what replaced your Aerial 7B speakers?


Looking to upgrade from the Aerial 7B. Would like to have just a little more bottom end. No, I don't want to try a sub. My room is 13 x 16. I have a Bat vk 500 and a Mac 2500 pre. My max budget would probably be $4500.
dpm2340
IF you can get a deal on a used pair of Joseph Audio Pulsars, they do bass and everything else too. But if you like the way the Aerials are voiced, I wouldn't rule out a subwoofer- there are a million of them out there. Another choice would be Von Schweikert speakers or Egglestons
which get piano right. Stay away from super-resolving speakers IMO.
They reveal the wrong cable or the wrong- well everything. Accurate yes.
Pleasant to listen to? Exciting for 30 minutes, then annoying. Again, my opinion. But Aerials are supposed to be pretty great speakers....
Are you using the Sound Anchor bases and have you tried to move your 7B’s back a little to the  wall? I use a Pass X250 with Wywires cables with Alex’s biwire jumpers with the + lead of the speaker cable on the bottom and the - lead on the top then jumpers. I find the bottom end  on my 7B’s to be outstanding. The configuration of the jumpers make a noticeable improvement  along with the Sound Anchor bases really make a difference. How far off the back wall are your 7B’s?

So, if you have $4,500 to spend on your system, are your 7B’s really the weakest link? I struggle with the idea of changing out my 7B’s except to maybe the 7C’s but I’ve never heard a pair, but my bet is they’re great.
I also find the bass to be excellent in my 7Bs. It is not boomy, it is very tight and precise.

I would also strongly agree with what adg101 said about wall position. I have found, in two different rooms with these speakers, that they need to go a little closer to the wall than conventional room set-up would suggest.

As a new audiophile it took a while to figure this out since everyone says to get them way away from the walls. I thought they were a little bass deficient until I got it right. I’ve spent a lot of time positioning them which is no easy task since mine have the heavy OEM bases and spikes. The sweet spot for mine is about 1.5 feet from the side walls and about 2 feet from the back wall. I know that sounds like sacrilege but I wouldn’t ditch yours until you try.

Mine are also bi-wired and driven by 250w (Proceed HPA2).

Edit: When I was struggling with this some folks suggested a subwoofer. I brought in a large B&W but did not like it. Tried it again once I found the speaker's sweet spot and liked it even less.