I promised to post some impressions when I got a chance to hear the Aperion Bravus 8D Subwoofer so here they are.
Packaging – Just what you'd expect from Aperion. Well-packed with lots of foam and their signature blue, velvet bags. I do have a gripe as it wasn't double-boxed, but the packaging was more than enough to survive shipping. They also sent a care kit which includes cleaning instructions, a cotton cloth, and cotton gloves for handling; nice touch.
Build Quality – This thing is pretty! The black, piano gloss is stunning. I've never seen Aperion's cherry, but I imagine it's excellent. The Bravus 8D is solid. It weighs almost as much as my own HSU STF-2, but is only a third of the size. The Bravus 8D comes with a good power cord. I always felt the ones HSU includes with some models are a bit skimpy.
Features – The Bravus 8D consists of quite a few features. It comes with an LCD screen and remote which I used for setup. The LCD screen is a bit small to see from across the room and the remote doesn't use discrete codes for power and setup making a universal remote harder to program. Not a big deal really. The setup allows quite a bit of flexibility. It comes with three pre-programmed modes: music, movies, and game. I found the out-of-the-box settings quite satisfying, but you can program each mode separately with your own settings. It also consists of the usually phase adjustment which isn't simply a switch offering 0 and 180.
Sound – Ok, so how does it sound? The Bravus 8D is a dual, active 8” drivers in a sealed enclosure. The Bravus 8 sounds excellent! A hair tighter and more articulate than my STF-2 and it wasn't shy to rumble when called upon. I didn't feel output was lacking and although some very low sounds were missing, it wasn't much.
One additional observation I made is that the Bravus 8D needs good voltage from the preout to turn on. This was easily solved by cranking the SW level up on the receiver and reducing the gain on the Bravus 8D itself.
Overall, I must say I'm impressed with how much Aperion squeezed into this small box. I would have liked it doubled-boxed for shipping, discrete remote codes, and a bit more sensitive amp, but other than that, I can't fault anything else. At $499 it may seem expensive, but considering construction includes HDF, real wood veneer with piano gloss, and dual active 8” aluminum drivers, it isn't a bad little deal. I'm considering selling my STF-2 and getting the Bravus 10D which should give you an idea of how I feel about this line of subwoofers.
