Aperion Audio Intimus Outdoor Speakers First Look

Nobody loves a party more than the guys here at Audioholics. And what's a party without a little music? Maybe you just like to lounge by the pool with your favorite tunes or maybe you're looking to blow the neighbors away with death metal, whatever it is, a boombox just isn't going to cut it. After you've experienced great sound in your home theater, you just can't settle for less anywhere else.

Outdoor speakers tend to be the AV purchase your non-enthusiast friends can understand. It's something they can wrap their heads around. Unfortunately, they also tend to think that all outdoor speakers come in the shape of rocks. As an enthusiast, you don't really care if your outdoor speakers blend into the foliage, you just want them to sound good.

Aperion Audio has got what you need. Their Intimus line of speakers have long been loved for the sound quality and value. Aperion is now shipping a new addition to their line in an weather resistant outdoor speaker. Available in white or black finishes, the Intimus Outdoor Speaker retails for $149 each and is available from their website.

Each speaker sports a 1" silk dome tweeter, a 6.5" fiberglass woofer, and an acoustically transparent metal mesh grill. The enclosures are built out of ABS polymer and are weather resistant. The bracket included with the Intimus Outdoor speaker allows a lot of freedom in positioning. The -3db/0/+3dB bass adjustment switch will allow you to zero in on the proper performance based on your mounting location. Each speaker has a pair of five-way binding posts.

What Aperion is really known for is standing behind their speakers. They are one of the only companies that offer a free, 30-day in home audition plus free shipping. When buying off the Internet, it is extremely important that you feel confident about your purchase. For some, the thought of testing an Internet Direct speaker and not liking it and having to pay for return shipping is just too much risk. With the budget that most people are on today, that makes a lot of sense.

One thing to consider, however, is the Intimus Outdoor speakers are weather resistant, not weather proof. The speakers are front ported and we see no provision for protecting the binding posts. Aperion recommends placing them out of the direct path of weather elements whenever possible. This means under an eave or similar. While this is not uncommon, we'd prefer outdoor speakers to be a bit more durable than that.

Conclusion

When sound quality is a must, the last thing you should be looking for in a speaker is how much it can imitate a rock. What you want is a speaker by a company that knows both sound quality and value. Aperion Audio certainly has that. While their outdoor speakers may not be as weather proof as we'd like, in 90% of the applications, they will hold up just fine. The two finishes should have little problem blending in to nearly any outdoor location. 

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

For a chance to win a pair of Intimus Outdoor speakers, please visit our forums and enter now.

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