For the better part of the last decade my system at home has been a BOSE Lifestyles system. I finally realized my listening to music at home had virtually ceased as we really only turned it on to watch an occasional movie. The BOSE was fine at movie sound, but lacking in stereo music listening. Please understand stereo music listening is what is most important to me.

I have been a musician for more than 35 years, playing primarily acoustic music (mostly in small local venues). Listening to music has been a daily part of my life for even longer, and although I primarily listen to acoustic music, once in a while I will still crank up the "classic rock". Most of my listening to music the last couple of years has been sitting at my Macbook running Logic Studio and using Mackie MR5 nearfield monitors playing .AIFF files. I have been extremely happy with that.

To complicate matters, recently as a part of an IEM (In Ear Monitor) solution for the stage I began working with I was introduced to Ultimate Ears TripleFi.10 ear buds. When I brought them home from a rehearsal and plugged them into my iPod I began to rediscover parts of recordings I hadn't heard in years, or had never heard even though I had been listening to the recordings with inexpensive Sony ear buds.

That got me to thinking (now I'm in trouble), upgrade the home system so you will listen to music in the living room again. The Mackie's sound perfect, you just need to get something bigger to fill the large room.

My research led me to purchase a new Marantz 90w per channel receiver and a pair of new 6T Aperions in cherry. When I phoned to order them and found out they did not have bi-amp capabilities I hesitated ordering them, but the gentleman I spoke to explained that with Aperion's superior crossover there was no need to bi-amp.

I planned to listen to the Aperions, validate them as my new stereo speakers and then add Aperions as the rest of the 7.1 system capabilities for a really great home system.

Listening to Brandi Carlisle "Cannon Ball", or Blake and Rice II I feel as the musicians are in the room with me, James Taylor's guitar on "Sweet Baby James" is roughly acoustic perfection...

...but add anything with much bass in it and I wasn't as pleased. To my ears the 6Ts are extreme in their accuracy in the mid and high ranges but have a bit of weakness in the bass, there is some improvement with really increasing the volume but I do not want to routinely turn the volume that high, not to mention my wife won't stand for it.

Listening to the recording of Academy of St. Martin's In The Field, Sir Neville Mariner - "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" the strings are brilliant and the viola section (which all but disappeared on the BOSE system) adds depth to the piece through the 6Ts however the cellos are fading and the bass just doesn't have as much depth as I was expecting.

Listening to "With or Without You" from U2's the Joshua tree the pulse of the bass guitar is audible, but again doesn't make me feel the music. Turning the volume up helps, but I don't want to listen that loud.

Trying to listen to Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" was a bit frustrating unless I cranked it way up. If you can't hear the bass drum clearly, then what is the point?

I am in still in the first week of the Aperion Audio 30 day trial, and I have thoughts about sending them back already. After about 8 hours of listening they have seemingly "loosened up" maybe slightly - but still are without the deep bass punch I - need. Is listening to them for 55 - 100 hours to break them in really going to improve the bass that much?

I have high praise for the Aperion 6T pair from a clarity and accuracy standpoint in the mid and high ranges but I feel like I  - need - a subwoofer now. Are my expectations unrealistic?

Has the world of listening to stereo music changed so drastically from the 70s when those 3 way Cerwin Vega's with a 12" woofer had you covered? If that was the case then two studio monitors shouldn't sound so good...

I am somewhat confident adding a subwoofer will make for a great listening experience at the volume I want to listen but with the cost of this pair of speakers already, I am not sure spending another $999 for a subwoofer is the answer just to get to a basic state of "I have a good sounding stereo", is it?

Does taking the budget up to a total of $2389.00 for a pair of stereo speakers (2 x 6T and a subwoofer) mean I should consider other options? Certainly I am thinking a pair of JBL 3 way studio monitors LSR6332 would do the job well, and within that budget. Size certainly is an important consideration as well. I don't have the room for La Scalas. Cornwalls possibly could be an option. 

Update: After another 10 hours of listening today and tonight, there is no doubt the 6Ts are extreme in their accuracy in the mid and high ranges. Very clear and reproduce voices extremely well, there does seem to be a slight improvement in the bass response and increasing the volume helps with the bass presence, but to begin to get realistic sounding upright or electric bass reproduction it seems to me they have to be at a high enough amplitude level that I can't carry on a normal conversation with the person sitting next to me. I don't have that problem in the studio.

I should probably mention too that I live in a geography in which the highest end audio store is Best Buy, which was a primary factor in my auditioning Aperion. There is no where to go and listen... 

I look forward to y'alls input.