Aperion Audio Verus Grand Loudspeaker System Reviewed

[broonsby]

Comparisons

Since I couldn't compare them directly to any other speakers in an A-B comparison I cannot say directly how the VGB's would stack up against those listed above.

I can compare them with B&W 805 Matrix II's since I owned a pair for 10 years. The 805's were true monitors and would expose every flaw in the system. They were very picky about the electronics used. The VGB's were very happy with a Marantz receiver. No lack of imaging of sense of graininess. This is a real plus. I could see these being run with a Peachtree Audio amp very nicely.

As for the Aperion Intimus line, I'm not so keen. While better than the current B&W 600 series I wouldn't go out of my way for any of them unless it was the 6 Tower if imaging is your thing.

 

[gene]

Interview with Aperion Audio on Loudspeaker Design Philosophy

I just posted this Interview with Aperion Audio on Loudspeaker Design Philosophy

 

[farrow099]

Just don't order on Friday! hah

I've heard so many great things about the Aperion Audio Grand Verus speakers that I decided to purchase a pair of the Grand Verus Bookshelf loudspeakers. I ordered the accompanying stand but didn't realize they weren't sold in pairs... So I get a call from a gentlemen at Aperon AUdio around 2pm the next day alerting me that I've only ordered one stand. Score one for them catching that. I gave the ok to add another stand and up the total of the order. Three hours later I get a call from a different gentlemen from Aperion Audio. He is calling to tell me that my bank is denying the new total. I assured him there is significantly more than the total in the account but if they would like they can cancel the transaction and I will simply reorder. The Aperion Representative told me that he can't do anything with the transaction because his system is showing it as "shipped". He was certainly nervous, stressed, and having software difficulties. I happen to be a windows server admin so I can sympathize with annoying software glitches. I told him to go ahead and ship the original order and I would just order another stand later. He replied that he couldn't do that because the order was locked as shipped with the new total. While fiddling with the software he apologized profusely and stated that 3 of the staff were away at a convention, another one had left early, and it was close to 5 their time.. He then told me that while fiddling with the order he had somehow created duplicate orders and commented about how he'd hear about that on Monday! I told him I'd call the bank and asked if I should call back. He gave me the phone number and said he would be the one to pick up so I didn't need his name! I asked for the order number and got off the phone. I called my bank and went through the automated shuffle for a few minutes before reaching a bank rep. I explained I had an order on hold and needed to know why. She said the Fraud Dept had put it on hold for unknown reasons, heh. She then "conferenced in" a Fraud dept rep. I verified my identity and had the fraud alert removed. All and all it took about 4 minutes. (according to my phone history) I then called back Aperionn Audio and reached a young woman. I explained the situation, she was clearly nervous just answering the phone. She explained that most of the staff had left for the day and asked me to call back Monday. I explained that I just spoke to a gentlemen there 5 minutes ago... She said, '"Oh you spoke with Mark (err something) and asked if she could take a message." I explained the situation and she clearly didn't know what to do! So I said you can just write something like, "Order#1234 called, fraud alert cleared, order can be processed". Rather than doing that she proceeded to tell me about how short handed they were today, as I had already heard from the previous gentlemen. I tried to break in but she continued on with her story! After she finished nervously explaining how late it was and how short handed they were she again asked me to call back Monday. I chuckled and said yeah, sure, that's fine... She then told me that they will have great customer service in on Monday to process the order! I told her that's fine, but the previous gentlemen had told me while fiddling with his software that he had somehow created duplicate orders so she should still leave him the message... She then told me he might call me back within a half hour but she couldn't promise anything! I just laughed it off and told her to have a good day... THen I told my brother how retarded this company is!

I REALLY hope their audio engineers are brighter than their customer support staff!

 

[Adam]

Best of luck! Hopefully you didn't actually remove the fraud alert that popped up when the second order was placed by accident.

 

[valvesnvinylfan]

Hi Farrow, on behalf of everyone here at Aperion Audio, please accept my sincere apologies for your experiences while contacting us—that is definitely not the quality of service we strive for, nor does it resemble the typical interactions we have with our customers on a daily basis: There’s simply no excuse for the jumbled, confusing and irrelevant communications we’ve conveyed to you, and for that I’m very sorry. It’s definitely sobering to hear that, in your case, we failed to deliver on our standard of excellent service—so our customer service lead will be personally contacting you today. And while we appreciate your understanding on our system glitches, a large factor in the art of promising and delivering great customer service means that we do whatever we can to make sure those glitches never affect your ordering from us—and for the vast majority of our customers out there, we’re happy to say we’ve delivered on that promise enough that it’s become one of the hallmarks of our company’s reputation. So once again, we’re sorry for your experience, and we really appreciate your feedback, positive or otherwise: It’s the most valuable gauge we have on whether we’re living up to our reputation, so we promise we will continue to strive to make good on it. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Oliver Amnuayphol

 

[farrow099]

Update 10/11/11 - 11:15am EST

Aperion called me back yesterday and offered to ship 3 day shipping. So that was nice of them.

However, as of this moment my bank account is still showing two Aperion Audio charges on hold\in process. One for the first amount and one for the updated amount. I'm going to give it another day, but it looks like they may have double charged me as I had suspected might happen. I'm hoping one of them will go through and the other will be canceled before I have to call back!

I should note that I've ordered from their online competitor, EMP, a few times in the past and have yet to have any issues.

 

[farrow099]

I'm guessing Aperion is still having issues because I just received another $.01 Aperion Audio charge to my debit card...

I guess it's time to make some calls again! ugh

 

[coilman]

comparisons

just want to know which Psb's speakers were the reps refering to? I would also would love to see a shoot-out between the VGT--salk ST's and the Imagine speakers still searching for my audio dream-- and hopefully evrerything works out for you farrow

 

[valvesnvinylfan]

Hi Farrow, thanks for the updates; as far as the double authorizations you have, you're correct, those were part of the system glitches that affected your order initially, so my apologies again there, but there shouldn't be anymore issues with your card: That initial pending authorization should drop off naturally, but if you'd like, I can request the authorization be removed? All I need is your issuing bank's phone number (usually located on the back of your card), so if you'd like for us to remove that first authorization just let us know and we'll be happy to help, thanks!

 

[farrow099]

"valvesnvinylfan", I'm going to give it another day to clear up.

In the mean time I have a quick question...
Does Aperion typically provide a tracking number?

I signed into the Aperion website but my account only shows two orders of stands now; One is marked partially shipped but no tracking number is listed. Nor did I receive any emails about shipment from Aperion. It also doesn't show the speakers at all in my order history, which is odd.

 

[valvesnvinylfan]

Hi, and indeed, you should have received a tracking number and emails, but I see the disconnect: Looks like when the order was entered, you had typed in "...zion..." .net, instead of "...izon..." .net. I will resend the emails for you off the forum, and will send the tracking number again. Please let me know if you have any other questions in the meantime.

 

[farrow099]

I received your email (Oliver), including tracking, thank you.

I plan to compare these to the EMP bookshelves this weekend (w/ a sub).
I'll be sure to post pics and some comments on the acoustic differences.

 

[valvesnvinylfan]

No problem, glad to help; we'll look forward to hearing your thoughts. Happy listening!

 

[GranteedEV]

I plan to compare these to the EMP bookshelves this weekend (w/ a sub).
I'll be sure to post pics and some comments on the acoustic differences.

I'm glad things worked out well.. i'm interested in your comparision

 

[farrow099]

I picked up the speakers and stands from FedEx last night.
I haven't had a chance to do an in depth comparison to the EMP's. At this point I've only used them with my DVR for television viewing.

I was a bit annoyed that the stands had zero instructions. They aren't complicated, but they also aren't very well designed. The base connects to the pylon with a single bolt, which allows the entire top to rotate on the base if you turn the speaker. I tightened the bolt down a couple times in an attempt to prevent this but it was beginning to cut right into the steel! Plus the neoprene pads kept sticking to the speakers rather than the stands while ! rotated the speakers onto the top plate. Also worth noting is the fact that the stands come as a pair, so there doesn't appear to be a reason to sell them as singles on the website!

As for the speakers. They clearly use higher quality components and cabinets than the EMP's.. However, they actually sound very similar! I've leveled the SPL with a meter, set both to crossover to the sub at 80hz, disabled all EQ, and disabled all vol management.

I'm going to need to take my time and do some critical listening to see if there is anything the Aperion's can handle that the EMP's cannot. (or vice versa)

My initial impression is that the EMPs have more robust bass output and the Aperions have smoother midrange. They both have a very neutral, balanced sound. I'll be back to post my notes after more critical listening experiences this weekend.

At this point (early in testing) I don't see any reason (acoustically) to sell the EMP's and replace them with twice-the-price Aperions'. But again, I've only used them with television at this point. (all be it, hdtv w/ digital surround tracks).

 

[its phillip]

You definitely need to test with some music and movies

 

[farrow099]

So i've now compared these using my Onkyo tx-nr3008 all eq and vol mgmt disabled. EMP e5bi were speakers a, the Aperion Verus Grand Bookshelf speakers b. I started with a classic dvd-a of BB King and Eric Clapton. There are plenty of guitar and bass guitar runs in addition to some in your face vocals. The Aperion's proved to be able to handle more instruments without losing fidelity and they also have a much more transparent sound. With my eye's closed it was truly difficult to physically place the speakers. The emps sound a tad dull and localized in comparison. Neither blended with my sub particularly well. Though I would say the e5bi was a tad better in this regard. My tc sounds lms-r 15 doesn't seem to like to play up to 80hz! I went through various tracks, all piped in through hdmi @ 192khz/24bit, stereo mode.

I listened to various tracks including jazz, rap, indy rap, indy rock, rock, classic rock, and blues. No matter the kind of music, my general impression remained unchanged. Though some music made the bookshelf to sub gap less noticeable.

However, for $200 more (less if you are buying stands) you can purchase the e55ti floor stander... There was little comparison between the grand verus bookshelf and the e55ti towers. The towers just dominated them. They simply had more to offer in all freq ranges.

I initially thought the Aperions had a much nicer build quality. Then I tried to remove the MAGNETIC grill! The magnets holding the grill have a stronger bond than the plastic-ish finish on the front of the speakers! I tried to pop the grill off with a butter knife and the plastic broke right off without the grill even detaching! I wasn't able to remove the grill until I was packing the speakers up. I had the first one all wrapped up in perfect condition for return. The second speaker slid down the cotton sock and pulled out of my hands falling off my couch and onto my foot\carpet! When I opened the cotton sock I found the approx 14" drop to my carpet had detached the grill and cracked the plastic much worse than trying to remove the grill!

Clearly I'm an Aperion audio owner for life now!
They do sound good, but I think a number of things need to be addressed.
Mainly the quality of this plastic coating, the quality of the stands, and the grill design.
Just to be clear, I don't mention the plastic coating because of the drop damage but because it breaks right off if you attempt to remove the grill.

If I were starting from scratch or just had a few grand to spare I would go Aperion. However I'm not certain they offer enough improvement in sound quality to justify spending an additional $2500 to complete (tower\center) the replacement of the EMP Impression series.

Plus both are little known brands and are likely difficult to sell.
I took a huge loss when I sold my last EMP series, after shipping I barely got any money out of them!

 

[farrow099]

I was just playing around with my subwoofer and found that my initial assumption that my sub wasn't playing up to the crossover freq of the bookshelf speakers was wrong. I set the crossover to 150hz and played some test tones, according to my db meter the sub doesn't really start to drop off until over 120hz. It's also reading as nice and flat right to 16hz! . OK, so I can't actually hear that low but the db meter can. Muahahahaa

I have tomorrow off; I think I'm going to hook up the Aperion's and run the XT32 setup on them. I suspect the towers just have significantly more bass output in general but I may as well see how they sound at their best! (short of a pro calibration that is)

 

[Cruise Missile]

If you pinch the grill cloth near a corner of the grill between your index finger and thumb and pull, it comes right off.

I thought I'd share this since everyone seems to have trouble with this. It isn't intuitive at all, and most seem to resort to prying the grill out.

Love, love, love my Versus Grands!

 

[farrow099]

With proper xt32 setup the speakers blend MUCH better with my sub. It may also be worth mentioning that Audyssey xt32 recommended a crossover point of 50hz! I upped it to 80hz afterward, but apparently those little 5" woofers play pretty darn low (in room).


In fact I've decided to take the plunge and move to four verus grand bookshelfs and a verus grand center. My girlfriend err spouse wants towers but I just can't afford them at this time. Perhaps after the holidays.

The bottom line is that the Aperions offer better clarity than the EMP's. Though I maintain that the EMPs throw a bit more bass at you.

In reference to the grill; Use a spare woofer magnet to pull them off!

~I was sitting at my kitchen table last night looking at a dead JBL woofer that I recently replaced in my car door... I found myself thinking, "Why didn't I just use a magnet to pull the grill?"! Sure enough, it works like a charm! I'm sure most of us (in this community) have spare woofers laying around