miko

Sorry, i'm just a little excited.
http://www.aperionaudio.com/products/pr_ss_522.html

I got the 4 surrounds and the center. I already have a 10" M&K sub which is pretty nice so i didn't see the need to replace it. This system should go very nicely with my 50" Sony Grand Wega LCD that i picked up finally last week.

If you guys haven't heard of these, check out the reviews. Both sound and customer service reviews are amazing! Personally, i haven't heard them yet wich sounds crazy. They only sell on the internet, direct from the manufacturer so no middleman hence the low prices. And they have a 30 full money back guarantee including return shipping. I figured it can't hurt to try them, and your own home is the best listening environment to test speakers anyway. You never know what you're gonna get when you listen in a store, then take them home. C'mon fedex man!!!

Confederate

Well i guess I'll be the first to say congrats, getting new stuff is always sweet, I hope they work out like you want them to.

miko

haha, thanks. I'm looking at the boxes right now.
I'll report back to let you guys know if they are all they're cracked up to be. I've already had follow up emails out of the blue from their customer service department, and they replied to my questions within the hour. So far everything I've heard about their customer service is true....let's hope the same rings true for their product.

Confederate

I just browsed through the link you posted, man those speakers aren't cheap. I hope you got the best bang for your buck.

miko

Well it's all relative....but if you look at a good set of B&W speakers which these are compared to, the speakers are very cheap. So you are actually getting very good bang for your buck. Each speaker weighs near 15lbs! Pretty solid for bookshelf size. I just played them for the first time and they sound pretty good. But they need 48 hrs of break in before you can truly judge them.

jujueye

It's neat to see someone finally advertising the Di-Aural crossover.

I noticed they are only available online. Did you hear them somewhere before jumping in? Just curious.

Well, the review section seems to have quite a following, and not just from some "Robert Q from Albany." Nice. I was especially surprised to see them reviewed by Secrets, AIG, and even Stereopile.

A word on break in: they might tell you 48 hours, but I'd give them 100. Speaker suspensions need the exercise, coils and crossover components need constant electricity to settle down. No worries, just realize it may take longer than their sales sheet tells you.

Did you get stands? If you are really using them on a bookshelf, you should really think about trying out some speaker stands. If you have a little extra room to get them speakers out into the room, you'll get an amazing treat: mini monitors like that will literally disappear if set up correctly. I heard a pair of Totem Model 1's do this at a local shop and I was blown away.


By the way, you posted this on 2/5. Any impressions? Hope they are all you expect!

miko

Cool, i'll give them 100 hours of break-in. I'm gonna let them run all day while I'm at work to speed things up. I didn't get stands....yet. We are actually in the middle of furnishing that room so I'm not sure yet if I'll have the room for stands or not. Can you explain a little more about why stands would be better?
As far as impressions.....i just hooked them up last night. So far so good, but i only played with a dvd movie for about 5 minutes and that was it. I will experiment more today. So far so good. But i was VERY impressed with the packaging! I don't think i've ever bought anything that was packaged this safely. And each speaker comes in it's own box. When removing from the box you have to remove it from a plastic pouch. And then the best part...the speaker is in a purple velvet bag with a gold rope pull string! haha, very chic.
I will post back here as I listen and break them in.

miko

Here's a few pics i took last night while unpacking for those interested.









Yes, those are purple velvet bags.

I'll take more pics of the entire system once it's fully set up.

macmanmike6100

oh those are SWEET (and I said that outloud as I saw the picture)

be sure to post a review~!

ubertuber

That purple and gold bag is too funny! It just makes me think of crown royal... The finish is beautiful though!

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Cycler

Interesting keep us updated on how they progress. They difintely LOOK good.

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ubertuber

So... How do they sound?

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miko

So far.....AMAZING! Played some Pink Floyd - live version of Crazy Diamond.....phenomonal! It was like being right there. And movie soundtracks like the opening scene of Gladiator sound great! I'm still tweaking my system and the speakers are barely thru half their break-in period...but so far I am very impressed...especially for the quality of sound coming out of such a small speaker(bookshelf size). My last ones were Cerwin Vega floor standing monsters from 1996.

brandon11983

What sort of front end (CD, preamp, amp...) equipment do you have?

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miko

Unfortunately, I'm still running a Sony 5.1 with DTS that I bought about two years ago. It was around $500 at the time. I know it could be much better....someday it will get replaced, but it's fine for now.


Here's some pics I just took of the system...





and soon the whole system will be completely controlled by this monster....the MX-700

quadro2000

drooooooooooooooooooooool........

(sniff) it's beautiful.

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ubertuber

Wow - I am so jealous. Too bad I'd have to be stupid rich to be able to have a room like that let alone your system in NY!

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miko

NYC? Hell yeah. I like to come back to visit, but since moving down south I am too spoiled to move back. And I used to live in the burbs!

That room is only about 260 sq ft. The wide angle makes it look bigger.

hilbert25

That gloss finish is really nice.

Where's your sitting position? Speakers like that need good seat positioning to do them the justice. Really, try putting a nice soft chair, dead center, the same distance from the center as each side. Even if for only a little bit. Get the tweeters up near your ears. Then listen as the speakers fade away, even more and you've got simply the instruments and the music.

Those are rear ported, I take it? Definitely get stands then, keep them a couple feet from a wall and they'll sound even tighter. Partsexpress has some really nice kits that make some fairly substantial bookshelf speaker stands.

Of course this is all relative, if they sound amazing to you, that's all you need, but half the fun is experimenting.

miko

Yes, I was thinking of getting stands....I would like to get them farther to the outside of the room due to our less than perfect seating positions. Dead center would be nice, but impractical for the odd space we have. The wall opposite the tv is our fireplace. I'll check out that link. Thanks!

jujueye

Sorry miko, I dropped the ball on your question. Work has been killing me. 14 hour days suck.

OK. Stands. Wow, I dont want to get too deep into this, but stands provide a few nice things:
stability
freedom from exciting other surfaces (more in a sec)
more airspace around the speakers.

Stability. Speakers work by moving a driver backwards and forwards. If the speaker cone (driver) moves forward and the surface that it is sitting on responds by moving in the opposite direction, you lose detail as the whole speaker shifts while it is working. Stands will help by providing a non-moving (or mostly non moving) place for the drivers to do their thing.

Freedom from exciting other surfaces: Ever hear a Honda civic go by, and the license plate is rattling with the bass? Imagine the surface your new speakers are on doing that in a smaller way. Again, this is wasted energy. many stands are sand-fillable, which will increase their weight. As things get heavier, they are less excitable (even pets exhibit this phenomenon.)

More airspace around the speakers: I was happy to see that you did not put your speakers inside a bookshelf with walls around it. Yikes! Never, never do that! The reason has a lot to do with how sound waves work, but we won't go that far. Think of it this way: if you were to run your speakers while they were inside their shipping box (with the lid open) they would sound odd. That's because of the reflected sound waves that would occur. Using speaker stands, you would eliminate more chances of getting reflected sound, and would have more chance of hearing *just* the speaker.

Thanks for posting a picture of your room and setup. It answers a lot of questions! I can see why you don't want stands yet...it would sure eat space!

One thing to consider as I look at your system: there are companies that make stands for tv's and equipment. You could sell your current media center and get a nice stand from Sanus that would hold your tv and gear below. Plus you may be able to find some matching speaker stands. Just a thought.

By the way, good lord: do you have a clean home or what?!?!? Holy Moly! Sure wish my stereo area looked that nice!

WarWagon

I'd kill to have a room that size to set up my stereo/ht. Looks like a very nice setup, all of my own stuff is the black lacquer finish as well.

tdoc

Was that another speaker in the right corner of your room?

miko

haha, no that was another shelf that had to be moved to another room and was sitting their temporarily. But after i saw it in the pic myself I thought the same thing.

Thanks for the tips jujueye!
Actually, we bought those shelves specifically for the new tv. We couldn't find anything else that we liked.

Thanks to everyone for all the nice comments.

jujueye

Well, then its perfect! It looks great. In fact, it makes that wall look nice and wide, which opens up the room. Neat!