If you're in the market for a powerful home theater speaker system and you're trying to avoid a Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) or soundbar-based rig, then Aperion Audio should be very much on your speaker-buying radar. Portland, Oregon-based Aperion Audio generously allows you to audition their speakers for 30 days and provides free return shipping; if you're not happy (doubtful) send them back and you've paid zip. The direct-sale retail model for selling speakers isn't unique to Aperion; however their service and value is.

I've been reading about Aperion for a couple of years now and everything I've seen has been overwhelmingly positive; so needless to say I was thrilled when the review samples arrived. The process of ordering from Aperion is a pleasant one, from the friendly and entertaining e-mail they send to let you know your new speakers are on their way, to the white-glove packaging of the speakers (more on that later).

The Aperion 5T-DB Hybrid HD 5.1 home theater speaker system consists of a pair of Intimus 5T towers ($990 per pair), a 5C center channel ($350), two 5DB dipole/bipole surround speakers ($690 per pair), and the Bravus 10D digital dual drive subwoofer ($799), all in beautiful high gloss black (they're also available in cherry). The package comes to a reasonable, relative to their performance, $2,829. The 5T towers measure thirty eight inches high by six inches wide by eight inches deep. The towers feature a one inch silk-dome tweeter and dual five and a quarter inch woven fiberglass composite woofers. The 5C center channel measures seven inches high by nineteen inches wide by eight inches deep and needs a decent sized mantle if you're putting it above your fireplace. It features the same one inch silk dome tweeter and dual five and a quarter inch woofers found in the 5T, with an additional four inch woofer located just under the tweeter. The 5DB surround speakers feature dual one inch silk dome tweeters and dual five and a quarter inch woofers. They measure eleven and three quarter inches high by ten and a half inches wide by seven and a half inches deep. Since they can operate in dipole or bipole mode, a switch is located under one of the grilles (I searched in vain until reading the manual) and there's a brief explanation in the manual as well - dipole is best for movies and bipole is best for music. As an added bonus, Aperion includes wall mounts with the 5DB's. The aptly named Bravus subwoofer is pretty beefy, measuring fifteen inches high by thirteen and a half inches wide by thirteen and a half inches deep. It features dual high-excursion aluminum cones, a built-in 300-watt amplifier and it thumps (more on that later). The sub also features an aesthetically pleasing blue LCD screen and credit card remote, for determined couch monkeys and sub tweakers. All of the speakers are impeccably finished in piano black lacquer, with well made and easily accessible binding posts.

The Hookup
Unpacking this system turned out to be quite a treat, with each speaker wrapped individually in its own little blue and yellow velvet cocoon. In an age when everyone seems to be cutting every corner (can public toilet paper get any more narrow and still be effective?), it's nice to see a company truly go the extra mile. I cannot stress enough how pleasant it is to find beautiful packaging, an SPL meter (battery included), easy to follow instructions, etc. At the end of the day it is, of course, about performance, but these not-so-little touches add greatly to the overall experience of buying from Aperion. After spending a couple of minutes admiring their aesthetics, it was time to rock. I connected the Aperion Intimus speakers to my reference system, a Cary Cinema 11a processor and Cary Model 7.125 7-channel amp, using Oasis 6 speaker cables for the front left, front right and center channel and Luna 16/4 for the surrounds, all by WireWorld. I measured and set the distance of each speaker in the processor and then used the included SPL meter to make sure the volume level of each speaker was uniform at my listening position. While the speaker company recommends the sound level meter be pointed at the source of the sound, the processor manufacturer recommends pointing it at the ceiling. Confusing? Not really, always try it both ways and go with whatever gives you the best (or most accurate) result. Per Aperion's recommendation, I set the crossover point for each of the speakers to 80Hz. In terms of placement, my listening room is fairly standard and at the same time, not very flexible. The front left and right speakers were placed evenly about five feet away on either side of my wall-mounted television, with the center channel placed just below it. The subwoofer is in the left corner of the room; just past my wife's line of site. The surrounds were placed just above and behind my listening position, about six feet away on each side.

Performance
I began my first listening session with some 2-channel music, to test the mettle of the 5T's without their supporting cast. I went with something very familiar, the Into the Wild Soundtrack (J Records), which is Eddie Vedder's first solo album. Track Seven "Hard Sun" features some heavy distortion in Vedder's guitar and the Aperions came out swinging. I played around with the volume a bit, to ensure strong articulation at lower-level listening and was not disappointed. The vocals were strong, raw and engaging and I didn't miss the subwoofer at all. I played the track several times and heard new details emerge from the instrumentation each time.

Next up, some DTS surround sound music in the form of Blue Man Group (featuring Dave Matthews) performing "Sing Along" (DTS Entertainment). This is a highly engaging track that I always fire up with new speakers. Again, the Aperions did not disappoint. The Blue's bizarre, homemade instruments swung effortlessly from speaker to speaker and the timbre matching was solid. This is a fun, engaging song that needs to be played loudly to be truly appreciated. It pings and pushes every speaker in a 5.1 system and, for lack of a better word; it was fun to listen to through the Aperions. This track really let the 5DB's shine, and showcased their seamless integration with the rest of the system. I listened to this track mostly in dipole mode.

Having already determined that these speakers had no problem with dynamic range, I decided to cue up Crystal Method's "Too Slow" (DTS Entertainment), one of their more popular tracks. This gave me a sense of the Aperion's highs, which were bright and clear, without being the least bit fatiguing. While listening to this track I decided to switch the subwoofer setting from Music to Movie and back again. I noticed that the Music setting did indeed sound better when listening to music and vice versa, a sign that the factory presets are up to snuff.

In moving from music to movies, I cued up I Am Legend on Blu-ray (Warner Home Video). In the opening scene with Will Smith stalking the deer, the sound from the Aperions was immersive. During the quiet scene with Will Smith walking through the grass, the subtle sounds of birds and insects in New York were highly evident and immersive in the 5DB surrounds. As the action moves to Smith in the Mustang, a scene in which a deer jumps in front of the car blew across the soundstage and about blew me off the couch - perfect! The dialogue from the 5C center channel was highly intelligible and the system handled all that this Dolby TrueHD soundtrack threw at it with aplomb. These speakers truly shine with uncompressed multi-channel audio and will play as loud as you'd like them to, without strain.

Continuing the Blu-ray theme, I spun up Beowulf (Paramount), also in Dolby TrueHD. This is a complex soundtrack and the opening scene, when Grendel crashes the dinner party and starts ripping people in half, was the Bravus 10D's moment to shine. As Grendel makes his way through the dining hall, each massive step resonated in my listening room - loud, convincing and terrifying. When Grendel gets sucked out of the room after wreaking havoc, his screams were piercing, a testament to the quality of the silk dome tweeters featured in all 5 speakers. It couldn't have been a more visceral experience, easily the most I've had while watching this film outside of a movie theater. I consider this film, at least in some scenes, to be a bit of a torture test for a home theater system and the Aperions were more than capable. I'm going to do another round of tweaking, bipole vs. dipole, engaging the sub's parametric EQ, etc. and then watch this one again - just for kicks.

The Downside
This is a tough one, as my experience with the Aperions was so overwhelmingly positive. Although I didn't use this film as part of my review, while watching Master & Commander (20th Century Fox), I did notice that the bass was a bit boomy. It simply sounded a bit bloated, but I imagine moving the sub and/or engaging the EQ will probably eradicate this issue.

The other potential issue is the rather large size of the 5DB surround speakers, which can make placement (and wife acceptance) a bit difficult. That said, there are many mix and match options in the Aperion line, although if you're like me and sound quality trumps size, you'll choose the 5DB's.

Conclusion
This is a real speaker system, meant to produce big sound that equally produced an audiophile grade musical experience at more modest listening levels. Considering their price versus performance - even someone with $20,000 speakers parked in their living room would be impressed with the HD sound of this Aperion system. Overall, the system produces a massive soundstage that is truly immersive on both movies and music. Between the packaging, the well-written instructions, the included accessories and the stellar performance of these speakers, I can recommend them unequivocally. In the new economy and at these prices, these speakers just make sense.