Aperion Histroy

In 1998 our family boombox sputtered its last sound and died. After the memorial service, I suggested to my wife we splurge and buy a full stereo system. With her blessing, and a snug budget of $1,500, the shopping began.

Little did I know I was going to step into a kind of hell on earth I didn’t know existed. So many speaker choices, dozens of them, and all displayed in an acoustically engineered showroom that didn’t begin to resemble my family room.

Then the light went on, not so much like a revelation, but more like a logical epiphany to a really screwy situation. I thought, “I’ll build the speakers myself. ”But the big epiphany, the kahuna of epiphanies, the one for which I am forever grateful, came a few weeks later, incited by a guy in Mexico I was talking to about the sonic capacity of Peruvian hardwood. He asked, “Are you going to make a business out of building speakers?” And while the prospect of doing so had never occurred to me, what leaped out of my mouth was “Yes.”

With that "yes," the vision to build remarkable sounding speakers at a remarkably low price was instantaneously born. Of course, it was a no-brainer that the prime way to do this was to sell direct to the customer online. Cut out the middleman, the distribution channel, all the bureaucracy that sucks a budget dry, then pour that cash into developing and manufacturing kick ass speakers. The boon to the customer? Extraordinary speakers at half the price of retail. 

So, what started at a budget of $1,500 in 1998 turned into a million dollars in capital within months. And while my wife and I put off buying the speaker system of our dreams, within time we finally got it. It’s called the Aperion Audio Intimus 5.1 System. The best thing about this story? This is only the beginning.

A Brief History of Aperion Audio

This year marks the 26th year of operation for Aperion Audio! 26 years ago when the internet was in its relative infancy, we were born as a pioneer of online direct-to-consumer speaker manufacturing. Realizing the disparity in cost vs performance in the industry, we focused on a quality customer experience that offered a better value, meaningful information, and generous service. The philosophy of “cutting out the middleman” has allowed us to create an incredible sounding speaker at a price that is far lower than any comparable product. This combined with the ability to build a direct relationship with our customers allows us to immediately absorb their feedback and drive the company in a direction consistent with the needs of the most important decision maker, YOU.

1999– February 1999 Aperion began life as Edge Audio, entering the market with the 502D system. The original speakers were manufactured in its factory in Ensenada, Mexico made of solid capirona wood, available in two finishes, cherry and walnut. The 502d speakers contained a vifa 5.25” mid and 1” silk tweeter and the “Diaural” crossover. To compliment the edge system, a single 12” sub was available.

2001Edge Audio is changed to Aperion Audio. That date also marked the end of 502d and the beginning of 2ndgeneration 512 bookshelf. The speaker contained the same driver and tweeter as the 502d, however, because of some defects with the capirona wood, the cabinet was switched to 1” HDF (high density fiberboard) and made available in cherry veneer and black lacquer.

2002– Next in the Aperion lineup came the new and improved 3rd generation 522 bookshelf speaker and introduced the “Intimus” family name. The new speaker was an almost complete revision of the 512. Switching from vifa drivers, Aperion now had its own in-house custom designed drivers and amps manufactured from the same vendor. The 522 was redesigned to a slightly larger size. Along with a new woofer and tweeter, the DiAural crossover was re-tuned to give the 522 a much warmer sound.  Another sub was added to the series, the S10 with a front firing 10” woofer and a 200-watt amp.

2005 – Aperion added some smaller speakers, the 422 bookshelf and 422c center speaker, matched with an 8” 100-watt sub. Also, some larger bookshelf speakers were added for the music enthusiast, the 632LR. This was a 6.5” carbon fiber woofer with 1” silk tweeter and the new HD-X3 crossover. Finally, the 633T tower speaker with two 6.5” woofers and 1” silk tweeter was added to the Intimus series, giving a multitude of speaker options for all music and home theater needs.

2008 – A revision of the Intimus line was initiated with a slightly changed aesthetic look, but a major change in terms of build and sound quality. A new tweeter was designed along with the move to cast aluminum frames for the woven fiberglass woofers. The Intimus line was renamed based on driver size, with centers, towers and bookshelf in either 4”, 5” or 6”. To fill out the 6 series line up, a home theater enthusiast 6C center was added along with a 5T tower speaker.  At this time the 533PT was also retired as the 633T quickly became the flagship speaker in the line.

2009 – After the Intimus revisions, Aperion launched the new line of Bravus subwoofers.  The first version had dual active 8, 10 or 12” woofers along with DSP, a powerful class D amplifier and remote control. Over the next year Aperion added architectural speakers, bringing on an Outdoor Speaker and an LCR in-wall speaker to compliment the 6” in-wall and in-ceiling designs.

2010 – Aperion set out on designing a new and improved speaker line.  One that would build on the success of Intimus but bring all around audiophile sound and design at a value price that was unprecedented in the audio market. Launched at the 2010 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, the Verus Grand Tower speaker was an instant best of show and customer favorite. In the Verus Grand line, a Grand Center and Grand bookshelf were offered to complete the system. The Verus Grand series drastically changed the design aesthetic of the traditional square Intimus look to a more refined, higher end glossy curved cabinet. In addition to the design, Aperion also developed new Kevlar woofer and a patented tweeter ASR that set Verus apart as a true audiophile speaker.

2011 - A Bravus subwoofer redesign was completed moving to a single down firing active driver matched with a pair of passive radiators and larger more powerful class D amplifiers. Mid 2011 also brought the arrival of the smaller Verus Forte line of speakers and a Verus Surround Speaker. Following in the footsteps of Verus Grand, the Forte line has won numerous awards and accolades alone with customer raves.

2014 – This saw the release of one of our most popular speakers ever – the Allaire Bluetooth speaker. The easy connectivity and awesome sound quality was a hit with reviewers and customers alike.

2015 – After five years of accolades, we couldn’t leave well enough alone. Verus II emerged at the end of 2015 with a slew of refinements for our flagship speaker line. A redesigned crossover network and further enhancements to our patented ASR tweeter highlighted a range of improvements.

2018 – Being a perfectionist is never easy. New performance enhancing features were developed for our Verus family which instigated another step in our evolution, Verus III. The added flexibility of the TrebleMod feature and driver improvements propelled the sound quality above anything we’ve ever made. Also, the Super Tweeter made its debut. This little add-on speaker has far exceeded our expectations and has continually sold out faster than we can make them.

  • 1999-2007

    Intimus

    522D-LR Bookshelf Speaker

  • 1999-2007

    Intimus 522D-C Center Speaker

  • 2000-2007

    Intimus S-10 200W Powered Subwoofer

  • 2001-2007

    Intimus S-8 150W Powered Subwoofer

  • 2002-2007

    Intimus 522D-VAC Center Speaker

  • 2003-2007

    Intimus

    522D-PT Powered Tower Speaker

  • 2004-2007

    Intimus

    522D-SS Dipole/Bipole Surround Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 422-LR Satellite Speake

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 422-C Center Channel Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 532-LR Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 532-C Center Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus

    534-VAC Center Channel Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 533-PT Powered Tower Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 632-LR Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus 633-T Tower Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus

    634-VAC Center Channel Speaker

  • 2005-2007

    Intimus

    S8-APR Powered Subwoofer

  • 2006-2008

    Intimus 632-IW In-Wall Speaker

  • 2006-2008

    Intimus 632-IC In-Ceiling Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 4T Tower Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 4B Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 4C Center Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 4BP Surround Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 5T Tower Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 5B Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2007-2020

    Intimus 5C Center Speaker

  • 2007-2013

    Intimus 5DB Surround Speaker

  • 2007-2013

    Intimus 6T Tower Speaker

  • 2007-2013

    Intimus 6B Bookshelf Speaker

  • 2007-2013

    Intimus 6C Center Speaker

  • 2008-2013

    Bravus 8A Powered Subwoofer

  • 2008-2011

    Bravus 10D Powered Subwoofer

  • 2008-2011

    Bravus 12D Powered Subwoofer

  • 2009-2011

    Intimus L6-IC In-Ceiling Speaker

  • 2009-2021

    Intimus L6-DT Dual Tweeter In-Ceiling Speaker

  • 2009-Now

    Intimus L6-IW In-Wall Speaker

  • 2009-2011

    Intimus

    L6-LCR In-Wall Home Theater Speaker

  • 2010-2011

    Bravus 8D Powered Subwoofer

  • 2010-2016

    Verus Grand 6T Tower

  • 2010-2016

    Verus Grand Bookshelf V5B Speaker

  • 2010-2016

    Verus Grand Center Speaker

  • 2010-2014

    Zona Wireless Surround Speaker System

  • 2010-2014

    Aperion Zona® Home Audio Link System

  • 2010-2012

    Aperion Signature SLIMstage 30

  • 2010-2015

    Intimus Outdoor Speaker

  • 2011-2015

    Verus Forte 4T Tower Speaker

  • 2011-2016

    Verus Forte Satellite Speaker

  • 2011-2015

    Verus Forte Center Channel Speaker

  • 2011-2022

    Bravus II 8D 300W Powered Subwoofer

  • 2011-Now

    Bravus II 10D 500W Powered Subwoofer