Recently bought a pair of Aerius i to serve as my surround channel. I did not audition it at all before I buy (though I have heard the Aerius) it cause I have the SL-3 and Logos(and I loved them for their sound and price) up front. I have always heard from friends and reviews that the Aerius is a bit on the shy side when it comes to Bass. But when I opened up the box of the Aerius i and hooked it up to my fronts,....was I in for a big surprise. The always complained about "lack of bass in the Aerius" has been replaced with good, strong, tight bass of the new Aerius i. A call to my dealer confirmed this as he said that 9 out of 10 Aerius owners have all purchased the new Aerius i..and the main reason for the upgrade is due to the Bass. BTW, I haven't even broken in the speaker yet!

Jun, you gave these speakers, a *perfect* 5 star rating yet now, only3 months later, "after living with them for years" you give them 2 stars?!?!?

Anyway, these speakers sound like all the other Martin Logans do: very clear,
precise, and transparent. They are able to bring out amazing detail in music
and movies. And yes, they are a bit bass shy (so get a powered sub).

I'm currently using these for rear speakers (Sequel II's up front, Logos
center) powered by an ATI-1505 through a Parasound PSP1500THX pre-amp.

I auditioned speakers for 6 months, but wasn't satisfied with *any* speaker
at any price after hearing Martin Logans.

-alan

These are the finest speakers I've ever heard under $2500. They're only surpassed by their bigger brothers, the Quests, Monoliths and so on. I feel that they are best driven with a fully balanced Krell system. These speakers really shine with the revealing power that only Krell can provide.

Speaker : Martin Logan AeriusPower Amp : McCormack DNA-0.5
Pre Amp : McCormack TLC-1
CD Player : NAD 502
Tuner : NAD 412

I could not obtain any decent soundstage with the Aerius or SL3 regardless of the driving forces. This included various setups in three different local audio shops using various Krell and CJ components beyond my financial reach but, nonetheless, recommended by the staff. Among other audio anomalies, Diane Shuur sounded as if she were squeezed under the baseboard behind the equipment rack and Parkening's guitar seemed to be wholly contained within the right speaker.
Obviously, these recordings exhibit different characteristics on my home system but what I heard from these two ML offerings was, although tonally accurate, a bizzare displacement of various instruments and a sweetspot so narrow that tilting my head 2 inches in either direction would cause the respective speaker to assume command and blare at me to hold my aural attention. I was originally drawn to the potential purchase of an ML product after hearing a friend's Quests which produced one of the most awesome and natural soundstages (via B&K monoblocks and Pioneer Elite CD) I had ever experienced. However, I cound not afford the Quests and sought a more affordable solution in the Aerius or SL3. Needless to say, I was disappointed and decided to look elsewhere for my personal standard of the ideal soundstage.

I was finally able to obtain about 90% of the Quests soundstage in less than 25% of the cost by purchasing a used pair of Magnepans. Why didn't someone tell me about these sooner? Press play, close your eyes, and the Maggies disappear leaving nothing behind but the music and no clue as to their presence...

Be an owner of both ML aerius (biwired) and PSB Stratus Gold, I can judge these cute guys after living with them for years. The Aerius is a narrow banded speaker good only for vocal or some violin music (no bass at all). The efficiency is so low that you must use sufficient power to drive (I don't even need a pre, I use CD->AMP) them. Alougth I love them now (for their looking), I must say this is a fail investment. I don't understand why Martin Logan use only 8" woofer. In some cases, my PSB alpha sound more dynamic and bass sufficient than the aeris. Could audiophile explain me why?