Avalon Eidolon Diamond or Aerial 20T v2.

Thanks for the input guys and keep it coming. I am going to try and listen to the Eidolon in the next at a store (3 hours away) but I cannot find a Aerial dealer close that has the 20T v2 in stock.

I have a BAT VK 600SE for amplification and hope to get a BAT VK 51SE (Used) or a BAT 32SE (Used or New). Currently I use a Denon AVP-A1HDCI pre/pro but am working on either the 51 or 32 to put between the Denon and the BAT amp. I have a friend who has a all top of the line BAT setup with Avalon Eidolon Vision speakers, unfortunately he is over thousand miles away so a I can't just go and hear his setup.

My room is first and foremost a dedicated theater room but over the last six months I have been listening to music in there more than watching movies. I would like to try and improve this area and still have it integrate with the room and rest of the system for HT use. I don't think improving upon my two channel setup should hurt my theater setup only improve upon it. The room is fairly well treated and with my current speakers (Aerial LR5's) with the BAT amp pushing them sounds very good with music, but I think it can be improved upon.

My current setup in my opinion is very very good for HT and if that is all I did in that room then I would not even be considering changing anything but two channel listening is a entirely new beast to me. What my setup gives me right now on two channel is a fairly good sound stage right/left and up/down, but no depth. Voices are dead center and certain instruments come in on the right and left but it all seems to me that it is flat from front to back.

My pros and cons with the two speakers are this.

Aerial 20T v2 Pros =

I have a good lead on a fairly new used pair in black.

I have the Aerial center channel CC5. Matches the brand
and the aesthetics.

Build quality and fit and finish.

I'm very happy with the Aerial brand and believe in
them. ( If it ain't broke don't fix it)


Aerial 20T v2 Cons =

I'm a little worried about the ribbon tweeter.

Are they as holographic as the Avalons.

Will they give me the bass that I want in my room. (I'd rather not use
subs on two channel)

Ship in cardboard boxes that are lined with wood inside. Should be in
crates at this price level.


Avalon Diamond Pros =

Everyone I talk to in person says they are the most holographic. Sounds
like the people are in the room with you.

I have to say just a great looking speaker with excellent build quality
and fit and finish.

Seem to hold there value better (Although everything is tougher to sell
in this economy)

Come shipped in wooden crates. This is better for resale if it comes to it.

Avalon Diamond Cons =

They don't come in black, but I can overlook this.

Harder to find them used and price. This is bad for buying but better
if you need to sell them.

Will these give me the kind of bass I want without running subs.

Like I said in my previous post I plan on going to hear the Avalons soon and I hope this will help in my decision.

Thanks for the detailed response Mmike84 that is the kind of answers I'm looking for. The one thing you say that intrigues me the most is about placement. My room is just over 14 feet wide and the screen for the projector is about 8.5 feet wide so I can only go about 2.5 feet from the sidewalls. Any further and the left and right speaker start getting in the way of the screen. From the front wall I can go out up to 5-6 feet no problem.

Why are you selling your 20T's Mmike84.

Mtdking why are you selling your Diamonds and which did you prefer the Avalon's or the Aerial's.

I have to disagree about the amp. The BAT is a very robust unit with plenty of reserve in the SE version. It would be putting out 600w into 4 ohms and I believe the 20T's are more efficient than the LR5's that I'm blasting right now as I right this. It's more about current than watts and this is one place the BAT does not come up short.

I like the 20T's because they are Aerial and I have the Aerial center (CC5) channel, but after listening to the Eidolon Diamonds today I have to say they where pretty good. I do think that the Avalon's would be a much easier load for the BAT and it seems there are quite a bit of BAT/Avalon combos out there.

What do you guys think about this. I can get a pair of Eidolon Visions for 13K in mint condition. It's not the Diamonds but I think I would get 85% to 90% of the Diamond.

Dude I listened to the Indra's today and I thought they where weak as hell. I would keep my LR5's before I bought those babies. Now the Diamonds where a different story and the Isis where just insane.

My friend I spoke of earlier in this thread has the Visions along with all BAT gear and they would be his speakers that I would be purchasing if I got the Visions. He wants to step up to the Diamonds himself.

You are correct on the set up issue. I should have not been so hard on the poor Indra. The dealer had limited space and they did offer to pull them out and I told them no it was ok. What I didn't like about them is that they didn't seem robust enough in there sound. Maybe this would have changed drastically if they where out in the room I don't know, but the Diamond's where set up the same way and sounded way better. The Isis is just another beast all together over the Indra's and Eidolon's.

My preference for a speaker is for it to have weight when playing music. This is where the Isis's two 13 inch woofers come in and set it apart from the other two. Unfortunately the price is sky high but the Isis is what really fits my taste in how music should sound through a loud speaker. This is the same reason why I think the Aerial 20T v2 may fit me better than the Eidolon. I think from what people are telling me the 20T will have the weight with it more so than the Eidolon. However I did like how voices sounded on the Diamonds and with the two JL Audio subs I will run with it the bottom end should be fine.

Decisions, Decisions

I just want to say thanks again for all your help you guys have been great and keep the opinions coming.

Thanks

Does anyone know what the Time will consist of (Size of drivers) and is the Eidolon going away or will it still be in the line up.

Not to interupt this awesome dialogue that you guys have going here, but as the starter of this thread I wanted to let everyone know that I'm going with a pair of Aerial 20T v2. I didn't get to actually here them but in talking to some people that I trust I decided to make the executive decision and get them.

Thanks for all the opinions and input.

Well I've had the speakers for a week now and all I can say is WOW. There is no comparison to the LR5's, none-nada. What impressed me the most about the 20T v2's is the bass. I'm not running the subs at all and there is just so much great bass coming out of the two Aerials it's glorious. On the highs and mids it's just scary sometimes, very real.