Aperion Audio Verus III Concert V8T flagship tower announced

[a_p]

Aperion does not get much press and does not advertise much, so wanted to pass this along as Todd has reviewed a slightly older Grand Verus II tower, now updated and called V6T - they announced their new V8T flagship 2 weeks ago and taking pre-orders now.

Aperion Audio Verus III Concert V8T Tower Speaker Single

Introducing the flagship Verus III Concert V8T Tower Speaker. After 21 years of non-stop engineering development and countless hours toiling in the lab, we are extremely proud to announce our best speaker yet. Featuring dual 8" woofers, dual 5.25" mid-range woofers, our Axially Stabilized Verus...

www.aperionaudio.com

 

[Sonnie]

I can't say that I've ever heard any Aperion speakers, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being disappointed with them. I think we tried once to get some for one of our evaluations but failed to get it worked out. Maybe we can try again at some point in time.

 

[a_p]

Hi Sonnie, I'm in constant dialogue with Aperion Audio, they have a great 2 man customer service team. I am very interested in getting you guys the V8T flagship speaker to test out, especially since Todd raved about the Verus II a few years ago. If I can convince Aperion to send you a pair of flagship speakers, what are the details? No fees? Do you guys pay for return shipping? How long do you need the speakers for? Anything else? I'll gladly work with them as they have not been effective in advertising and this would be a good forum for them to get some press on the V8T. Also, is it possible for me to put their URL link here? I have posted less than 10 times, so this limitation is frustrating. No one wants to read what I say, they want to see the speakers...

 

[Sonnie]

We (Wayne Myers, Dennis Young and myself - possibly one other person) tentatively have an evaluation scheduled for the 4th of July weekend and the week following... maybe Saturday thru Thursday or something along those lines, at my home where we've done all of the previous evaluations. We will be evaluating/reviewing the MartinLogan 15A, which are my personal speakers, and the Revel 328Be, which should be delivered to me this week. We could easily fit in another speaker or two. The key is nailing down the event to be more set in stone (Lord willing), than it be tentative. It usually happens as we plan it out, but before I would want Aperion Audio to ship those speakers, I would want to be more definitive about it. The reason being is I don't have time to write a full review myself at this point. I own two gun shops and we do a LOT of online business... and it is all we can do to keep up right now, as you might can imagine. It should slow down in July, but I still can't commit to the time it takes to fully prepare and write a review. I can contribute, but Wayne does most of the writing for these events.

If we do evaluate/review the speakers, it's already an expense enough on us just doing the event. Dennis and Wayne fly in, rent a car, and I house and feed them for the week. So... anything we have shipped in, we would want labels to return the speakers. We would need them at least 3-4 weeks (6-8 weeks is better) prior to the event, to test and make sure they are okay, no issues, etc, in case we need a new set shipped in quickly. So some time in April, and we should be affirmative on the dates by then. We would keep them as long as 2-4 weeks after the event, which gives me time to do more listening after the guys leave, and I can furnish additional comments to Wayne.

So in a nutshell... we'd likely need the speakers for about 8-12 weeks, and we would not want it to cost us anything for shipping either way. We would not charge anything for the review of course. We do request that they furnish us with anechoic measurements if they have these and have no issues making them public. We do not have a Klippel and have no way of making even quasi-anechoic measurements, so those would help in doing other measurements.

I believe we now only require 5 posts to post a link. Unfortunately there is no way for us to avoid that, but you could make a few posts in the Theoretical Hypothesis Forum to get the ability to post links.

 

[a_p]

Thanks for the great info. I will reach out to Aperion to see if they are receptive to this and willing to pay bi-directional shipping for a tentative July date. Nothing set in stone until you confirm, for a 8-12 week evaluation. Aperion is a small outfit in Portland, they do not have a $100,000 Klippel system nor an anechoic chamber. They might have REW, and if you look at their website (which I will post links soon as I hit 5 posts), they have some freq plots, but I do not believe them at all as I have their current flagship (Grand Verus III V6T), and the treble rolls off significantly above 10K to produce a warm sound. Can you remind me, what do you use to measure speaker performance? Is it REW only?

 

[a_p]

Sonnie, can you tell me what city you live in so they can factor in shipping label cost? They just received a batch of speakers from China 2 weeks ago, it left the LA port and heading to Portland now where they are based. The V8T should be available to consumers in April, so July would work, assuming they have supply. They make to order in small batches from Shenzhen, China (where most speakers are manufactured).

 

[a_p]

Btw, I auditioned the Revel 328BE a month or two back, excellent speakers. Tight fast bass, fantastic imaging, expansive sound stage and outstanding directivity measurements per Amir from audio science. I also auditioned the Fyne F702, quite punchy with lots of bass compared to their progenitors/pedigree in the Tannoy line (Fyne is made of ex-Tannoy engineers). You'll like the Revels.

 

[Sonnie]

Those look like on-axis 1 meter measurements. If you don't have them aimed straight at you, then off-axis the top end should roll-off as most speakers do, and it typically a preference for most, unless it's too drastic. Too much absorption can also act as a high-end tone control turning the highs down, which is one reason the majority in Toole's/Olive's testing the listeners preferred no wall treatment.

We really can't measure what we are hearing at our listening position because what we measure is going to include reflections in the room. This is where the anechoic measurements help, when we can compare a 1 and 2 meter measurement in our room with the anechoic measurements, it gives us a better idea of what we are hearing and how to adjust for it.

The 328Be's will give us a good reference point for 1-2 meter measurements, since we have their anechoic measurements. The room is going to do pretty much the same to V8T's as it would the F328Be's. The dipole 15A's... probably a different affect.

We use to do measurements at the primary listening position, just for comparison sake, but now that we've learned a bit more about those measurements not really be accurate, we are discussing options of what we really need to do.

But yeah... all we have is REW and Audiolense at this point.

My business is in Troy, AL 36081... which is usually where I have everything shipped.

 

[a_p]

Thanks Sonnie, agree with your thoughts. I'm guessing you are talking about Floyd Toole, and I'm sure Aperion's measurements are near-field on-axis as the freq plot shows too much linearity in the top octave, that is not indicative of real world performance in actual listening environments. I'm curious why you don't do near-field measurements to remove as much of the room/environment impact? I suppose as long as you are consistent in measuring at the listening position for ALL speakers (and where you do not move your furniture around), then it's somewhat controlled, but not really. I guess if you use the 328BEs as a reference correlating to their anechoics, then you can extrapolate for the V8T. Alabama is far from Portland, but they have reduced shipping costs in bulk. I hope I can convince them, the V8T is much more expensive than all their other offerings, $4000 + tax, out here in San Diego that's $4300.. not much in the audio world in some circles, but way out of their normal pricing structure for an internet direct company, the speaker is a bit overpriced unless the measurements are superb like Revel (which they won't be). Hence I would very much like to have some test results. Btw, it looks like you do not provide sensitivity measurements and the -3 dB roll off point, correct?

 

[Sonnie]

Yep... mostly Toole's work. I am pretty sure we will start doing more 1 and 2 meter measurements... probably not too many, but maybe 1 on-axis and 2 off-axis. The main listening position with the 15A's is only 2.5 meter... however, that doesn't mean every speaker will be that same distance, as we try to find the best placement and toe-in for each speaker. We have not done any sensitivity measurements, although that might be something to consider.

 

[a_p]

Ok, thanks. I'll let you know what Aperion says.

 

[a_p]

I talked to Aperion, looks they are already working w. AV NIRVANA and going to get you guys the V8T flagship speaker to review as soon their stock arrives. Collin explained that there are shipping delays so that has been an impact on them. When all the dust is settled, they will coordinate w/ the forum (or you) to get you a pair to evaluate. Looking forward to it come summer.

 

[Sonnie]

Todd may have already spoken with them about a review set.

 

[a_p]

Aperion will be in good hands with Todd, he had a great review on the Verus II tower in the past.