Tower Speaker Reviews

This system was capable of creating the very lowest fundamental frequencies from both pipe organs and rocket engines without ever making either of them seem to be coming from a box. And while my room isn't huge—about 15 by 25 feet—it was obvious that this system could move huge amounts of air and achieve stomach-churning low-frequency extension and impact.

Delivering the bottom end cleanly, dynamically, and loudly, right down to the lowest musical fundamentals (and, for home theater, below that), is always expensive. If you demand such performance, your $10k will be well spent on a pair of these subs.

The Rest of the Picture
The very afternoon of the day Aerial installed these big, obtrusive boxes, my wife began asking "For how long?" A few days later, an amazing thing happened. We sat down to watch A Mighty Wind, Christopher Guest's latest hilarious mockumentary, this one about the reunion of several 1960s folk groups on public television. It was our first formal exposure to the newly installed system. The movie has no explosions, no special effects, no sonic "wow factor" whatsoever. But when it ended, my wife said, "You can keep this system here for as long as you want."

When the first mock folk-group played, the transient clarity, harmonic integrity, dynamic expression, and overall resolution were so overwhelming, and the soundstage was so seamless, transparent, 3-dimensional, and naturally convincing, that both of us were taken completely by surprise, simultaneously exclaiming "Wow!" Listening to movies through this system was intensely enjoyable—beyond anything we'd previously experienced in our home theater.

With a big reflective/diffractive, 65-inch box sitting between the L/R speakers—which I'd placed where they needed to go instead of where they should have gone—and a center speaker sitting on a stand in front of us like a big coffee table, a truly seamless left-center-right sonic picture was the last thing I expected to hear. I figured I'd have to extrapolate from what I was hearing to what you might hear if you could place these big boxes where they really belong: beside or behind a 6-foot or wider screen. Instead, we heard the kind of convincing, 3-dimensional soundstage we're used to from my carefully controlled 2-channel system downstairs.

The next morning I went back to some of the demo tracks I'd used in the review of the Aerial 7B/CC3/SR3/SW12 system in 2000, including Suzanne Vega's "Caramel," from The Best of Sessions at West 54th (Columbia/Legacy CVD50163), which then had "shocked and awed" me. Was it better this time? I'd say so. It wasn't more dramatic and exciting, but it was more coherent, transparent, and focused because the LR5 is more tonally neutral than Aerial's 7B, which is itself a fine speaker.

Of the earlier system reproducing that track, I wrote: "I'd never heard the bass line on 'Caramel' exhibit such physical presence, tonal purity, detail, rhythmic tautness, and extension. Nor had I heard Vega's voice sound as liquid and smooth, yet articulate. The same for her guitar, which possessed both transient string attack and resonant body. The accompanying cello, accordion, and clarinet were rich and full-bodied but never leaden." Through the new system there was more subtlety and somewhat less bombast—especially in the bass line—probably because the sealed-box LR5 is tighter in the midbass, more refined overall, and better integrated from top to bottom. And the associated electronics were vastly improved.

Even in 2-channel mode under admittedly less than ideal conditions, the LR5s produced a vast, focused, 3-dimensional expanse of sound that was delicate, detailed, highly resolved, airy, transparent, and dynamic. When I put on a 5.1-channel DVD-A such as Over the Edge and Back: The Best of Mickey Hart (Rykodisc DVDA 10494), I experienced the power of a system with dynamic range and frequency extension that went beyond the source material's capabilities. The impact of Hart's drumming reproduced on this system was overwhelming. Cranked up to impossibly loud levels, the drums never seemed to be coming from speakers, and they never sounded compressed or limited in any way. But more than that, the physical scale of the presentation was enormous. That, as much as anything, is what separated this system from many of the other fine systems I've reviewed.

The 5.1-channel version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (Capitol CDP 7243 5 82136 2) was made to show off a dynamic, extended, transparent system. This SACD has sounded plenty good through a variety of systems, but the Aerial speakers delivered, for the first time in my experience, what I think is this disc's full dynamic expression. Having nearly full-range speakers all around, in addition to two iron-fisted subs, was key to the presentation, but so was the quiet of their superbly braced, nonresonant cabinets. While this system delivered the goods at high SPLs, it was equally effective at low, late-night listening levels. It didn't need blast-furnace levels to sound lively and convincing.

The only system that could approach the Aerials was the Piega P5 LTD tower array, which I reviewed in June 2003. That system produced a big, 3-dimensional soundstage that rivaled the Aerials', but it couldn't compete in terms of extension and dynamic slam. I have no doubt that the Aerial system can deliver the same scale, extension, and dynamic impact in a room much bigger than mine.

The CC5 was easily the most believable center-channel speaker I've heard since Aerial's own CC3—or, going way back, Linn's AV 5120 (reviewed in February 1999), which had an uncanny ability to make me believe that a real live person was standing behind my TV, delivering his lines. Getting the male voice to not sound canned or boxy is an extremely difficult task for a single speaker; usually, we just "listen around" that problem, as well as the excessive sibilance that often obscures clarity and intelligibility. With both male and female voices, the CC5 gave superb clarity, intelligibility, and non-boxy believability—all without sibilance. And it broadcast its balanced, sophisticated sound over a wide spread with no discernible suckouts.

Beyond the exceptional extension, dynamics, soundstaging, and scale—the best I've heard yet in these departments—the Aerial system had an ideal tonal balance. I don't mean nearly ideal. I mean ideal. The titanium tweeter was sweet, detailed, delicate, and extended, with no hint of peakiness. The midband was clear, open, and free of cuppy or hooty colorations of any kind. The midbass was firm and coherent, yet not too dry. And, of course, the bottom end could be both wonderfully musical and literally nauseating—in the best sense of the word.

The last movie we watched before shipping off the system for measurements and photography was the delightful and witty Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which Johnny Depp brilliantly plays Keith Richards as a pirate. It's probably the best film Jerry Bruckheimer has produced—though that's not saying much. Being enveloped in this well-produced soundtrack by a system capable of such a high level of performance was thrilling and saddening—thrilling because of the system's 3-dimensional cohesiveness and immense scale and its lush, airy, yet transparent tonal balance; saddening because I doubt that another system of similarly stellar performance will arrive at my door anytime soon.

Conclusions
Big, megabuck speaker systems can deliver superb performance, but there are no guarantees. Big systems can sound clumsy and incoherent, and sometimes, the more that's delivered, the more problems you get—especially in the lower frequencies. In fact, some of the early Aerial speakers I auditioned years ago tended to sound thick and lumpy on the bottom.

In this latest Aerial system, those problems do not exist. Thanks to good design, high-quality components, and superb cabinet construction, this system offers all of the pluses of a big system and none of the minuses. Of course, it was physically way too big for my living room, but its graceful performance and flexible setup options allowed it to work perfectly even there. Based on what I experienced, I have no doubt that this system is destined to do even greater things in a big, dedicated, front-projector–based home theater, especially one used for both music and cinema.

Given its extended response along with its smooth, ideal tonal balance, impressive soundstaging abilities, and seemingly unlimited dynamics, the LR5 is not terribly expensive at $7000/pair. The smaller, less expensive LR3 ($3200/pair) seems cut from the same sonic cloth; a system built around four LR3s, with the smaller CC3B center ($1600) and a single SW12 sub ($4500), should offer comparable performance to the system reviewed here, especially in a living room of normal size, all for around $12,500 (without stands). But whatever configuration you choose, be prepared to feed it only the finest-quality high wattage and current. Aerial speakers demand both if they're to deliver the goods. The Theta Digital Citadel amplifiers I used certainly did that.

The system, as reviewed, is expensive by most standards. But its performance seemed to be without limitation. I'm a big fan of Michael Kelly's work and of what his products deliver, in terms of both sonic performance and value for the dollar. For this kind of expenditure, you should get quality on every level and in every department. I can say without hesitation that this system delivers it in full measure. If you get the opportunity to hear it, I'm sure you'll agree.