Aperion Audio Intimus 5B Bookshelf Speaker Review

Intimus 5B Product Overview

Aperion Audio is yet another online loudspeaker company, albeit a very successful one at that. Although their name isn’t exactly thrown around as frequently as some of the other online companies on the audio forums, I believe they are a sleeping giant. There is a reason behind their growing success. Rather than offering gimmicky limited time sale offers, or pandering to fan boys on A/V sites, they focus on quality of products and services. Over the years we have watched their website and product line expand at an impressive rate and to date none of the products we’ve reviewed for them have disappointed. It’s been awhile since an Aperion Audio product hit my sound lab so I was eager to check out their latest offerings. Enter the Intimus 5B, a two-way speaker system and the middle model in their bookshelf lineup. The Intimus 5B looks surely impress from the pictures displayed on their website. I was eager to fire them up in my own listening room to determine if their sound measured up to their appearance.

The Aperion Audio Intimus 5Bs showed up well packaged (individually boxed and then boxed together) which I thought was overkill until I saw the sheer beauty of their cabinet work. It wouldn’t be high end without the infamous silk sock which Aperion Audio wrapped each of the speakers in. This was quite a sexy blue sock that really added a touch of class to the product.

The Intimus 5B is a pretty standard bass reflex (ported) design boasting a 5 ¼” woofer and 1” tweeter. The drivers are recessed into the front baffle as they should be. You would be surprised to know that even some of the more prestigious brands today don’t take this measure to reduce unwanted diffraction between the driver faceplates and cabinet surface.

The 5B is rear ported and sports a single pair of 5 way binding posts. The enclosure is constructed of 1” high density fiber board (HDF) which is unusually thick and high quality for such a budget priced speaker. The sheer thickness of this relatively small enclosure self braces itself virtually eliminating all major cabinet resonances and producing a consistently deadening thud sound when knocked on any surface.

Aperion Audio products are offered in two finishes: high gloss black and cherry. I chose cherry for my review samples. The cabinetry of these babies is among the best I’ve seen regardless of price. There are no seams to be found anywhere on the cabinet as the veneer wrap seems to flow as one piece. Aperion Audio states that their products feature a furniture grade finish. I don’t doubt this one bit. If you take a moment and really examine these speakers, you will find that they paid meticulous detail to fit and finish. Even the grill is constructed of finished wood instead of flimsy plastic that you usually find in products of this price class. The grill cloth is a very tightly woven mesh which again is something we rarely find in budget type products.

Build Quality

The Drivers
The 5 ¼” woofer is magnetically shielded and sports a woven fiber cone with butyl rubber surrounds and a cast aluminium basket. The faceplate of the woofer basket is flatted on both sides which is done purposely to allow the design engineer to place it closer to the tweeter for better crossover integration. Aperion Audio missed that subtlety and unfortunately oriented the woofer 90 degrees likely for aesthetic purposes.

 

The tweeter is a 1” silk dome with neodymium magnet. Normally I am not a big fan of these type of motor structures simply because they tend not to have a low enough free air resonance to allow them to extend down in frequency for proper blending with a woofer. They usually tend to thermally saturate quicker than standard ferrite magnet motor structures when played loudly as well. I didn’t find this to be the case with these speakers, and it quickly became obvious to me that the little Aperion tweeter was quite a performer. It is a low profile design that utilizes a waveguide to control dispersion. Again it’s a shame that Aperion didn’t take advantage of bringing the drivers closer together since that is a big advantage a tweeter like this has over a conventional one with a much larger motor structure.

The Crossover
The 5B crossover is affixed to the speaker terminal and is split up into two separate circuit boards. The bottom circuit board features the woofer's low pass filter (LPF) consisting of an iron core inductor and two 100V electrolytic capacitors which I’d guess is configured as a 2^nd order filter. The second circuit board features the tweeter's high pass filter (HPF) which again appears to be a 2^nd order design like the LPF but features a higher quality air core inductor and polypropylene capacitor. Personally I would have preferred higher quality parts in the woofer section, here but they seemed to serve their function well from my listening tests and they didn't skimp on the capacitor in series with the tweeter which is most critical for audibility. 

 

   

Aperion Audio 5B Drivers (left pic) ; Crossovers (middle pic); backview (right pic)

 

The Backside
The Intimus 5B is rear ported directly behind the tweeter with the exit chamber of the port flared on both sides. There are two milled holes below the port which is compatible with the B-tech mounting bracket they sell on their website as an accessory for this speaker. This comes in quite handy for mounting as a surround speaker. I didn’t test these brackets but I’ve had excellent success with B-tech products in the past so I’d expect no different here. The 5-way binding posts are gold plated and recessed into the plastic terminal cup.

Intimus 5B Set-up & Listening Tests

I tested the Intimus 5Bs in two scenarios:

• Office - as a nearfield monitor on my computer desktop (10’ x 6’ office)
• Theater room - two-channel utilizing the reference gear and premier listening space in the Audioholics Showcase home

In the first scenario, I used my Headroom micro preamp and DAC connected to a Panasonic SA-XR50 class D 5.1 receiver. In my opinion, this is actually a poorly executed product but I bought it as a reference for how bad Class D can be if not designed properly. It does manage to work fairly well to power computer speakers and I now use it for that function normally since its low profile and efficient.

For the second scenario, I placed the 5B’s on my 30” sand-filled Plateau speaker stands which puts the tweeter right at about ear level on my Continental theater seats. The speakers were positioned about 5ft from sidewalls and around 8ft from the back walls and spread apart about 10ft from each other which was about two feet shy of the distance from my primary listening position. After experimenting, I found they sounded their best with minimal to NO toe-in for reasons I will get to later in the review. I used my Denon AVR-5805mkii 10-channel A/V receiver to power them and my Yamaha MCX-2000 digital server as the source. All interconnects were furnished by Blue Jeans Cables (1694A Coax) and Kimber 8PR speaker cables with WBT compression banana plugs.

Listening Tests

Unless otherwise stated, all listening tests were conducted without a subwoofer in two-channel configuration with the Intimus 5Bs set to “large” in the A/V receivers bass management.

Office Room utilizing Pandora.com

To start off my listening tests, I began with the setup in my main office where I do all related works for Audioholics. I usually write my articles with music playing in the background courtesy of the FREE services of Pandora.com. With that, I captured some of my listening experiences with the following source materials.

Eagles – I Can’t Tell You Why
The guitar coming from the left speaker sounded so expansive that it went beyond the lateral plane of the speakers. This was my first hint that the Aperion’s were ready to show off their ability to image. This is a trait I love about small bookshelf speakers that large towers usually never come close to matching.

Crosby Stills & Nash - Just a Song Before I Go
I had the same experience as the Eagles. The guitars seemed more expansive than I anticipated. Sound was very relaxed and inviting much more so than the JBL Pro III speakers I normally use on my desktop. I enjoyed the sonic chops the 5B’s were displaying so much that I didn’t skip this song when Pandora chose it for me despite I am not a huge fan.

Beatles – Come Together
This was the re-mastered mix used for Cirque du Soleil . The Intimus 5Bs exhibited excellent stereo imaging with the cymbals pushed all the way to the right speaker while the guitars beamed from both speakers in unison.

Riverside – Conceiving You
If you’re a Progressive Rock fan like I am and never heard of this band, run to Pandora (after reading this review of course) and create a channel to start listening. The Bass was a bit thin coming from the 5Bs, but cymbals were clean and the vocals were very natural sounding, not conveying that “cupped” sound so commonly exhibited by small speakers.

Riverside -Voices in My Head
The stereo guitar effects at the beginning of this track were chilling. The 5Bs did a great job rendering some of the low bass tones cleanly although tactile response was severely lacking to accurately reproduce it. A powered sub would have really helped here.

U.K. – Nevermore
Bill Bruford's tom rolls, and cymbals sounded excellent. Wetton's voice came through concisely and was tonally very accurate.

U.K. – Dead of Night
Another great tune from a band long forgotten by most, this song displays Bill Bruford’s genius on the drums. They just don’t make rock music like this anymore. Cymbal crashes were clear and distinct and stereo separation again was excellent.

Joes Pass – Blues for Fred
The jazz guitar snuck up on my with its realism. Very pleasant listening experience, just one man and his guitar. The twang sound from the guitar and the reverb came in very clearly exhibiting the 5Bs ability to extract all of the detail from a recording..

Steely Dan – Any Major Dude Will Tell You
I really loved the way the acoustic guitars sounded on the Intimus 5Bs. The cymbals were crisp and tonally the 5Bs were a bit top heavy but everything sounded very pleasing nonetheless. Donald Fagen's vocals sounded great reminding me just how excellent Steely Dan recordings sound when played back on good equipment.

Theater Room

CD: Special EFX – Collection
This is a must-have CD when doing A-B testing for revealing sonic differences of electronics or speakers. It’s a must-have in my opinion. It’s excellent accessible jazz and Chieli Minucci is simply a fabulous and inspirational guitarist.

Track #2 “Jamaica, Jamaica” showed off the 5B’s excellent ability to extract all of the details within the recording. Bass was a bit anemic and really could have used supplementation with a subwoofer. The rainsticks were a bit more narrowly focused then I’ve heard on other systems but they were just as detailed.

Track #4 “Summers End” displayed the 5B’s ability to portray soundstage depth beyond the plane of the speakers with the very detailed top end response. There is so much going on in this song via various layers of percussion, vocal harmonics and electric guitar. The Intimus 5B’s didn’t mush it all together like I’ve heard on lesser designed systems. Instead they did a bang up job of preserving the separation rewarding my ears with the rich complex and tantalizing sounds of Special EFX.

CD: Pat Metheny / John Scofield – I Can See your House from Here
This is one of my favorite Jazz CD’s featuring two guitar greats playing real jazz you won’t hear on the so called “smooth jazz” radio stations that are more akin to playing what I refer to as “jazzac”. Track #7 “Say the Brothers Name” is the highlight track on this CD for me at least. On a good speaker system, it transports you into a cozy jazz club sipping a dry martini. The Intimus 5Bs put me in that mindset for the most part but bass was again a bit lacking. The cymbal decays were well sustained like I’ve heard on the very best systems. Most speakers simply don’t reveal all of the subtleties this well, score one for the Aperions. The trumpets sounded much larger than expected coming from such a diminutively sized speaker system. Scofield’s guitar beamed at me from the left side of the room while Metheny’s melodic playing on the right set the ambience persuading me to continue listening to more cuts from this CD. Dynamic passages played back at high listening levels proved too much for the little 5 ¼” woofers of the 5Bs which was not only evident with audible cone break up but also loud popping sounds when the woofer bottomed out. Crossing these speakers over at 80Hz and engaging one of my Velodyne DD15s helped to eliminate this issue, increase system dynamics and restore the bass that the 5B’s just weren’t capable of producing. These speakers proved to be far more rewarding when bass managed and played in concert with a quality subwoofer.

 

 

CD: Dianne Reeves Never Too Far

Yes I use this disc often but I know exactly what to listen for when I pop it in so expect to see me continually using it as a reference, especially for loudspeaker reviews.  In track #2, “Never too Far”, the chorus sounded pleasantly expansive but not quite as much as I’ve heard on larger systems. I had to bass manage the 5Bs when played at loud levels in my theater room as the woofers simply couldn’t handle the bass on this disc.  The Intimus 5B’s showed off their uncanny ability to image on Track #3 “Come In’. The rim shoots really stood out more than I seemed to remember when listening on other speakers. This is yet another tribute to the 5B’s very good tweeter design.

Although this CD is a bit bright sounding, I did notice the 5B’s seemed to really bring this out a bit more than I preferred. Mating these speakers with a sub really helped to better balance the sound but on bright recordings, I wouldn’t be afraid to knock the treble control down a dB or two to achieve more neutral sound.

Intimus 5B Measurements & Analysis

 

Impedance / Phase Measurements of the Aperion Intimus 5B

The Aperion Audio 5B speakers appear to be tuned into the 50Hz region as indicated by the saddle point in the impedance graph. This explains why these speakers were prone to bottoming at high SPL levels when playing bass heavy music. There is an impedance minima of around 7 ohms in the 200Hz range and phase stays within +-30 degrees for the entire audio band. Although these speakers aren’t very efficient, they are an easy load for any modestly powered receiver to drive.

 

In-room 1 meter SPL vs Frequency Aperion Intimus 5B (1/3^rd octave smoothed)

 

At 1 meter, I measured around 84dB sensitivity which is what Aperion Audio claims for this product. It’s a bit on the low side for a speaker of this size. I’d be curious to see if they could have improved system efficiency response by using a lower mass cone material for the woofer and tuning the system a bit higher. The system appears to start rolling off around 70Hz with a sharp rolloff of around 18dB/octave below 50Hz. Given the box size and driver used in this system, there really is no good reason to not roll these speakers off at 80Hz and recommend using them in concert with a subwoofer to increase dynamic range and usable bass extension.

 

In-room 1/2 meter SPL vs Frequency Aperion Intimus 5B (1/12^rd octave smoothed)
Brown trace: on-axis; blue trace: 15 deg off-axis; pink trace: 30 deg off-axis

The Intimus 5B’s measured quite linearly, measuring +-5dB from 70Hz to 20kHz in-room. I did notice a slight dip around 2kHz at the crossover region which probably could have been improved slightly by bringing the drivers closer together and tweaking the crossover design a bit. The tweeter level appears to be a dB or two elevated compared to the woofer which can at times lead to a more forward top end sound but not overly bright since the tweeter employed here is quite good.

Intimus 5B Conclusion

Don’t expect to run the Intimus 5Bs as a full range monitor. Because of the Intimus 5B’s low sensitivity and rather anemic bass response, they aren’t an ideal speaker to use as a nearfield monitor either. Their physical size simply restricts the amount of usable bass they can produce below 80Hz. This is a knock on the laws of physics, not the design of this product. Given their low sensitivity, it is recommended to use at least a decent midline A/V receiver or better to power them. The Intimus 5B’s are best utilized as front-channel monitors or surround back channels in small to medium sized rooms, bass managed to a subwoofer complimenting an entire Intimus speaker system for a full fledged high fidelity multi channel experience. I achieved the best sonic results with very slight toe-in which not only broadened the soundstage, but tonally made the speakers sound as neutral as possible. I recommend experimenting and positioning to preference.

There is little not to like about the Intimus 5B bookshelf speaker system. The Intimus 5Bs have the ability to disappear into a room thanks to their excellent imaging capabilities and very detailed open sound. Aperion Audio proved in droves that they could combine great sound, aesthetics (score one for the wives) and build quality into a compact package that most budding audiophiles can afford. Although the color options offered are limited, Aperion Audio chose the two most commonly requested colors (cherry and gloss black) and masterfully executed the fit and finish of the cabinetry making these pieces of furniture that just happen to sound really good. Mated with a powered subwoofer, you’ve got audiophile performance and aesthetics on the cheap. Considering their very liberal return policy, FREE 30 day home trail program and FREE shipping (both ways) I can’t say anything else other than “highly recommended!”

 

 

18151 SW Boones Ferry Road,
Portland, Oregon 97224
1-888-880-8992

 

About Aperion Audio
Aperion Audio is an online direct-to-consumer speaker manufacturer for smart shoppers who are frustrated with the retail experience. Aperion offers a better value, meaningful information, generous service, and unlike other speaker retailers and manufacturers, is the only company to deliver an honest and Totally Risk-Free In-Home Audition. For additional information, visit www.aperionaudio.com

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Dynamic Range
Performance
Value