Aperion Audio Intimus 633-T Tower Speaker Pair- Cherry
By: Aperion Audio Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 1
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 On: 2007-02-18
These speakers are definitly a good deal. Aperion is an online operation and they pay for all the shipping. These speakers cost $1000 a pair and are better than most speakers you can buy in a store for the same price.
There are a number of on line reviews that rave about these speakers. You can go to the Aperion website and read all those reviews. The only problem is that none of these websites are very critical. They rave about everything they review. So, it is hard to tell if you are really getting an honest opinion.
Aeprion is located in Oregon and that is where the speakers are warehoused and shipped from. But, the speakers are made in China, which is one of the reasons they can be sold so cheaply.
It is really easy to order the speakers and they come within a week. Aperion has some technical advisors to give you advice on what model of speaket to buy. The speakers are double boxed and come in huge purple velvet bags. It all looks pretty impressive. Although I dont know the value of shipping the speakers in the velvet bags, and what you do with the bags once you get the speakers. We just stuck them on a top shelf of a closet.
The speakers are really heavy (around 75 pounds each) and very nice looking. The cherry wood has a perfect finish and is very beautiful. The reviews say "furniture quality". But, these are better finished than any furniture I have seen.
I placed the speakers on a hardwood floor, and that was a problem. The base of the speakers were not completely flat, so the speakers wobbled. They also have metal insert on the bottom that scratched my floor.
But, speakers come with metal spike feet that you are supposed to use. There is nothing in the literature or instructions about these feet (notice the picture above does not show any feet). They are just included in the box and I guess Aperion assumes that you know to use them. Almost all high end speakers have spiked feet for better base resposnse.
But, you cant use the spiked feet on the hardwood floors, because they put a dent in the floors. So, Aperion also includes small brass cups to put the spiked feet in. Since the speakers are so heavy, and the base isnt quite flat, and the metal cups are so small, it is very awkward to try and set up the speakers. And moving the speakers without scratching your floors is almost in impossible. But it does look pretty cool, having the red, hard wood speakers with the brass spiked feet and little cups.
At first, the speakers do not sound very good. They are flat and muddled. They could handle an accoustic instrument, but couldnt handle complex sounds, like during some parts of Dard Side of the Moon. But, after about 100 hours of playing they sound much, much better. I think most of it has to do with speakers breaking in, but some of it has to do with you just getting used to the sound.
I replaced a 15 year old pair of Infinity Reference Six speakers that I bought in 1991, that also listed for $1000 at the time (I got them for $700 when the Highland stores went out of business under the pressure of Best Buy). I had no idea how a $1000 worth of speakers in 1991 would rate to a $1000 worth of speakers today. Is it like other electronics, where things get cheaper and better, or is it like furniture, or housing where prices always go up?
I prefer the old Infinity speakers and think that they sound better all around, but especially in the mid range. Also, I hear a tiny bit of distortion on the very high end on the Aperion speakers that I did not hear on the Infinity speakers. But, I did a side by side comparisom and my wife prerefed the Aperion speakers (probably because of a boosted low end).
If I like the Infinity speakers better, why didnt I just keep them? I wanted to upgrade to a surround sound system, and there is no matching center channel for the Ininity speakers (being so old). Aperion makes a very nice center channel that is perfectly matched to the 633-T. They used to only offer a smaller center channel that wasnt quite the right match, but came out 634 late last year. I got serial number 1.
Also, the foam seperated on the base cone of one of the Ininity speakers, so there is a buzz at the very low end. But, you can buy foam repair kits, which I am thinking of doing.
How do they compare to other speakers you can buy now? It is hard to tell because you arent able to listen to these speakers in the same environment as you would listen to speakers that you buy in a store. But, I think these speakers are better than any current $1000 speakers I have heard. I am not so sure about the claim that these speakers are better than any $2000 speakers out there. I think some B&W might stack up well with these.
With Aperion, you can order the speakers, try them out for 30 days and then return them if you dont like them. Aperion pays for all the shipping. So you get to audition the speakers in the real environment where you will use them. That sounds great, but it really isnt practicle. First off, you arent able to compare them to other speakers, so you dont really know if you getting best speakers for the buck.
If you want to return them, the whole ordeal is a bid hassle. Boxed up, these things wiegh 85 pounds each. Unboxing them, installing the little feet, hooking them up to your system, getting 100 hours of play so they break in, and then boxing them up and hauling them back to UPS to return them is a big hassle. And you will need a big truck or minivan to take them to UPS, or pay to have UPS pick them up from your house.
In the end, I am happy with my purchase. It isnt perfect, and there are certainly advantages to buying speakes the traditional way through a store.
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