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February 16, 2017 - 5:03pm
#1
Aerial 5T review
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You misread what I wrote, which was that the Aerial speakers are engineered and assembled in the USA. The parts themselves are sourced from many places.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Ah, appreciate your comments and have very respect for your reviews. However, didn't the "made in USA" statement on Aerial's speakers in particular create a HUGE amount of controversy? I feel like a review statement of "like all Aerial speakers, engineered and assembled in the USA" contributes to the misleading nature of what is really going on. The history seems misleading and difficult to ascertain. They made a lot of cabinets in China and they turned out to be pretty poor quality and then reverted back to getting cabinets made in Sweden (perhaps?). Particularly for the 7T, which is a very expensive speaker. As a reviewer, you are not bound to reiterate the marketing pitch of Aerial - you can report the facts and here the statement is particularly controversial in light of the company's history.
I'm happy to be proven wrong here. I was expecting at least a brief statement in the review to highlight the company's return to better cabinet fabrication, if indeed that has occurred. Can you make a speaker without Chinese components? Probably pretty difficult given the source of any of a variety of electronic components. However, if there was a prior quality issue and the company rectified the issue, it is certainly worthy of an editorial comment.
I am I not also correct to note that Aerial had labeled their speakers "Made in USA"?
As far as I know, they can say that if the final assembly is done in the USA.
In the automotive industry, the window sticker must, by law, indicate the content origin of the vehicle, such as "35% from Mexico, 40% from the USA, 25% from Canada.", as an example.
No such law exists for audio products, so far as I know.
The Aerials went back to the manufacturer at the beginning of January. But my memory is that the boxes were labeled "engineered and assembled in the USA," which is why I quoted that text in my review.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Hi John,
I own the Kef LS50 & was wondering how much better is the imaging of the aerial 5t speakers? Is it in the Quad esl-63 league?
Thanks!
Appreciate your comments. Took me a while to come back to this!
Aerial went back to the manufacture in January? I don't follow. They were making them in China and changed? What did they go back to and what were they doing before? I understand they've been making the cabinets in China for a while now and assembling them in MA.
Are they CARB certified? I didn't know that was possible for things other than vehicles, but maybe they look at all Chinese imports.
I meant that the Aerial speakers were returned to Aerial once I had finished the review.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile