Aperion Audio Bravus 10D Subwoofer Review

[admin]

The Aperion Bravus 10D is an attractive, potent little subwoofer at a reasonable price. It certainly doesn't have the output and extension of its larger peers but that's a tradeoff one must live with if they want a small box to better blend into their room decor. In that aspect the Bravus 10D is all aces. Given the diminutive size of the 10D, it would be very easy to place two of these in most family rooms without drawing much attention to them. There should be no excuses for NOT setting up dual subs in your theater room. Aperion Audio makes this very easy for you with their small, potent Bravus offerings.

Discuss " Aperion Audio Bravus 10D Subwoofer Review" here. Read the article.

 

[gene]

Amazing if the box on this sub was 3-4 times larger and had SVS as the initials this thread would be flooded with responses. Doesn't anyone reading this forum have size constraints to deal with in their rooms?

 

[jamie2112]

I think its a great little sub.Its stats are great as well......people must be trippin..

 

[pzaur]

Personally, I think Aperion gets less love than they should. I've had my front three for years and have never had a second thought regarding the purchase. If I had the income, I would have purchased one a while ago.

Gene, I think you hit the nail on the head. It says Aperion and not SVS. Name recognition and reputation are everything.

I wonder how many people are not looking at this thread because it has Aperion in the title...

-pat

 

[sholling]

Amazing if the box on this sub was 3-4 times larger and had SVS as the initials this thread would be flooded with responses. Doesn't anyone reading this forum have size constraints to deal with in their rooms?

Almost nobody on this forum would dare post that they were willing to pay top dollar for a small sub that lacks deep bass extension.

Nicely written review though.

 

[shadyJ]

Almost nobody on this forum would dare post that they were willing to pay top dollar for a small sub that lacks deep bass extension.

Nicely written review though.

This is true. Most people in the subwoofer forum are willing to make concessions to larger sizes, seeing as how most here are enthusiasts. That being said, I liked the article and appreciate the measurements. I wish more sub reviews could be like that.

 

[KEW]

Nice review.

I was wondering why a "Bass Accuracy" rating was omitted from the final tally.

 

[gene]

I was wondering why a "Bass Accuracy" rating was omitted from the final tally.

Opps, the person that posted this review for me used the wrong scorecard template. I fixed it. thanks.

 

[anamorphic96]

800.00 for a sub that is down 3db at 30hz is not that impressive in my book.

The HSU STF-2 that is not that much bigger, and for half the price would probably walk all over this sub.

Aperion makes a nice product but this sub offers little value. I picked up my STF-2 and a Velodyne SMS-1 for 800.

As usual the Audiholics review is well done though.

 

[gene]

800.00 for a sub that is down 3db at 30hz is not that impressive in my book.

The HSU STF-2 that is not that much bigger, and for half the price would probably walk all over this sub.

Aperion makes a nice product but this sub offers little value. I picked up my STF-2 and a Velodyne SMS-1 for 800.

The HSU is 19 x 14 x 18 whereas the Aperion is 15 x 13 x 13. That is a significant difference in size. The cosmetics on the Aperion are also much nicer. Size and looks play a vital role for some people when blending their systems into their room decors. Also there is more to a sub than just pure low end extension.

 

[nibhaz]

The HSU is 19 x 14 x 18 whereas the Aperion is 15 x 13 x 13. That is a significant difference in size. The cosmetics on the Aperion are also much nicer. Size and looks play a vital role for some people when blending their systems into their room decors. Also there is more to a sub than just pure low end extension.

I get what you are saying Gene, and I would consider this to be a niche product just for the type of consumer you described.

Considering this subs high SPL capabilities in the mid to upper bass region, would this Aperion unit function well as a mid-bass module for someone using an external amps and EQ? Perhaps this is another niche they could target?

 

[rnatalli]

The HSU STF-2 that is not that much bigger, and for half the price would probably walk all over this sub.

I compared the 8D to the STF-2 and found the 8D had the superior SQ and hit almost as low as the STF-2 with only the very low notes missing. I didn't notice a significant difference in output overall, however, the 8D does better up high which may be why it felt more musical. The 8D measures in at 13.5 x 12 x 12 and is very pretty Here's the original link:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=537455

 

[eddie]

Trying to get this sub to play usable bass below 30Hz at meaningful SPL levels is like expecting Sarah Palin to actually be funny doing stand up comedy or Obama to grow balls and actually make good on his promises.

Wow! That was interesting.

 

[gene]

Considering this subs high SPL capabilities in the mid to upper bass region, would this Aperion unit function well as a mid-bass module for someone using an external amps and EQ? Perhaps this is another niche they could target?

Honestly I don't get the whole mid bass module concept that HSU started. It makes no sense to place a mid sub in the room and have it firing frequencies above 80Hz which are highly localized. The better approach to blend small speakers is to use 2 subs like a 10D that play up high, and place them in close proximity to the front Left/Right satellites crossing them over at 100-120Hz. I did this for a friend who purchased an EMP ECA micro system and it sounds really good. He was blown away when we added the 2nd sub and increased the xover frequency. You can get away with this if the subs are placed up front near the main speakers, not some arbitrary location in the middle of the room.

 

[nibhaz]

Honestly I don't get the whole mid bass module concept that HSU started. It makes no sense to place a mid sub in the room and have it firing frequencies above 80Hz which are highly localized. The better approach to blend small speakers is to use 2 subs like a 10D that play up high, and place them in close proximity to the front Left/Right satellites crossing them over at 100-120Hz. I did this for a friend who purchased an EMP ECA micro system and it sounds really good. He was blown away when we added the 2nd sub and increased the xover frequency. You can get away with this if the subs are placed up front near the main speakers, not some arbitrary location in the middle of the room.

I don’t really claim to “get it” either and was just throwing it out there for those who do subscribe to such thinking. The only way that I could really see a MBM working is in a stereo configuration just as you described and precisely due to the bass localization issues that you cited.

IMHO the best possible use for this sub would be a compact music only system which utilizes two of them in stereo.

Just throwing my 2 cents out there for the sake of discussing the review….which are always appreciated.

 

[murthyvs]

The HSU is 19 x 14 x 18 whereas the Aperion is 15 x 13 x 13. That is a significant difference in size. The cosmetics on the Aperion are also much nicer. Size and looks play a vital role for some people when blending their systems into their room decors. Also there is more to a sub than just pure low end extension.

I agree to this point - "size and looks play a vital role". HSU's have great reputation but Aperion's designs sleek, perform decent, tend to have +ve WAF.

 

[murthyvs]

I compared the 8D to the STF-2 and found the 8D had the superior SQ and hit almost as low as the STF-2 with only the very low notes missing. I didn't notice a significant difference in output overall, however, the 8D does better up high which may be why it felt more musical. The 8D measures in at 13.5 x 12 x 12 and is very pretty Here's the original link:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=537455

I had the same feeling that 8D and 10D are leaned towards music ..

But 12D is one big monster.

 

[GregBe]

Hey Gene,

Nice review...just curious, what do you mean when you say "The Aperion Bravus 10D integrates well with low to medium efficiency speakers" ?

Thanks
Greg

 

[gene]

Nice review...just curious, what do you mean when you say "The Aperion Bravus 10D integrates well with low to medium efficiency speakers" ?

Meaning it may not provide enough output for large rooms using very efficient (>95dB @ 1 watt/meter) speakers.

 

[Pete_Hsu]

My apologies for the intrusion, and kudos to Gene for the excellent review, but I just wanted to clarify some things regarding the MBM. The purpose of the MBM is not to handle frequencies above 80Hz per se, but rather to handle frequencies from 50Hz up to crossover with the main speakers (which is usually no higher than ~80Hz). The general idea was to have a 2-way subwoofer system where one uses a large true subwoofer to reproduce deep bass (~16-50Hz), and then uses the MBM to reproduce mid-bass (~50-80Hz). In many rooms, the best place to reproduce deep bass is a different location than the best place to reproduce mid-bass. Also, the driver design requirements are different. The MBM useage has some flexibility too. As a single unit, some people use it in the nearfield (for higher direct-to-reflected sound ratio, higher impact, lower distortion), and others use it next to the true subwoofer (for lower I.M. distortion and wider dynamic range). In pairs, some people use it to flank the left/right mains, others use it on each side of the couch, and some people even use it next to multiple true subwoofers. When used in pairs, one may be able to use the MBM's from ~50-150Hz, depending on where the MBM's are placed.

I do agree with Gene that adding a second identical true subwoofer can make for a big overall improvement. I recommend this all the time. The MBM concept is not mutually exclusive to this. In fact, some of the finest systems I have heard include both multiple true subwoofers and multiple MBM in the mix! Note that with very large and/or very expensive subwoofers, adding a second identical true subwoofer may not be practical nor affordable, so the MBM may make some sense for these people. That's why we've had owners with PB13-Ultra, Conquest, etc who have had great results adding the MBM. On the flip side, in some cases it may not be practical to add the MBM. For example, in some instances (even within our own lineup) I would recommend dual true subwoofers instead of one true subwoofer and one MBM. There are even some instances where I would recommend one large true subwoofer instead of two smaller true subwoofers. We would need to evaluate each situation on a case by case basis to determine whether or not it makes sense to go one particular route vs another.

Sincerely,