Any other Sony SS-AR1 owners out there?

I was considering buying the SS-AR1's, and feel sorry for those who took the plunge, and will be buying the Aerial Acoustics 7T's as soon as my sound room remodeling is complete. I heard the AR1's while I was in southern Calif. and was impressed, but after hearing the Aerial's in Portland at Fred's, the Sony is no match against the 7T's which blow the Sony's out the window. Best transparency and mid-range clarity I have ever heard. The bass was powerful, rich, very deep and very tight. Aerial's tweeter is an in house custom design, built by Scan-Speak, who also provides drivers for the Sony AR1's. The 7T midrange driver, is also a in-house design, built by SB Acoustics in Wisconsin who provides the mid-range drivers for all the Wilson Audio speakers including the Sasha's. Michael Kelly at Aerial informed me the 7T's mid-range and bass performance will equal or better any speaker regardless of price. They are that good. Before you plunk down $27K for the Sony's, check out the Aerial's and listen. You will be amazed at what you get for $10K, and think twice about buying a more expensive speaker.

I do not represent Mr. Kelly or Aerial or sell his speakers. I am not a dealer. A well executed speaker design
based on the quality of the drivers and a well designed crossover network, will result in a speaker that will perform well in any environment with proper placement. Given Mr. Kelly's reputation as one of the best speaker designer's in the U.S. for over thirty years, formerly with
A.D.S., and now Aerial, speaks for itself. Do not fall into the fools gold trap thinking you have to spend well over $20K to get an outstanding performing speaker. That thinking is for the stupid rich. The Aerial 7T is a masterpiece for the price. All you have to do is listen, and when you do, you will realize its a steal for the price. It can handle enormous amounts of power. 500 watts rms is no problem. Make sure its hooked up to a high quality powerful amp before you listen.

Cool down Pete..Its not my intention to denigrate the Sony's. They were my first choice earlier this year. They sound wonderful and the cabinet work is stunning. This is an open forum and will attract non owners as well. There is
nothing wrong raising the issue to explore options. There are a handful of speaker brands between $6K and $15K that will give Sony, Wilson, B&W a run for the money. The Sony has a better multi-layered cabinet than the Aerial's, but the performance of the Aerial's at $17K less is breathtaking, as well as the Sony's. Sony is only making a one time run of 80 pairs for the U.S. They have just about reached that number and currently have a smaller
version in production which will be out soon.

Drubin..my apologies for seeming disrespectful, however, what I mean by "stupid rich" is that quite often people will plop down a pile of cash without investigating what their buying. Example, the tweeter used in the Sony SS-AR1 is a stock tweeter from Scan-Speak, the D-3004/660000 which is an inferior tweeter to the one designed by Aerial's in house engineer's, which is also made by Scan-Speak. The D-3004 has only six small button magnets on the back of the tweeter in a circle formation resulting in small magnet mass. The Aerial tweeter uses two large solid magnets doulbled up, with very large magnet mass for a tweeter, resulting in greater power handling, better detail
and dynamics. For a speaker selling for $27K, you would think Sony would put in a better tweeter equal to the quality of the one in the Aerial. If your going to plunk down $27K for a pair of speaker's, you should look under the hood to make certain technically, your getting your money's worth.

Knghhifi..The speakers made in Mexico at Kmart are a better deal than the one's at Walmart.

Face..there is very little audible difference between a neodymium and ferrite magnet. It would mainly apply to air chamber differences. Neodymium became the rage in the 90's due to there higher magnetic flux, and the ability to move current three times faster than ferrite. China currently has a monopoly on neodymium, and it is far more costly than ferrite material since its a rare earth metal. The main benefit is that less mass is required with neodymium than ferrite, resulting in a lighter, more compact driver.
Large ferrite magnets are like capacitors, and can handle larger voiumes of continuous current. The tweeter in the Sony's have a maximum rms rating 0f 90 watts. The tweeter in the Aerial 7T can handle 200 watts rms without breaking a sweat, due to there large magnets and there one inch copper voice coil. Neodymium's overheat more easily than ferrite, so avoid clipping your amp. You will destroy a neodymium if it overheats, which is not a problem with ferrite.