Hey Wayne - By now I'm pretty well sold on the 5's but plan another visit with a couple of favorite CD's to be sure.

I was/am hung up on the 7's because they blew me away. And there is SO much press, so many reviews that I figured they have something going on that I didn't want to miss out on.

Thinking about it now, I think most of those reviews were a few years old. I'm guessing they grabbed a lot of press because they are so good at the price point that they shook people up some. Then the 5's come out and the press says yep - there goes GoldenEar, upping the bar again. The 5's are better but didn't have the same impact on the speaker world as the 7 release.

But there's a consistency in the comments about the 5's also. Quoting sunlinger at the AVS Forum on the "GoldenEar Technologies Anticipation Thread", "I had the T7s for 2-1/2 years and then upgraded to the 5s after doing an A/B comparison at the dealer. For me the 5s provided improved sound quality, not significant, but more focused at imaging, wider/deeper soundstage, increased depth of vocals and separation of instruments, superior clarity and plays louder with a moderate increase in the low end. To simplify, there was just more of a refined sound."

Thanks for your help. I have a much easier time buying cars that this AV business. Of course the car will replaced in 3 years but this gear will be around for decades.

Thanks again,
Allan

Rob - Thank you. Your experience does help considerably. Now all I have go do is get them and the rest of the gear ordered up. That's a week or so off. Thanks again, Allan

About to make the same decision, do you use the fives in a home Theatre set up?

Greetings. I wish I could help but ended up going a completely different direction. For a variety of reasons, none of them a knock on either 7 or 5, I decided on a pair of stand mounts. I still recall the GE making a hell off an impression. Good luck!
Edit: Looking again at the specs and knowing what I know now, and if I had the space, I would likely go with the 5 for the larger drivers. At the time I was making my decisions I played with smaller speakers as HT mains and found they sounded too small for the space (primary seating about 10’). Since the 7 has 2 drivers it’s not an apples to apples comparison but I found the larger drivers filled the space. My speakers have 7” drivers which ultimately allowed me to go without a sub, but my main use is music. The only other thing I compare between 5 and 7 is how well the drivers cross with the ribbon.

Come on Wayne, how long are you going to hold a Grudge? The Moderator hasn't had a Kerfuffle with anyone in quite some time. Come on back...we would sure Love to hear from you.

I really want to pull the trigger and grab the fives today instead of the sevens. I’m still waiting on my supercenter Xl to arrive. My dealer doesn’t have the sevens in stock but said he could let the demo fives go for a good price. My biggest concern is for my room I would say 90 percent home theater 10 percent music.I have heard that the fives may not sound that good compared to the sevens at lower listening levels. I have 2 force field threes, so not worried about bass, just clarity.