Introduction

Are you still using those generic tin can speakers that shipped with your PC? Maybe you've felt the need to upgrade to something a little more satisfying. Whatever the case, mark my words, they will hold no ground when compared to a true home theatre setup. But what does home theatre have to do with computing? May I suggest one potential answer? Everything!

Perhaps your dreams have been limited by your current speakers' capabilities. Sure you'd love to enjoy DVDs on your PC, but it just isn't the same as being surrounded by raw power designed for the sole purpose of pure entertainment! How then, are you supposed to bring that gut wrenching punch and exhilarating interfusion of multi-channel perfection to a computing environment? The answer is once again simple.

Speakers are speakers. If anything, home theatre speakers are designed with much more flexibility in the connectivity department in comparison to your standard set of computer speakers. The only thing keeping you from indulging in theatre quality sound on your computer is an amplifier. As most of you may know, when it comes to PC speakers, the amp is usually built into the subwoofer (that is if your speakers are accompanied by a sub). But when it comes to entertainment center speakers, a separate external amplifier is required to drive them.

So perhaps I've piqued your interest. Where do you look from here? How about towards the visually appealing INTIMUS 7.1 channel speaker set from Aperion Audio. If they sound as good as they look, eternal audio bliss may be just around the corner!

Initial thoughts

When I got home and saw the mounds of boxes from Aperion Audio, I knew I was in for a treat. There were three large flat boxes accompanied by another larger box. Right away I knew that had to be the subwoofer for the system. Within each of the three large flat boxes were another set of boxes containing individually packaged speakers. Each speaker was wrapped in a posh velvet bag with golden coloured pull strings. Around that was a plastic bag, then the box holding the speaker. After some time carefully un-packaging the speakers, I had my first look at the INTIMUS 7.1 channel speaker set.

These speakers are quite stunning. They have a beautiful high gloss black finish and would easily compliment the décor of any room. Aperion Audio also offers a Cherry finish for people that prefer the more natural wood grain look. But for me, this high gloss black is be all, end all. Ultimately, I'm very impressed with their outward appearance.

522D Bookshelf Speakers

The INTIMUS 7.1 speaker set comes with seven bookshelf speakers which take the position of: front left & right, centre, surround left & right and back left & right.

The centre speaker is identical to the other bookshelf speakers, but it is made to lie in its side. Each speaker has a mass of 6.36kg and dimensions of 29x10.5x8.5cm (LxWxD). Rather than copying and pasting the specifications of the 522D bookshelf speakers, you can find them here.

The grilles are made out of fabric and are really easy to remove and put back on. The only problem is they don't really protect the speakers as much as a plastic or steel grille would. Large protective grilles can muffle the sound more than soft fabric ones can. As you may be aware, I have cousins that manage to get their fingers into everything. If these speakers were within their fingers' reach, I'm not sure how long my speaker drums would survive.

The bookshelf speakers have gold plated connectors for minimal signal loss. They have 5-Way binding posts which will accept almost any type of speaker wire. Overall, these speakers are very easy to hook up and have maximum flexibility while insuring peak efficiency.

One more important thing to take note of is the magnetic shielding of these speakers. That means you can place them next to your television or computer's monitor with no fear of damage to either.

INTIMUS S-12 Subwoofer

When purchasing your INTIMUS speaker set, you get a choice of subwoofer size. They have 20.32cm(150W), 25.4cm(200W) and 30.48cm(250W) models. I asked for the 30.48cm model to hear just how loud the whole set could get. As I stated above, rather then copy and pasting the specifications for the INTIMUS S-12 subwoofer, you can find them here.

The subwoofer has several different audio inputs. If you own a newer generation receiver, you can attach the subwoofer to the line-level inputs by attaching a composite cable from the "subwoofer out" (LFE) on the receiver to the "subwoofer in" on the subwoofer. Now if you don't have a subwoofer out, you can attach your front channel wires to the sub via the 4-way binding posts. The subwoofer will extract the low frequencies for itself to play and will pass the higher frequencies to the bookshelf speakers. Another interesting feature about this subwoofer is the detachable power cord. I found it very handy when I was brining this subwoofer from my house to the hall where I run LAN parties.

There are three dials on the back. They are crossover, phase and level. The level dial is to set the volume for your subwoofer. With it being self-powered and very loud, you will want to set a reasonably low level for it. A word of caution, at full level this device is very loud!

The crossover dial is very useful to set where you would like the crossover frequency to be. The crossover is the maximum frequency that the subwoofer will play. You'll want to set it high enough that it will play all the lower frequencies that the bookshelf speakers can't reproduce. You don't want the subwoofer to be taking over the frequencies the bookshelf speakers were designed to handle. The eventual goal is a seamless transition from bookshelf speakers to subwoofer. I found that a frequency of 110hz was very good for this system.

The phase dial is for phase-shifting the sound from the subwoofer. If the subwoofer is not placed on the same plane as the front speakers there's a chance for the sound to be phase-shifted. This means that the bass frequencies are out of phase when heard from the listening position. If that is the case you will hear greatly reduced bass in certain locations in the room. The phase can be set between 0° and 180°, but in most cases 0° or 180° would be the appropriate setting depending on placement of the sub.

Sound Quality

To give an idea of how these speakers were setup, here's a diagram:

Beyond all the glamour of these speakers, there is some great sounding equipment. To test this 7.1 audio set, I connected the INTIMUS 7.1 channel speaker set to my STR-DE997 receiver. The receiver was then attached to my computer's Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. To test the audio quality, I played the following:

• Star Wars Episode II DVD

• The Pink Panther Vinyl

• Phantom of the Opera CD

Star Wars Episode II DVD

Star Wars Episode II is encoded in Dolby 5.1 Surround EX. I've watched this show in my living room, and it's a great movie. From time to time I would almost dose off due to the length of the movie. When I watched the movie with the Aperion Audio speakers, there was no dosing at all. I attached the receiver to my computer with a digital optical audio cable and set NVDVD to digital mode. I got to see how this DVD sounded in Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound. It turned regular boring dialogue into something that sounded so clear you could pay attention for hours. The crisp sound of the blaster shots in the movie were amazing. I tested just how loud this subwoofer could be with this DVD. The bass remained accurate even at such high volume levels. The immense power driving this subwoofer rumbled my house! It really was a true cinematic experience. The drastic improvement in sound quality really changed how DVDs are played at my house.

The Pink Panther Vinyl

Now you might be wondering why I'm using an old LP to play some music. Well that's because vinyls have infinitely more range, and tremendously better sound (if the LP is not damaged) when compare to most digital recordings. This was also a great test because this song has some of the best tenor saxophone and bass sounds I've heard. I attached my stereo turntable right up to the receiver under aux. When I was playing the song, the subwoofer really sounded good. Although the crossover frequency isn't something to be changed often, with this LP being the source, I found a crossover frequency of 100hz to be quite appealing. Good job with the subwoofer Aperion Audio!

Phantom of the Opera CD

If you haven't had the opportunity to see the Phantom of the Opera in Toronto, you missed out on a great show. I was sure to get myself a copy of the show on CD. This CD contains some of the highest high notes ever sung by a human. I was wondering how the 522D bookshelf speakers could handle these high pitch sounds. So, I attached my computer to my receiver using the four .35mm stereo phono plugs on the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. I used an adapter to turn the .35mm stereo phono plug into two RCA type plugs and attached all 8 of them to the receiver's 8 channel input. The 522D bookshelf speakers could handle the sounds with no problems. That's when I turned up the volume on my receiver to see how loud I could get before I heard distortion... There was none! I could blast this CD and every sound came out as it should have!

The Overall Quality/Service

Another thing I love about these speakers is the service you get from Aperion Audio. They even sent me a special speaker handling kit along with the speakers to prevent oily fingers from putting smudge prints all over the glossy finish. Simplistic, but very handy.

These speakers are truly amazing. In every way did they not only meet, but surpass my expectations. I won't be playing DVDs and CDs anywhere else but in my room with this speaker set. I can only try and explain how awesome these speakers sound... They are really the best speakers I've ever heard, no questions asked!

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