Digital Trends

Aperion INTIMUS 5.1

February 23rd, 2004 | by Mike Bell

Powering Up

The rear panel of the S-10 contains 4-way binding posts; also referred to as speaker level inputs and outputs. The high level inputs are provided for receivers or amps that have no separate line-out for subwoofers. When the high level inputs are connected to the receiver's front left and right speaker outputs, the front left and right speakers can be connected to the S-10's high level outputs. The speakers are daisy chained through the subwoofer so that it can tap into both channels to recover low frequency signals from the front speakers.

In addition to high level inputs, the S-10 also has stereo RCA type jacks; for line level inputs and outputs. These are the more common inputs for an A/V receiver with a “sub out” connection. The output(s) can be used to daisy chain to another subwoofer.

Hearing Is Believing

For our test listening environment, the front speakers were placed about 18 inches from the front wall. The rear channel speakers were placed on stands at the rear of the room about 10 feet from the towers. The S-10 subwoofer was placed to the side of the right front speaker.

An Onkyo TX-SR701 surround sound receiver drove all of the speakers. A Yamaha CDC-905 compact disc changer and Sony DVP-NS700P DVD player were used for the audio sources. The optical outputs were used so that the receiver's D/A converters were utilized to reproduce the sound for both movies and compact discs.

A look at the back of the 10-inch sub and a 522D bookshelf speaker.

It took several minutes and several different audio sources to get a satisfactory set up for the subwoofer phase, level, and low pass frequency. Even after this initial setup it was not uncommon to make fine level adjustments between different movies and audio CDs. Ideally, a sound level meter and test disk could be used to set up the sub's controls; however, personal listening preferences would probably overrule those settings anyway.

The first listening tests were done with various compact discs. The 522D's have the heart of a German shepherd in a terrier's body. The sound that filled the listening room could have been coming from towers several times their size instead of these bookshelf-sized speakers.

A recent local concert by “Little Charlie and the Nightcats” provided a great opportunity to compare a live performance in an intimate theater to a CD by the same artist with the sound stage created by the 522Ds. The result was the same great sound at home without the people talking through the concert.

The vocals sounded like they were really on a stage a few feet in front of the listener. The guitar and harmonica solos were simply “real.” The S-10 bass sounded tight with excellent transition from the 522Ds to the sub. The 522D's would be adequate without the subwoofer for a bookshelf audio system , but the sub is absolutely required to complete a home theater installation or provide a full range stereo experience.