Now back to reality...I had great sucess with Spendor and the MF A5 Int/CD combo...the S5e's were not to my taste scale wise, but might be a great match if you have a small room.
It is not so much that I can do better than the Aerials, but it is simply a matter of space, and I might need to move my system into an area where monitors, or smaller floorstanders, would be more appropriate. At this point in my life I have yet to acquire a space to call my own, where cables everywhere, and 100+lb speakers do not matter to an interior design minded wife. Right now I have a great sounding system, but there is this nusance complaining in the background that I can't seem to make go away... :-)
I have never heard the Von Schweikert line. They look to be nice, well-made speakers. And I have heard great things about BAT of course!
Superdoof, you have a very nice system. I have always heard great comments on the Aerial line, but have never had the opportunity to hear them in person. I was just wondering what would be even better than the Aerials to make you want to switch!
As for suggestions, as you can see, I own Von Schweikert VR4-jr's, that I am very happy with. I have owned Martin Logans and B&W's also. I use a tubed-pre and solid state BAT combo.
Not sure yet, I am not entirely motivated to make the switch, unless I can get a decnt price for the Aerials. I just bought them, less than 6 months ago. I would rather put up with my wife's disgust with sytem placement, than get killed financially by having to sell the Aerials.
I would look at Focal and Totem, and maybe Tannoy, because that is what my local dealer has. I like the Focal 1007 Be bookshelves with solidstate amp, tubed pre. I have heard them in a Mcintosh system like that, and it really helped tame some of the Focal's brightness. Do you have any suggestions?
System edited: Added pics. This system is working fairly well. I am noticing that some low end detail is lacking after listening to other systems at my local dealer. Not sure if it is the Aerials, or more so the room acoustics... I think that the 7b's are not known for tight bass, otherwise I love the speakers, and everything else. Room Acoustics someday...
I use Tsunami 2's on my Musical Fidelity with a Hydra and I think they work great and they are fairly reasonably priced. They are dead quite extend the mids and highs and tighten the bass. I think they are a great buy at 310 a piece I believe.
System edited: The best thing is that I can sit back and relax... But, I am curious about power cords... Any thoughts on what works well with Musical Fidelity A5 cdp/int amp?
Yes, I'll put some pictures up eventually, once i get my rack... right now it is all sitting on the coffee table! My rack should be here next week. I went into my shop last night, and they had just gotten a bunch of Analysis Plus cable to demo. They sent me home with a pair of Oval 9 speaker cable, (non-biwire). They are very nice. My soundstage really opened up, and the images got a lot tighter. The voice is a little dry, but I kind of liked that for some reason? Maybe I am just used to hearing the grain from my cheap speaker cables.
I'm a value guy too, but I did find that bi-wiring made an audible positive difference with my former loudspeakers, which were Paradigm Studio 100 V3's. In those, the soundstage opened up more after biwiring. I don't know whether the same would be true of the 7B speakers. I've heard the 7B's and I agree that they're a great speaker, very smooth and don't bite your head off with their high end (a good thing). I suspect that they're a good match with the Musical Fidelity gear that you own. Thanks for posting a glimpse into your own private audio realm. Pictures to follow?
Thanks... the speakers are nice. It's funny, I've been living with some Focals for a while, and they trained my ears to "flinch" as a particular high note came along during a well known song. So, while listening to those songs with the Aerials I find my ears flinching unconciously, but for no reason... The Aerials are just a smoother sounding speaker... I am having fun with them. I almost upgraded to the new Focal Electra 1000 Be bookshelves, but then I tried the Aerials and found myself actually relaxing and enjoying the music, rather than analyzing the recording, via the Focals.
I own the MF A5 CDP and used to run it with the A5 integrated. All of my wiring was Nordost Red Dawn, but recently switched the CDP to Preamp wire to Audience AU24. Both are great...but I think wiring is more an issue of Speaker selection then component's used. The good news is that Nordost RD has dropped into resonable pricing since the new models have rolled out. Great system...would love to hear those speakers!
