there large magnets and there one inch copper voice coil. Neodymium's overheat more easily than ferrite, so avoid clipping your amp. You will destroy a neodymium if it overheats, which is not a problem with ferrite. |
Where are you getting the 200w figure from for the 7T's power rating?
Sony's 90w rating is 100h(hour) RMS, not peak and 150w long term max-power, which means they're capable of playing music at a constant 114dB @ 1M each without clipping. Add in Sony's higher crossover point and power handling should never be a concern unless you're attempting to fill a very large room or trying to make yourself deaf.
I'd still like to know how any of this have an effect on dynamics as the woofer(s) are usually the limiting factor on overall efficiency? Or as you mentioned before, detail? |
Congratulations, Dserota. I'm sure you're loving the crap out of your new shpeeks. But really Audiozen, if you think that SBA mid you mentioned is "built" in WI, you need to do more research. Trust me on that. And yes, Dserota deserves a little more respect. |
I ran them through their paces at the SHOW in Newport. I brought three non-compressed master files, two live soundboards and one master file. They perfectly recreated both a Midnight Oil and Neil Young/Crazy Horse soundboard to where you thought both bands were in the room. I can also say that they had hundreds of thousands of electronics behind them, including very impressive and muscular sounding PASS amps. I am a big fan of ATC and have to say that these are amongst the best speakers I have ever heard, a triumph of engineering. Sony did an amazing job on this project and I think they smoke anything by Wilson and Magico. I think you will be very happy with your investment. |
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settle down people. You must learn to get along with others. |
Hi dserota, congrats on your purchase. Certainly you are having a top notch speaker. Japs are know for their meticulous approach and quality conscious. I for one are a big fan of Japanese vintage high end stuff. Many Japs gears I own now will not be possible to be manufacture again today by some cottage manufacturer, they just do not have the resources to do it again. Look at the Sony TA ER1 preamp for example. Enjoy what you have purchase today. I am sure many years latar, a lot of people will be hunting down a pair of SS-AR1. |
Anyone still enjoying the SS-AR1 ? Happy Listening! |
@solid_snake
err......I don't think "japs" is a proper term. Sounds like the N word.
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That comment was made 5 years ago and the poster has not been active on Agon for over 3 years.
"Japs (sic) are know for their meticulous approach and quality conscious. I for one are a big fan of Japanese vintage high end stuff."
Cleary, the poster's message had no intent of disrepecting the Japanese with his statement. Never an opportunity, no matter how insignificant, is to be missed by the safety pin police. |
Thank you for your interest in disrespect.
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A few years already after the post has been ended.Now it was already 2019, at this time i would like to buy a pair of good floorstanding speaker. And honestly Sony SS-AR1/2 will still be in my first priority even these has been launched for more than 10 years. As known well about Sony, when they decided to make a pair of truely high end speakers, they can blown out ranges on the market with ease. Another brand i am interested to look into, was Wilson Benesch from England. Model was act one evolution which i think is also one of the most beautiful looking speaker on the market.
Well could anyone out there pls say something, especially the experiences of having Sony AR1/2 or the highly praised Wilson Benesch, thanks!
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