WOW Aerial 10T vs. B&W 801II/III


Not sure if there is anyone out there that has had the luxury of comparing these two speakers, but WOW!

I have been a HUGE B&W fan for years, owned 801F, 801-80's, 801II, 801II with NorthCreeks, 801III and even the 802Nautilus! I happen to prefer the 801II (with or without the NorthCreeks) over all the other B&Ws mentioned above.

UNTIL TODAY, when I purchased a set of 10T's! They are awesome! The bass is very tight and extremely deep! Mids are detailed and the soundstage is far better than that of the 801's!

Has anyone else listened to these differences?

Am I nuts?

Dan
Ag insider logo xs@2xporschecab
I've owned my 10t's for almost 3 years now.
Using a BAT 50SE tube pre, Sony SCD777ES with a Sonic frontiers SFD2MKII tube DAC for redbook. 33H Levinson monos, and the 10t's. Transparent and Nordost cabling. I sold a reel deck to a guy from NYC a while back, and he and his friend who worked for a large hi-end store in NYC that shall remain nameless picked it up. By popular demand I gave them a listen to my system, and the HI-end salesman told me that their store had done 200K installs that didn't sound as good.

Let me say, sure I may be biased, but the 10t is a much better speaker than most folks credit it to be, especially if you put the right stuff in front of it. It was a struggle for me of 2 years of trying components to get the synergy I have now, and I'm loving it.

Good luck with your 10t's, you just made a move you will not regret!

beemer
Michael Kelly from Aerial wanted to make a statement when he introduced the 10T's and all of the reviewers agreed. They were voted Stereophile joint speaker of the year in 1996 sharing the honor with the $ 20,000.00 plus Dunlavy's I am very happy with my used pair. They have great bass, astonishing detailed midrange and smooth as silk highs . I think its called the "New England Sound" Smooth but not too bright. I have heard the 801's and have to say they are also great ... but in the USA they cost considerable more than the 10T's . Probably because they are imported. I think the 801's are less forgiving for all but the best associated components. My Aerial's head up my all tube system powered by the VTL ST-150 which is a great match ! One attempt to lift the Aerials and you can see that they are the real thing . Enjoy There is lots of value in high end audio if you know where to look and the Aerial 10T's lead the way !
I have patiently been waiting for my Aerial 10T's to arrive. I bought a one year old pair 7 days ago along with a CC3B center. I have heard these speakers many times with Krell gear, Theta, but no tube set up as of yet. These are fine speakers for a variety of musical tastes. I plan on running them with a 5 channel EAD amp for now. I should expect the speakers on Tuesday and when this subject came up I had to put in my 2 cents.

I do like the B&W speakers in question, but they are certainly more pricey new and used. I really never got into them nor has any of my fellow audiophile friends. They just feel there are other avenues to take for the $$.

Happy listening.
Thanks for the responses! I actually think the bottom end of the 10T is greater, more defined, deeper than that of the 801II. Is this possible? I just purchased the CC3B and will now be set for Music/Theater. One thing I left off, the 10T's look so much better than the 801s!

Thanks!

Dan
Very interesting and encouraging that Weiserb is using the VTL S-150 to drive his 10T's. I have a pair of ARC VT-150's, (160 watt tube monos) which have massive power-supply capacitance. I love the 10T's, but I have heard that the 10T's require large SS amps for best results. Any advice or experiences in hearing the 10T's with both tube and SS amps? Thanks!