Yes the new line does sound exciting.  This thread took an unfortunate turn somewhere, the current 5 series speakers are quite remarkable (keeping in mind I'm slightly biased since I own the 7.1 system including the 533-Ts).  Especially considering the price.  I'm sure the new 5 series is typical Aperion, awesome.  I was just voicing that some of us would still like a "simpler" affordable line without some of the bells-and-whistles.  For me there's a point of diminishing returns regarding HT equipment.  I simply play Blu-ray movies and that's it.  No music, games, etc.  I'm quite happy with my system for the price.  Others, want the latest and greatest.  There's room for both...

btw... you'll always hear about some flaw in a piece of equipment, make sure it has some relevance to your setup.  As you can tell from this forum, if you have any questions, there won't be any shortage of opinions  

Look forward to hearing the Aperion accolades after your purchase.  Good luck.

 

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Speakers: Aperion 6T, 6C, 5DB, 6IC, Bravus 10Dx2
Monitor: JVC RS20U front projector with Stewart Velux 100" screen
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1800
Blu-ray: Yamaha BD-S2900
Amplifier: Emotiva UPA-7
Conditioner: Panamax M5300PM

I agree that it would be nice if they kept the old line.  There does seem to be a big enough difference price wise to make this viable.  Of course that is easy to say this from the outside of the company.  I am sure it does not make business sense or they would do it.   

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Russ

Joined you!

Hi fellow Aperions,

I would first like to thank everyone for their interest in our new products. We have the world’s greatest customers and the fact that you are so passionate about your speaker choices makes us feel honored to have you as our customers.

Second, I would like to apologize for the lack of information regarding the new products. This is a good news, bad news story. It has always been our intention for there to be at least a 30 day overlap in product availability between the classic Intimus and the new Intimus products. Most of our customers have a 30 day buying cycle. So, if you are considering an Aperion purchase, this 30 day overlap would give you enough time to make an informed decision between the old and new products because they would both be available. It would also accommodate those of you in your 30 day trial period.

The good news is that January 2008 was our biggest month in history. The bad news is that January 2008 was our biggest month in history. We completely blew our sales forecast out of the water and as a result we are running out of some products (533-T) 30 – 60 days in advance of our plan. So now you know why we are announcing some products early. We are working as fast as possible to get information out on the new products but some of them are not even in production yet.

I would like to clear up a bit of speculation about some new products and pricing. First, let’s start with the subs. Our Intimus subs represent a great value and offer great performance for the money. The current Intimus sub design has been with us since we sold our first speaker in 2000. Technology has come a long way in the last 8 years and our sub line has been due for an upgrade. The new Bravus line is the result of a combination of feedback from our customers and our research of the market. These new subs are amazing performers and will stack up with subs that are upwards of twice the price. Size is a huge issue when it comes to subs so this was a key area of focus for us. We went with a small sealed enclosure with 2 side firing woofers. Smaller dual drivers move as much air as a single larger driver but take up less space. Since the cabinet is small and sealed, you lose some efficiency so we employed BASH technology. BASH amps offer the sonic quality of a class AB amp with the efficiency of class D digital technology and they allow advanced features like parametric EQ, crossover bypass and remote control.

We wanted these subs to be easy to set up, adjust and operate so we included a user interface and digital readout on the front of the sub along with a remote control so you can make adjustments from your listening position. This allows you to optimize your sub from the comfort of your couch and you don’t need a helper to get it dialed in just right.

Yes, the subs are more expensive but the dual 8” sub offers similar performance to a single 10” along with a host of other features and it is priced exactly the same as the Intimus S-10 at $499.

Now on to the Intimus redesign. The entire range of Intimus products have been revoiced and redesigned. New Intimus speakers feature new woven fiberglass woofers, an amazing new silk dome tweeter, a new crossover and softer rounded vertical edges on the cabinets. This upgrade is an evolution of the product line that has been in the works for the last 8 years. Throughout our history, we have made constant upgrades to our products. Starting with the 502D, 512D, 522, 532 and now the 5B and we have never once raised our prices in 8 years.

Since many of our products have been added over time, they were designed to match the existing products. By redesigning the entire Intimus family at once, we had the opportunity to revoice all the speakers at the same time. The end result is that we have an entire line of speakers that all sound amazing for both music and movies. Some of our classic Intimus speakers used to be better for music and some were better for movies. This is no longer the case. All of our speakers work well for both so the only consideration you need to make is size and budget.

Many of you are concerned about the price increases. Rest assured we have not forgotten what got us where we are today. We still offer the best value. What we have done is upgraded the performance across the board. All of our products have won numerous awards for quality & value. Our 6-series products have been the most well reviewed and are customer favorites. So, we started with the 6-series speakers and improved them even more. The tweeter we have been using for the last several years is a good tweeter but it does have one minor weakness. If you like to listen to rock music really loud, it sometimes struggles to keep up. We are talking really loud levels here so this really isn’t a problem for the majority of our customers. But we strive to make 100% of our customers happy so we designed a new custom silk dome tweeter that matches the quality of the rest of the speaker. The improvements are not only found on the high end but midrange performance is substantially better.

With a new tweeter, the 6-series products are world class and we determined that the other products in the line should follow suit. So, woven cone fiberglass woofers and the same new 1” silk dome tweeter have found homes in our 4 and 5 series products. These are major performance upgrades for these products. 5 series speakers are on par with previous 6 series and 4 series rank right up there with the old 5 series products. Individually the products are more expensive but the product quality has been significantly upgraded.

So, here is the brief rundown of the new products and their prices.

Bravus Subwoofers: (Available Now)
Intimus subwoofers are being replaced by Bravus subwoofers.
8D - dual 8” ($499),
10D - dual 10” ($799)
12D - dual 12” ($1,099).
 
Intimus 4-Series (Available April)
422-LR replaced by the 4B ($130)
422-C replaced by the 4C ($160)

Intimus 5-Series (Available early March)
532-LR replaced by 5B ($225)
534-SS replaced by 5DB ($345)
533-VAC replaced by 5C ($350)
533-T replaced by 5T ($495)

Intimus 6-Series (Available April)
632-LR replaced by 6B ($345)
634-VAC replaced by 6C ($590)
633-T replaced by 6T ($695)

So, for those of you that are concerned about the new higher prices you have a couple options. First, place your order for our current line of award-winning Intimus speakers while you can still get them. They represent an amazing value and will satisfy you for years to come. Option number two is to consider stepping down one size. You might even save a few bucks and make the wife happy with smaller speakers and a smaller budget.

Lastly, I would like to address the trade-up issue. When the trade up program was launched, we didn’t have a full line of speakers. The trade up program was designed for people who purchased bookshelf speakers but wanted towers and couldn’t get them because they were too expensive or didn’t exist. Product revisions and price increases were never intended to be part of the trade-up program. This is a very generous program that is unmatched by any of our competitors (that we are aware of). Ultimately, we want happy customers so if you purchased recently and inquired about new products before our guys were given the green light to talk about them, then give us a call and we will work something out.

Thank you for supporting Aperion Audio and as always, stay tuned to our website for the latest information on new products. There is more news to come in the weeks and months ahead!

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Cheers,

John Wanderscheid

Hey John, did you think you were going to get off that easy    Where's the pics...  I know, I know, be patient.

thanks for the info!

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Speakers: Aperion 6T, 6C, 5DB, 6IC, Bravus 10Dx2
Monitor: JVC RS20U front projector with Stewart Velux 100" screen
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1800
Blu-ray: Yamaha BD-S2900
Amplifier: Emotiva UPA-7
Conditioner: Panamax M5300PM

Thanks John, that was extremely helpful!

I am a bit curious as to why the towers seemed to have risen in price disproportionately higher (example the 6C versus the 6T, especially considering the 6C has more drivers unless that has also changed)).

Back to the subs:
I suggest Alex put a link to the Bravus microsite on the product page.
Overall I like the look and size (great for WAF) of the new subs and look forward to hearing them. 
I must say that I do not like the controls in the front, rather I would opt for a minimum physical size for the RF receiver and display.  Of course this is a trade-off, but having the remote justifies (to me) putting the controls in the back.  This would enable a minimum intrusion on the front on the plus side, having to reach around the back when the remote is not available is the downside (of course, maybe I misunderstood the intent of the controls on the front).

I could not find the power modes specified in anything written currently, so I assume it is similar to the current line in which you have on/off/auto with auto sensing an input signal.  Will the remote have a soft power function to force the sub on/standby when in auto mode?
Will you publish the IR codes so that universal remotes can be programmed to control the power and mode of the sub?  Have you submitted the codes to Logitech for those of us with Harmony remotes?  Ideally I want to power up the sub from standby and set the mode according to the selected macro on my Harmony (for example, "watch DVD" would also power up sub from standby and set movie mode, "off" would put sub in standby). 

On the choice of a sealed sub with two active drivers, this seems like a good design compromise.  I have always heard that sealed subs are more accurate, but you give up lots of efficiency.  The dual drivers should more than make up for the loss of efficiency with the high powered amp while maintaining great accuracy (very good for music and movies).

 

Thanks John, that's very useful. And I think your points about the trade-up program are well taken. I will now stop bitching about it.

Once again, if you do manage to get comprehensive performance data on the new Bravus subwoofers from engineering -- it would be very useful for those of us considering them if you were able to share it here. 

I bought the S8 over a month ago (alongwith 533-T,533-VAC, and 534-SS). Yesterday I found out about the new subs. Just placed an order for D10.  I have been extremely happy with the speakers and been bragging to my friends about them. I can't wait for the new D10 to arrive.

Now dreading how to break this gently to my wife ...:-(

Gokul. 

 

gokulakannan:

I bought the S8 over a month ago (alongwith 533-T,533-VAC, and 534-SS). Yesterday I found out about the new subs. Just placed an order for D10.  I have been extremely happy with the speakers and been bragging to my friends about them. I can't wait for the new D10 to arrive.

Now dreading how to break this gently to my wife ...:-(

Gokul. 

Gokul,

You've got some brass gonads!  I would never, ever even think about ordering something like that without first getting my wifes approval...Even though I'm the one that goes to the office everyday, go figure.

Aperion.  Thank you for these new products but dab gonnit, no we have to lose sleep on how we are going to obtain them  So, I guess the next thing you guys can work on is updating your interest free finanincing with a Wife Hassle Free financing option.  Then you can send us the speakers in the mail with the optional note in the packaging stating:

"Dear Aperion Audio Customer,

We realize you recently purchased a Intimus speaker package from us and we did not indicate that you were eligible for the free sub program on orders over $800.  We aplogize for any incovenience this may have caused but we are sure you will enjoy this addition to your speaker system for years to come.

Happy listening!

Aperion!"

 

Hey Ken...in regards to>>>I must say that I do not like the controls in the front, rather I would opt for a minimum physical size for the RF receiver and display.  Of course this is a trade-off, but having the remote justifies (to me) putting the controls in the back. <<<

I don't think this would be RF. It is most likely IR. I could not find anything that stated one way or another. I would imagine if it were RF, they would have put it in the back. But since (I believe) it is IR, that is line of sight, and could not go in the back.

I am not too keen on the control being in the front, but I imagine that is why. I can't wait! I have the 12 on order.

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Scottiemon

Titanium is more like it...  My wife's like a badger when it comes to this stuff.  She still wonders why I had to replace a perfectly good DVD player with the Panny Blu-ray.  Women

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Speakers: Aperion 6T, 6C, 5DB, 6IC, Bravus 10Dx2
Monitor: JVC RS20U front projector with Stewart Velux 100" screen
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1800
Blu-ray: Yamaha BD-S2900
Amplifier: Emotiva UPA-7
Conditioner: Panamax M5300PM

Scottiemon:

Right, I meant to say IR but RF came out for some reason.

Yep, they are indeed IR based remote controls!

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Word.

When I heard about Aperion first introducing all new speaker line-ups for the 2008 year I thought, "ok, this is probably some annual refresh on their products."  Just over 11 months ago I bought the 533T, S-10 and Center, do I feel slighted that they upgraded and that I now have "outdated" hardware?  Absolutely not.  Here are the reasons:

1.  Companies go through product refreshes all the time.  If you take a look at electronics and the annual CES, every year companies make updates and improvements to their current offerings.  Why should this be any different for a speaker company?
2.  When it comes to speakers, I am at least hard pressed to really hear many sonic subtleties that these so-called audiophiles hear when they listen to audio.  Now bear in mind I come from a generation of MP3 listening, highly compressed audio, overly saturated bass and loud anything music background so I may not be the most discerning listener, but I think I am in the majority here.
3.  I have a number of friends with "high-end" audio systems, one who has the B&W 800 series line of speakers another with Verity, and I am impressed with their systems, but do they sound $20k better than what I have with my Aperions?  No...In fact once you start reaching the $1k sweet spot, the marginal gain in performance you get with each incremental dollar spent on speakers rapidly decreases.  At least that is my humble opinion.
4.  The bean counters at Aperion must have known that by replacing their current line of speakers, they would lose out on some sales of people looking for a more affordable solution.  They also priced into the fact that it is easier to maintain one set of speaker line than to try and maintain two.  This is a pure matter of cost, by scaling their production across lines without much variation they can pass along those savings to us, the customers.
5.  Now that Aperion has moved a bit more upscale in price, they are now squarely in the sights of other direct to buyer speaker manufacturers like AV123 and Axiom, whose speakers are still more expensive on a feature by feature comparison to Aperion even after the product refresh.  So Aperion in this respect still maintains a price advantage and also improving their margins.

Overall I am extremely pleased with my Aperion purchase of almost a year ago.  I have been enjoying high quality audio for almost a year now, and guess what?  I will still be enjoying high quality audio for many years to come.  Just because a new line comes out does not mean the audio fidelity will decrease with my current set.  And guess what?  For those of you who bought the previous series?  You still have award winning speakers in your homes right now for your enjoyment.

For those of you who are upset now that Aperion has increased prices across the board, well you now just have tougher decisions to make on which set of speakers you will buy from which manufacturers.  Aperions' free shipping both ways and 30 day in home trial makes it a no brainer to at least try the models out before making judgement.  As for me, if I had to do it all over again, I would still probably purchase the new 5T's and whatever new variation of center channel Aperion comes out with.  However, I would have more than likely have chosen a Hsu Research sub over the Aperion one, mainly because of the similar price points and the better fidelity and perceived quality of Hsu Research subs.

Mr. Salzberg!

When are you gonna get your tail down here for some bass craziness? We're getting the new sound rooms suited with the Bravus subs right now. It would be great to see ya again. Bring some material if you would like to put them through their paces.

As you know, the remote is IR but I don't think that Alex mentioned that we are publishing the codes for the remotes so that if you prefer that method of Universal Remote programming, it is an option. Also, since the that control piece is a single, modular item it had to be placed up front. We wanted folks to have both onboard control as well as remote control. We wanted that control available on the front of the sub- there's also the fact that the IR receiver had to have *some* line of sight to the remote.

In terms of power management, there is only an on/off switch on the back of the sub. The standby mode is controlled through the user interface.

Finally... we're working on getting as much information on the subs and new Intimus posted as possible. We intend to continue with the same conservative ratings we've always gone by and frequency response graphs will be made available just as soon as we can get them up.

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Caleb Denison

I will be there Friday if you are going to be ready. 

Looking forward to a little craziness.