The speakers came in form-fitting not loose peanut packing. In removing them from their box, I could smell the oil used on the wood veneer. Very pleasing experience. The physical appearance of the speakers is excelllent.

I have used these with sand and gravel filled stands. They are power by MA-500 monoblocks. The two sources I have used are a NAD tuner and Oppo CD/DVD player.

The sound stage is broad and deep. The placement of voices and instruments is precise. The bass extension is adequate. The mids are particularly smooth.

Wide and natural sound stage
Best sound for the money
Similar design to B&W 805
Real Rosewood (not vinyl) cabinet unheard of at this price
High value drivers by Hi-Vi Research

Little known company
Resale

I burned in the Pisces for 150 hours before serious listening. Here is a capsule review for the new version 3.0:

Treble
Smooth and laid back.

Midrange
Clean, full and lush tending toward a bit(and I do mean a bit) of warmth.

Bass
Good pitch definition. On most music the Pisces v.3 went deep enough and I did not feel the need to turn on the subwoofer for most music listening.

Focus and Soundstage
A strong point of this design. Wide and recessed soundstage. The speakers disappear within the soundfield and the listener is unable to point to where the sound emanates, just like a good (Magna) planer speaker. This a a trait of the best speakers and it emulates listening to acoustic music live without amplification. Wide dispersion provides a big image and you do not need to sit on axis, a real advantage.

Dynamics
The new design adds more dynamic range. The 3.0 version sounds better at low listening levels and with less power.

Comparison to older models
Here is a link to my original review of the older version:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=11917.0

In that 2004 review, one of my criticisms of the older design was that they needed too much power to sound best. I said “Better bring a big amp”. It is nice to know the AER engineers listened and the new upgraded model is more efficient and can be driven easily with a common medium size amplifier.

Version 3.0 also has bi-wire capability lacking on the originals which gives them flexibility many audiophiles require. I recommend you do get rid of the solid gold plated straps that tie the high and low banana posts together on the back and bi-wire them for the cleanest sound.

Conclusion
The new AER's combine the modern and well made Hi-Vi Research drivers with a superbly crafted real rosewood (not vinyl) cabinet. They remain an incredible bargain, looking and sounding far more expensive than their modest price. It is nice to see they have chosen to evolve, fine tune and improve this great design (also used by the B&W 805) rather than start over.

Customer Service

Quick technical support from the distributor to all questions.

Similar Products Used:

TEST SYSTEM
JM Labs 820 Cobalt speakers
B&W 805
Sound Dynamics RTS-3
Cayin TA-30/Prima Luna Prologue One Integrated Tube amp
Aragon 2004 Mk2 amp
Aragon 24K SP preamp
Marantz Model 9 (clone) tube preamp
Rotel 991 CD and HDCD player (love HDCD)
Sony 333ES SACD player
Technics DVD A10 DVD-A player
Monster 2.4 speaker cable
Home Depot HD 14 and 16 speaker cable (not bad, read Audio Cable Asylum)
Silver Audio 4.0 interconnects

Headphones
Stax SRX/SRD-7 mkII
Denon D5000
Senn 580
Senn 650
AKG 701

Low price. Attractive cabinet design and materials--especially that gorgeous veneer. They do deliver some detail and openness. Fine kitchen speakers. They are worth $200. At $300, one can find better sounding speakers.

If it's a weakness, they sound like $200 speakers, which is what they are. The music never feels live and rarely really draws me in or excites me. There is always something missing.

Beautiful cabinets. The appearance of these little speakers is genuinely delightful--tasteful, expensive-looking veneer wood grain, an interesting and effective shape, and a futuristic look with the grills off. Well-packaged for shipping. Arrived in excellent shape. I had to deal with a rattling in the tweeter mount before I could listen to these. It wasn't too difficult to fix, but it sobered me to the truth that these are very low-cost speakers. I immediately began to imagine a better tweeter design. I mounted these on the matched stands, filled with stand. The immediate and lasting impression has been: not bad for $200, but not so good either. There is a little more openness and detail than the old BA A-40s that these replaced, but there is less musicality and depth. Honestly, these are "not bad," but they are also a little thin sounding, especially up top and at bottom. I have tried them at different places in different set-ups, and they have found their happiest home in the kitchen, where they are plenty loud and the listening is not critical.

Customer Service

Unknown.

Similar Products Used:

Small bookshelfs by EPI, Boston Acoustics, others.

VERY cool cabinet and excellent veneer work, the six sided appearance is very nice and the grille was pleasing, binding posts were strong and of good quality. Overall an outstanding cabinet.

The drivers and crossover are pathetic, despite all the hype, these speakers sound for the most part very bad, lacking in detail and bass reproduction

In a word, they look way better than they sound. Most musical program was muddy sounding and lacked and detail whatsoever. All music and video benefited greatly with the use of an equalizer, but the sonic detail were elusive at best.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, PSB, JBL, Signet, Mirage, Wharfedale