Great amp for Aerial 10t's


I am seriously considering purchasing the Aerial 10'ts. After reading that you must use very good quality ancilary equipment with these speakers, and considering that they can be somewhat bright with the wrong amp, can anyone recommend a pre and power amp that will make these speakers sing?
audioseth807d

Showing 1 response by tswhitsel

I have owned the current version of the 10t for 5 years now and have found them to be an easy speaker to drive. My first amp with them was a Classe DR15, which at 175 watts into 8 ohms was more than enough power to drive them in my room to 100db. The amp was dark sounding however so I upgraded to a new Classe 300 which was a great match and a bit more power at 300 watts. Then I had a chance to try a pair of BEL 1001 MK2 amps bridged in mono which are 200 watts into 8 ohms. While not quite as powerful as the Classe they were clearly a superior amp. I sold the Classe a year or so later and bought a single BEL 1001 MK3a which in stereo is rated at 50 watts per channel. This amp is a good example of the fact that you really cannot always pay much attention to power ratings as it had no difficulty driving the 10t's to satisfying volume. I did buy a second BEL MK3a a year later and the extra power did make a difference in how well the bass was controlled, so based on that I would say you might like to have more power, especially if you like to listen loud or have a large room (mine is 13ft by 22ft). I have a Classe 70 amp that I use in a surround sound system which I have tried on the 10t's and it sounded great. So I can see where the CJ 11a mentioned above would be satisfying as well. The Ayre V3 is a good match according to Michael Kelly, which is rated at 100 watts per channel.