Digital Trends

Aperion INTIMUS 5.1

February 23rd, 2004 | by Mike Bell

Continued...

Next up was Walter Trout and the Radicals. Possibly one of the 10 best rock guitarists of all time, Walter's vocals and guitar solos really provide a good test of a system's ability to reproduce loud music and still pull out the details. Once again a recent local concert, the same one actually, provided a unique opportunity to compare a live performance to the performance of the 522D's. Sorry Walter, but the songs on your “Relentless” CD were much more detailed and clear when performed at home on the 522Ds. However, Walter's guitar artistry simply must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. It was hard to pick a clear winner between the live performance and the 522Ds - the Aperion INTIMUS 5.1 system sounds that good.

The high frequency response was balanced quite nicely with the midrange. No doubt this is due to the unique DiAural crossover system that Aperion uses under license. The DiAural circuit is a new patented crossover technique that allows for proper communication and interaction between transducers (woofer, mids and tweeters). The system has fewer parts than typical crossovers, produces less distortion, and renders the high frequency and mid range transducers virtually burnout proof. According to Aperion, DiAural technology produces a sound that is natural and true to the original source. We thought the DiAural technology accomplished what they intended it to do; the transition from the midrange to the tweeters sounded seamless.

The next listening tests were done with several DVD movies. First, Terminator 2, Judgment Day was used to evaluate the INTIMUS 5.1‘s performance for home theater. The “Extreme DVD” with audio remix supervised by THX Inc. provided an exciting home theater experience with a full range of audio for evaluation. The surround imaging was near flawless with extreme bass LFE (Low Frequency Effects) and full ambient surround experience. In addtion, the center channel dialogue was never overwhelmed by the other channels. The S-10 sub blended very well with the 522D's.

The S-10 sub was doing double duty as the LFE channel as well as extending the low frequency range for the 522Ds. As mentioned previously, it was common for us to have to re-adjust the subwoofer for different movies in order to get the right balance. This re-adjustment was required less frequently between different music CDs. However, since the S-10 was called upon to provide more of the low frequency range for the 522D's, unlike full range towers, it was not uncommon to make slight subwoofer adjustments for CDs as well. Aperion says that the 10 inch Sub uses a long throw driver. There was certainly no evidence of bottoming out or other artifacts while playing extremely loud movie Low Frequency Effects.

The 522D-C center did an excellent job of reproducing the dialogue in movies. Since the 522D-LR's and 522D-C are essentially the same speakers, there was never any issue with matching. As a result there was no straining by the 522D-C to be clearly heard over the 522D-LR's when speech was overlaid on loud music or sound effects. Again, the 522D-LR's are used for the rear surround channels so there was no matching issue there either.

Conclusions

The looks, performance and price of the INTIMUS 5.1 home theater system should make this a very attractive option for many home audio enthusiasts. It can stand up to the sound and power of many more expensive systems and won't break the bank in doing so.

The well engineered system and quality components provide outstanding sound quality. For an installation where bookshelf speakers are desired or towers simply won't fit, the INTIMUS 5.1 system should definitely be considered.

Coupled with Aperion's great customer service reputation and a no-risk 30-day trial (return shipping billed to Aperion) you can't go wrong.