Aperion Audio Verus Grand Tower Loudspeaker First Look

If you look in any product line, in any field, there are magical price points. These are the price points where consumers are expecting a product to fall in. If you walked onto a car lot and saw a new BMW and the dealer told you he wanted $10.99 for it, you'd immediately think something was wrong. Maybe the car is stolen, maybe the dealer is having some sort of psychotic break... but something is askew. Manufacturers work hard to make sure that their products hit these price point with, at the very least, the features that the consumer expects. If possible, they try and exceed those expectations.

One of the magic price points in speakers sub-$2000 a pair. If you ask for more than $2k a pair for your speakers, you've priced a lot of people out. But even at $1999, you can still capture the consumer that is thinking of spending around $1500 a pair. Normally, however, you expect a floorstanding speaker at this price point.

Aperion Audio has recently released a new line of the speakers called the Verus (not Versus as we originally misread it) Grand. So far they have released the Verus Grand Tower at $1,798 a pair, the Verus Grand Bookshelf for $598 a pair, and the Verus Grand Center for $699 each. There has been no mention of a dedicated subwoofer or surrounds in this line yet but we wouldn't be surprised if those were in the works as well.

The key advancement to the Verus Grand line in the tweeter. Sporting what Aperion calls an Axially Stabilized Radiator design, this 1" silk dome tweeter is designed not only to handle the top end, but also the upper-mid frequencies. This is an interesting design and one we're curious to see how well it will work. The tweeter is flanked by two 5" Kevlar midrange woofers with aluminum phase plugs in a D'Appolito configuration. Below, there are two 6" Kevlar woofers. 

The speakers employ a 3-way, bass-reflex design. Since there is no hint of a front port, the dual ports on the Verus Grand Towers must be on the back. There are dual sets of gold plated 5-way binding posts for bi-amping or buy-wiring. The High Density Fiber cabinets are curved to counteract standing waves and internally braced. The speakers themselves are a robust 65lbs a piece. The entire Verus Grand line comes in the ever popular gloss black or cherry finishes. There is an included fabric covered metal perforated grill that uses the much more popular magnetic connection rather than a physical one. We like this solution as it leaves the front of the speaker completely clean which is great if you like to listen with the grill off (which we do).

The specifications of the Verus Grand Tower speakers reach a fairly impressive 45Hz on the low end at -3dB or down to 35Hz at -6dB. While this won't preclude the use of a sub for movies, you'll probably get away without one for most music. The speakers are a fairly efficient 92dB with a nominal impedance of 6 ohms. Depending on the minimum impedance, the Verus Grand Towers should play nice with most midline and up receivers though will certainly benefit from additional amplification. The footprint of the Verus Grand Tower isn't overly large at 8" wide by 12" deep. They include a slight outrigger for the included feet and carpet spikes. This should counteract any instability from the 43.5" height.

Conclusion

If we had to make a checklist of sub-$2k floorstanding speaker "must-haves," the Aperion Verus Grand Towers would score well. Furniture grade finish? Check. Gloss black or cherry real wood veneer? Check. Overbuilt cabinets, sub 50Hz frequency response, and compatibility with many receivers? Check, check, and check. The only thing we don't know about the Verus Grand Towers is how they sound. But that's about to change. We've managed to secure, to the best of our knowledge, the first review pair. If you can't wait, you can pre-order now. Shipping starts October 30th. Aperion is still supporting their Risk-Free 30-Day In-Home Audition, free shipping, and free lifetime customer support with this new line. With free shipping both ways (even if you don't like them), it takes a lot of a stress of ordering online away.

For more information, please visit www.aperionaudio.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.