Absolutely stellar speakers. I've been through many before and was absolutely surprised and overwhelmed with these. Leon at Audio Advice kept suggesting them me even though I had heard the previous model and did not like it. Finally, I agreed to give the 7b a shot. Wow!!! I could not order my pair fast enough. I now have them with a CC3 center, SR3 on the sides and model 5 for the rear. Awesome stuff. I combined that with a Velodyne HGS 18 and my system is complete. If you are looking for speakers in the price range you really should demo these. If you heard them later you could be disappointed with what you bought.

I can't believe that people rate these speakers so poorly. I used to have a pair of the original Aerial 7's. Anyone listening to music in our home was totally enamored with these speakers. They had kick, they had balance, they sounded just right. I can't technospeak with reasons why, they just sounded really good for all the types of music I listen to. Which is a myriad of things!From PJ Harvey to Philip Glass to Gorecki to Pansonic, it all was sweet.
Anyway, I felt I needed more bass, so I bought the 10Ts. Yes, they were better in many ways, but they just did not sound right in the room I have. My wife complained so much about the bass of the 10Ts that I auditioned a lot of other speakers. I now have Eggelston Andras. She no longer complains. I am not sure if it because she likes them or she is terrified of what I may bring home next. Another story altogether. Look for me on that review thread. I am reminded of Peter Seller's Being There. I love to watch, but the speakers are gone!!!!
I babble.
The 7's were a great speaker for the money then, and they are even better now.
I don't know if Aerial has a distinctive "sound", but for me their products have been definitive statements at their price points, and Mike Kelly is a straight up guy.
Need to know more?
My email is edsyl@sympatico.ca.
Later!

Aerial Accoustics 7bs
System Configuration:
Proceed AVP
Proceed AMP5
SPM interconnects
DH Labs Silver Sonic speaker cables
Lat Power Cords for Processor and AMP
Sony 7000
Pioneer CLD-79
Infinity Sub 120(looking to upgrade to Bag End 18, or Velodyne HGS 18)
room dimension 20x12x8
Minimal furnishing
No wall treatments

I bought the Aerial 7bs with the CC3 center channel over a year ago. The systems was suppose to be geared toward HT, however I do enjoy listening to CDS on occassions. These speakers coupled with the Proceed line provides a very smooth sounding system. The Lat power cords provided me with opening the soundstage. The bass is not as deep, as the 10Ts or 8s, but I can live with it for the moment. the mid and highs are smeamless and provide great detail without harshness or fatigue directed toward the listener. The Walnut finish is very furniture-like. I prefer these speaker over the 10ts only for the size of my room and 8 because they had too much bass(if you can belive that). I plan to upgrade to my sub and add room treatments to improve on the sound. So far I think these speakers are wonderful and a great value.

Aerial Accoustics 7bs
System Configuration:
Proceed AVP
Proceed AMP5
SPM interconnects
DH Labs Silver Sonic speaker cables
Lat Power Cords for Processor and AMP
Sony 7000
Pioneer CLD-79
Infinity Sub 120(looking to upgrade to Bag End 18, or Velodyne HGS 18)
room dimension 20x12x8
Minimal furnishing
No wall treatments

I bought the Aerial 7bs with the CC3 center channel over a year ago. The systems was suppose to be geared toward HT, however I do enjoy listening to CDS on occassions. These speakers coupled with the Proceed line provides a very smooth sounding system. The Lat power cords provided me with opening the soundstage. The bass is not as deep, as the 10Ts or 8s, but I can live with it for the moment. the mid and highs are smeamless and provide great detail without harshness or fatigue directed toward the listener. The Walnut finish is very furniture-like. I prefer these speaker over the 10ts only for the size of my room and 8 because they had too much bass(if you can belive that). I plan to upgrade to my sub and add room treatments to improve on the sound. So far I think these speakers are wonderful and a great value.

I've owned the 7B's for almost a year and now after reading the reviews below and seeing an average of 3.11 overall for the speakers, I just had to post. These are amazingly good speakers. Yes, the cabinetry is probably better than 95% of the speakers out there and without question, the very best at this price point. That is just a bonus, I wouldn't buy speakers simply because they look good, they have to sound good too. I would however, not buy a speaker if it was exceptionally ugly, regardless of how it sounds, but I digress. The Aerial line pricing goes up as the model numbers do..the 5 costs less than the 7B and the 8 costs less than the 10T. The 10T's are the best sounding of the line but, also the ugliest by far. For this reason I couldn't buy a speaker that looks like R2D2 sitting in my living room. I auditioned the 8 and the 7B together using the same program material, in the same room, with another friend of mine, also an audiophile. We both agreed that the 7B sounded "better" to us than the 8. The 8 had deeper bass but, it was muddy and the speaker was slow. The 7B was much faster and snappier with tighter bass. Yes, we made sure that the 8 was the "new improved" 8 with the updated crossover and the 7B still sounded better. The listening room was small but, so is my own listening room so, thats why I bought the 7B's. In a big room 20 X 20 I could recommend the 8's, but, in your average room size, mine is 12 X 10, the 7B's work much better. Also, if you intend on doing serious Home Theater you need a sub. Since the 8's already have a side firing sub, they didn't work for me. It's my opinion that a free standing sub with main speakers will always sound better that a main speaker/sub combination, hence my decision to buy the 7B's and a seperate sub. The 8's and a sub would be overkill and ridiculous. Are the 7b's a 5 star speaker, NO. Are they a 1 star speaker, NO. They are, in my opinion, and many other "pro"s opinions like Home Theater Magazine, a solid 4 star speaker. At this price point certainly, among the best available. When auditioning speakers, be sure you try and make things fair. Use the same CD, the same quality of components and cables, and the same room acoustical treatments, when possible. Often it is superior components that make a speaker sound great and inferior components that makes a speaker sound lousy. I will give the 7B's 4 stars but, post it as a 5 star to offset the ludicrous 1 and 2 star ratings this excellent speaker recieved.

I previuosly owned the 7Bs. They are a great speaker. The only reason I don't have them now is that I own those ugly-ass 10Ts now. I can't understand how anyone can rate these as a one star. In my book they are 5.
A word of caution. When auditioning 7B with other speakers, make sure the volume levels are matched. The 7Bs require alot more power to reach the volume level of some of the more efficient speakers.

I purchased the 7bs to go with the CC3 center channel speaker which I thought was an upgrade from my Snell LCR500 speakers. Fortunately, I had not sold my old Snells because they have replaced the 7bs. Need I say anymore. I am no expert but I know what sounds good and what does not. The Snells were half the cost but outperform the 7bs with the exception of bass. But that's why I have a sub.Totally dissatisfied.

Strong but musical bass, dynamics, large sound

Is merely a dynamic speaker so no conversation piece factor like with electrostatics or planar speakers

I have a very hard time believing *any* of the very poor reviews of this product that are already up here. I think another review might have had it right when they said that this is not a "flagship" speaker and thus is sometimes shunted to a corner of a dealer's room with lesser-qualitiy associated equipment. I heard the 7b's at Audio By Design in Austin, TX as the premier speaker in their "next-to-highest-end" room, with the following associated equipment:

Classe CDP-1
Sonic Frontiers L-1 Linestage
Classe CAP-200 amplifier

Basically, this given system is the only, and I repeat, the *only* system that I have hear where I didn't find anything about the sound lacking. Not the MartinLogan ReQuests with $50,000 worth of Wadia and Audio Research backing them up; not the Theil 3.6's with $60k of Mark Levinson stuff backing *them* up. Flat out, these speakers form the centerpeice of the only system I've heard that I would have bought that very day, with no reservations, if I had had the money. They were a completely musical experience. Particularly on large-scale orchestral music, these were simply fantastic. As far as specifics go, they have very prodiguous bass, great midrange tonal accuracy, and a decent soundstage. I think that theoretically, it may be possible to come up with something better with a full-range dipole/planar type speaker, but at much, much greater cost. These are where it's at.

Similar Products Used:

Vandersteen 3As, Martin Logan ReQuests, Theil 3.6s

I'm surprised to hear the negative reviews on these speakers. I own the 7Bs and really like them. They are very clean and have a wide sound stage. The bass in my room is good. Probably could be a bit more defined in the bass, but that may be due to my amp. They do need alot of power to sing; at least 100 amps.
I have a friend who has the Model 8s and the 7Bs compare favorably. The 8s sound alittle smoother. Believe it or not, the 7B's bass in my room is actually better then the Model 8s in my friends room. Placement and room acoustics do matter.

My system:

EAD Theater Master Signature
EAD Ultradisc 2000
ATI 1505 Amp.
Aerial 7Bs
Aerial CC3 Center
Aerial SR3 Surrounds
Kimber Monical XL Speaker Cable
Kimber KCAG Analog Interconnects
Kimber Select KS 2020 Digital Interconnect.

Depth & width of soundstage, cabinetry and value

A little on the heavy side.

About a year ago I started my first venture into hi-end audio. Had been using pretty decent mass produced equipment (Denon/JBL). Upgraded amplifier and noticed improvement. Upgraded CD player to an older Wadia 6 and was totally amazed at amount of musical information I had been missing. Started looking for speakers to complete my system.
Listened to PSB Gold i, Joseph Audio RM22si, Revel F30, Paradigm Studio 100/v.2 and Aerial 7B and 6 in local stereo shops. I was taken by the Aerial 7Bs when first listening to them (they say you will KNOW when you find the right speaker-something just clicked)! Unbelievable depth and accuracy to my ears. By far the best cabinetry in this price range (2 inch MDF on 3 sides-HEAVY). My humble 12'x 14' living room is now sonic wonderland! Would have to rate the PSB Stratus Gold i as my second choice of the speakers I demoed. Also a very well rounded speaker. Looking to upgrade speaker cables next to a good bi wire setup.


Associated equipment:
Threshold T200 amplifier
Wadia 6 CD player (running direct to amplifier via XLRs)

Similar Products Used:

PSB Stratus Gold i, Paradigm Studio 100/v.2, Joseph Audio RM22si, Revel F30