Newb needs help. Aperion Grand Verus Tower, Infinity P363. - Help Gene!!!

[jwalters21]

Ok I am looking for unbiased opinions here. All answers are greatly appreciated.

I have a pair of Infinity P363, that were originally paired with an onkyo 609. I have had those for about a year and have been mostly satisfied with the sound of the speakers. Well recently I was able to buy a pair of discounted Aperion GVT's from a friend. I have always been enamored by these speakers because they have had outstanding reviews from more websites than most speakers.

So my onkyo crapped out on me right about the same time so I had to buy another receiver. As much as I would like to be made of money, I'm not, so I can't afford much for an amp/receiver. I picked up a Denon 3313 clearance for $675.

The Denon has made a huge improvement in the sound quality of my Infinity's. But here lies my problem. I don't notice a drastic difference in quality between the p363 and GVT. I feel I must be doing something wrong in setting them up. I have tried a couple different configs. But still don't see a vast difference of $200 value to $2000 value.

My room is 20x20.
So what am I doing wrong? Is my Denon not powerful enough to truly appreciate the GVT's? I eventually want to build out to a minimum of 5.1 system.

 

[ousooner2]

Your power is fine. What area's do you feel the GVT does better or worse? Have you run Audyssey yet?

 

[fuzz092888]

I wouldn't necessairly say the power is fine. It really depends on his listening levels and what type of viewing he's doing. It can also depend on how the room is finished as well. If the room is perfectly 20X20 that can possibly create some issues.

What do you do more, music or TV movies?

What levels do you usually listen at? (If you've run Audyssey what is the -xx on the receiver?)

How far are you away from the speakers?

How far from the front and side walls are the speakers?

Do you have any carpeting or rugs between you and the speakers?

That's a pretty massive room at about 3200 cubic feet. That could also be leveling the field.

Do you have any toe in?

Do you have both pairs of speakers set up at the same time, and if so how are the arranged? ABBA or ABAB?

 

[jwalters21]

I don't feel the GVT's are worse in any way. I just feel they don't sound much better for the huge cost difference. And yes I have ran audyssey.

Part of me wonders if I just don't have the ears to appreciate the difference.

 

[jwalters21]

I wouldn't necessairly say the power is fine. It really depends on his listening levels and what type of viewing he's doing. It can also depend on how the room is finished as well. If the room is perfectly 20X20 that can possibly create some issues.

What do you do more, music or TV movies? An even mix between all.

What levels do you usually listen at? (If you've run Audyssey what is the -xx on the receiver?) 50-60 on the receiver.

How far are you away from the speakers? 12 feet.

How far from the front and side walls are the speakers? 7 feet

Do you have any carpeting or rugs between you and the speakers? Carpet

That's a pretty massive room at about 3200 cubic feet. That could also be leveling the field.

Do you have any toe in? Yes both sets are toed in.

Do you have both pairs of speakers set up at the same time, and if so how are the arranged? ABBA or ABAB?

1.Well it is square, but there is an open wall to kitchen that is about 10' wide.
2. Even mix of all
3. 12 feet
4. 6 feet
5. Carpet
6. Both sets are toed in
7. ABBA

 

[Harrison20]

Hearing/listeing is very subjective. Since you bought these from a friend you must have listened to them prior to buying them. Did they for some reason sound better before you bought them?

 

[LiveJazz]

Do you not hear any difference, or do you hear a difference but don't appreciate the sound one more speaker set than the other, or appreciate them equally?

Interested to hear opinions. I have a large room myself and am concerned if room size turns out to be a leveling factor here.

 

[gene]

Ok I am looking for unbiased opinions here. All answers are greatly appreciated.

I have a pair of Infinity P363, that were originally paired with an onkyo 609. I have had those for about a year and have been mostly satisfied with the sound of the speakers. Well recently I was able to buy a pair of discounted Aperion GVT's from a friend. I have always been enamored by these speakers because they have had outstanding reviews from more websites than most speakers.

So my onkyo crapped out on me right about the same time so I had to buy another receiver. As much as I would like to be made of money, I'm not, so I can't afford much for an amp/receiver. I picked up a Denon 3313 clearance for $675.

The Denon has made a huge improvement in the sound quality of my Infinity's. But here lies my problem. I don't notice a drastic difference in quality between the p363 and GVT. I feel I must be doing something wrong in setting them up. I have tried a couple different configs. But still don't see a vast difference of $200 value to $2000 value.

My room is 20x20.
So what am I doing wrong? Is my Denon not powerful enough to truly appreciate the GVT's? I eventually want to build out to a minimum of 5.1 system.

The Infinity's really do grab you with a lot of sound. However, I suggest to focus in on tonality and accuracy of vocals. The Infinity tweeters run really hot. They give an initial impression of great detail but can fatigue overtime, especially with female vocals and brass instruments. Still a really good speaker for the price and voiced with a little extra boom/sizzle for the market it sells in. I haven't compared the P363 to the Aperion towers so I can't comment. In fact, the only Aperion Verus speakers I heard were the bookshelf's and they really do sound nice.

Make sure you have your receiver set to fullrange for the main channels. Also make sure your level matching when doing the comparison. Sometimes A/B switching isn't revealing enough. Spend some time with each speaker (days) to see how your opinion changes with various source material.

 

[GranteedEV]

I would evaluate

- The complexity of the source material
- The quality of the source material
- The positioning in the room
- the acoustics of the room

as big culprits in smearing SQ (and limiting a comparision). I wouldn't be blaming the electronics, personally.

That said, the infinities are often considered a high value product. And I don't know what the Aperions sound like, although I think guys like Nuance and the late DenPureSound didn't really love them compared to other speakers.

 

[PENG]

My experienced with the P362 is that they sound like much more expensive speakers when playing small jazz band/vocal but not so good with large orchestral music. I bet if you compare the two speakers with the right kind of music contents you will hear much greater differences. Your room being square shape you probably would benefit from listening with Audyssey on, but make sure you follow Audyssey's instruction exactly and run it for all 8 positions for the best possible results, then try both Audyssey and Audyssey flat as you may much prefer one over the other.

 

[Natrix]

I have the VGT's, but I haven't ever heard the the P363's so I cannot comment on them. I'll tell you that I have multiple stereo setups and the VGT's are the best sounding of all of them. I do have them X'ed over at 80Hz to subs, but nothing I have throws up the huge soundstage and images like the VGT's. I can also tell you that source material plays a big role in how they sound as the poorly recorded stuff sounds well, poorly recorded.

I first had my VGT's bi-amped from an Onkyo 809, but later added an Emotiva XPA-3. The only difference I could tell between the two was the bass was a slight bit better with the XPA-3 when I was running them full range, so I highly doubt your Denon is the problem. Your room is almost twice as wide, but the same length as the one I have mine setup in. I too have a door sized opening as well.

I have mine setup as an equilateral triange with my seating position and I feel they sound best this way as I have tried sitting further back and closer before. I also have them toed-in so they line up with my corresponding ears. I absolutely despise Audyssey when listening to music, but YMMV.

I have also spent enough time with my setup to know it sounds differently depending on my mood, what time of day it is and how distracted I am when I listen. In the dark, with the ambient noise level low and closed eyes is when the VGT experience can be transcending for me. I would heed Gene's advice and spend a week or so listening to each pair by themselves with different types of material and go from there.