I was looking to purchase the Intimus 5 Series, I came across this announcement, and was wondering if there was anymore information on it.  HD Wireless speakers would be something I'd definitly be interested in because of my apartment configuration.  Does anyone have more details. Thanks.

Hello and thanks for asking!

It is indeed true, we are partnering with Focus Enhancements to release the first completely wireless and lossless home theater system in the first half of next year.  As far as when it will hit the market that's really all I know at this time, but we will keep you updated on more information as it becomes available. 

A little about the technology, it uses the 5 GHz U-NII band that is a highly restricted bandwidth and separate from other wireless technology such as cell phones so there is very little chance for interference. 

We did some demos of the system at CEDIA last week and I'm told that the those who heard it, including some of the top names in audiophile and hi-fi publishing, were pretty impressed with its performance.  

You can read a little more about it here:

www.summitwireless.com

Hope that helps!  

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

There's a little blurb about the CEDIA demo on the stereophile site here:

http://stereophile.com/news/cedia_2009_day_three/

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

I've been using Best Buy's Rocketfish wireless speaker transmitter/receiver with a pair of 5B's in the rear with no problem at all. There's a microwave oven about 10 feet from the receiver and there's a wireless network. No interference.

Of course, it isn't built in so you have a box you need to plug in on both ends but they're small.

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Joe
If you can't have fun doing it, it's probably not worth doing.

A couple more mentions/reviews:

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Aperion-Audio-and-Focus-Enhancements-Team-Up-for-True-High-Def-7-1-Wirelessly.shtml

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/aperion-audio-wireless
 

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

Jason Hicks:

A couple more mentions/reviews:

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Aperion-Audio-and-Focus-Enhancements-Team-Up-for-True-High-Def-7-1-Wirelessly.shtml

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/aperion-audio-wireless
 

"I was enveloped in the great Aperion sound we often write about in our reviews without the shackles of the cabling.  As I said in my past Aperion Audio 5B review, watch out for them.  This speaker company is a sleeping giant and after this demo I experienced, its obvious to me they are awake and hungry to expand their marketshare."  Impressive words from the president of Audioholics.  Congrats on the positive teaser reviews.

Hey Jason,

 

The Audioholics review of the new wireless speakers was REALLY good!  My question is about the current lineup in relation to the new lineup. As I mentioned in the other forum, I'm about to pull the trigger on purchasing Aperion speakers for a 5:1 setup and then a 2nd set for 'Zone 2' setup. You mentioned that the new wireless products are at least six months away.  If I invest a nice bit of change in the current Aperion lineup, will the Aperion 'Full Price TRADE-UP Program' still apply when I want to upgrade to the wireless solution all across the board?

 

Also, I currently run the 5hz wireless-n band for my home computer network. Will this interfere/degrade the signal from the speakers to receiver?

PoliteNYC:

Hey Jason,

 

The Audioholics review of the new wireless speakers was REALLY good!  My question is about the current lineup in relation to the new lineup. As I mentioned in the other forum, I'm about to pull the trigger on purchasing Aperion speakers for a 5:1 setup and then a 2nd set for 'Zone 2' setup. You mentioned that the new wireless products are at least six months away.  If I invest a nice bit of change in the current Aperion lineup, will the Aperion 'Full Price TRADE-UP Program' still apply when I want to upgrade to the wireless solution all across the board?

 

Also, I currently run the 5hz wireless-n band for my home computer network. Will this interfere/degrade the signal from the speakers to receiver?

 

The trade up policy as it applies to the wireless system has not been discussed internally yet, so I don't really have an answer there.  I'd tentatively say no, but if we do decide to include them in the trade up program it will be included in the information in the official roll out of the product.

The UNII band is a different spectrum than the 5GHz band used for Wi-Fi "N".  I believe UNII uses 5.1-5.2GHz where N is at 5.8GHz, so you should be fine there. 

Hope that helps!  

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

Thanks Jason,

 

Indeed it does. No worries, that's not a deal breaker. And i'm glad my home network won't be an issue when the time comes. I should be going online and making the 5:1 purchase tomorrow, if all goes well.

 

Eric

If it's really true that these new wireless speakers must be purchased as part of a complete system and cannot be purchased a la carte, even by prior Aperion customers, I am going to be very disappointed.

Samuel Williams:

If it's really true that these new wireless speakers must be purchased as part of a complete system and cannot be purchased a la carte, even by prior Aperion customers, I am going to be very disappointed.

Hello Samuel and welcome to the forum!

I assume you've read the thread on AVS and the discussion that's been taking place there about this topic, but just in case you haven't and for others I'll address it here too.

I think there's some misconceptions at the moment for how we intend this product, which is far from an official launch by the way, to be used and the advantages it will give users.  Yes they will be wireless, but people who want to just use this product for wireless surrounds will be paying a premium and missing out on the some of the main benefits of the system. 

First and foremost these will be powered speakers with active in speaker crossovers.   Because of that this system will allow you to calibrate the sweet spot and perform room correction to any point in the room with a touch of the button.  Amazing right?  But you'll only get that functionality if you have a complete system in the room. 

So if we did offer them a la carte you'd have to buy the transmitter box, which likely wouldn't be cheap itself, and then not be able to use the main functions of that box.  On top of that you're also paying a premium for the speakers themselves since they are powered. 

It really doesn't seem like that great of a deal and as you know we like to provide our customers with the best value possible.  Like Pitchshift on AVS mentioned you would likely be able to hire someone to run wires behind your walls for far less.  

I appreciate that folks are excited about this product and want to get in on it, but at the same time I think that offering it in a manner that doesn't allow folks to take advantage of the main benefits of it wouldn't really be serving the interests of our customers.  

 

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

The 'sweet spot' feature does indeed sound sweet!  (I know, I know, that was corny.)  LOL

 

Samuel, from what I've read around the web, Aperion Audio isn't just interested in selling you the most expensive product, but what works for your setup for an optimal listening environment. Jason helped me pick out the correct speakers for a unique setup (in my eyes) for my odd-shaped Living room. And he actually recommended SMALLER (ergo, less expensive) speakers than I initially had laid out in one or two areas. A very nice customer service touch that I haven't seen from most electronic retailers.

 

I wanted 'a la carte' wireless to add to the Living room setup, but if 'mix-n-match' isn't the way to go, I'll trust the experts and do 'all' or 'nothing'.

 

While I understand the notion that getting this new system primarily for the benefit of having high quality wireless surround sound speakers is somewhat overkill and besides the point, I feel like maybe the product and marketing folks at Aperion are missing out on the implicit message in this thread (and possibly others)

And that is, there appears to be a large demand for high quality Aperion wireless surround speakers!

I'm totally biased naturally, as I live in a situation that almost certainly demands wireless surround and am not happy with the aftermarket options which all seem to feature some degrees of annoyances, like humming, buzzing and/or pops/crackles as speakers turn on/off.

 And so, while I can appreciate that Aperion is attempting to take wireless to the next level with the Focus Enhancement product, I think it would be nice if they also offered a more basic, value-based option for wireless surrounds with the quality/value for which Aperion is known.

VC95

Your post is kinda confusing,

One the one hand, you realize that the current wireless options are inadequate, quality-wise, in your words " which all seem to feature some degrees of annoyances, like humming, buzzing and/or pops/crackles as speakers turn on/off."  But on the other hand, you want the folks at Aperion, who pride themselves on putting out a top of the line speaker, to offer, again in your words  "a more basic, value-based (you mean cheaper?) option for wireless surrounds with the quality/value for which Aperion is known."

A value-based solution means using 'value-based' components, and from what I gather, Aperion isn't going to put their stellar reputation in the audiophile community on the line by putting out a product or embracing a new technology (wireless), and then skimp on the quality of the product.

Why don't we see a ton of high end speaker manufacturers putting out wireless products? Because it's EXTREMELY difficult to do ( and costly), and those that have done so, they usually have the problems that you've encountered with wireless speakers. The reviewer who reviewed the Aperion wireless product at the recent trade show mentioned at the top of his review that he was expecting something underwhelming from the Aperion setup due to what he's heard from other wireless speaker setups, such as you mentioned. My personal opinion is I don't mind paying a premium dollar for a premium product that's going to produce 10 years down the line. A worthy investment. Just my two cents... 

 

If the Focus Enhancements system doesn't meet your needs (just wireless surrounds), that doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility of us launching another product that will be a better fit for what you are looking to accomplish.

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru