Hi Doug,
To your question, the stand-mounted Aerial LR5s in the first two photos are the new speakers and the floor-standing Aerial Model 9s in the later photos are my former speakers. Unfortunately, the LR5 photos did not come out well so I plan to repost new photos soon.
I have enjoyed Mike Kelly designs from back to his A/D/S days (I owned several of those) and was happy to own the 9s for over 10 years. After consulting with Kelly, I have found the Model LR5s along with dual SW12 subs to be superior overall to the Model 9s. I am not sure what intended buyer Kelly designed the LR5s for but they were used as sort of a HT speaker because of their dynamics and ability to play powerfully. However, the crossover components and drivers are equivalent to the best used by Aerial and the boxes weigh about 105 pounds each! Kelly believes the LR5s are about as good as it gets from 40Hz and up, with the exception of those who like ribbon tweeters (as in the 20T). I like the wider dispersion of a dome tweeter (vs. a ribbon) and the dome used by Aerial is a good one, which is why I opted for LR5s instead of the 20Ts.
The main benefit of the LR5 over the Model 9 is bass control. The LR5s are sealed box (i.e., acoustic suspension) speakers and the roll-off down to 40Hz is better controlled and more natural sounding to me than with ported bass reflex speakers, even good ones like the Model 9s. The improved bass also improves the rest of the frequency range. The dual SW12 subs can be tailored to provide just the right amount of low bass extension and slam, and they do it better than most large speakers alone by controlling the room better, not that I had a particular problem with the room. Adding the second sub was a significant improvement over having just one. I am considering adding a third SW12 sub on the other side of the room.
Back to the regular programming.......
To your question, the stand-mounted Aerial LR5s in the first two photos are the new speakers and the floor-standing Aerial Model 9s in the later photos are my former speakers. Unfortunately, the LR5 photos did not come out well so I plan to repost new photos soon.
I have enjoyed Mike Kelly designs from back to his A/D/S days (I owned several of those) and was happy to own the 9s for over 10 years. After consulting with Kelly, I have found the Model LR5s along with dual SW12 subs to be superior overall to the Model 9s. I am not sure what intended buyer Kelly designed the LR5s for but they were used as sort of a HT speaker because of their dynamics and ability to play powerfully. However, the crossover components and drivers are equivalent to the best used by Aerial and the boxes weigh about 105 pounds each! Kelly believes the LR5s are about as good as it gets from 40Hz and up, with the exception of those who like ribbon tweeters (as in the 20T). I like the wider dispersion of a dome tweeter (vs. a ribbon) and the dome used by Aerial is a good one, which is why I opted for LR5s instead of the 20Ts.
The main benefit of the LR5 over the Model 9 is bass control. The LR5s are sealed box (i.e., acoustic suspension) speakers and the roll-off down to 40Hz is better controlled and more natural sounding to me than with ported bass reflex speakers, even good ones like the Model 9s. The improved bass also improves the rest of the frequency range. The dual SW12 subs can be tailored to provide just the right amount of low bass extension and slam, and they do it better than most large speakers alone by controlling the room better, not that I had a particular problem with the room. Adding the second sub was a significant improvement over having just one. I am considering adding a third SW12 sub on the other side of the room.
Back to the regular programming.......