Intimus 522D-PT First Impressions
We seem to be living in an era dominated by internet shopping and "Buy-Direct-Now" for the absolute best savings mentality usually void of customer service and human touch in these virtual transactions. Over the past few years exclusive online consumer electronics companies have been popping up defying this typical stereotype. Enter Aperion Audio. Aperion Audio is a relative newcomer to the scene of direct-sales loudspeakers manufacturing. For those of you who peruse many of the home theater / audio websites and forums, you have probably been blasted by one of their "pop-up" ads (don't worry Audioholics doesn't do pop-ups). However, I do encourage a click on them at least one time. I was surprised to find a wealth of information pertaining to home theater and detailed product specifications on an internet loudspeaker company website. They even have a live chat hosted by friendly tech support people to answer any of your questions regarding their products. I took advantage of this unique service a few times to get detailed product specifications that I was unable to extract from their published marketing literature and spec sheets. I was floored when I reached one of their staffed engineers who probably showered me with more information that I could disseminate in one session. The bottom line is there are real people at this company that are intimately familiar with their product designs. To me that was as equally refreshing as it was surprising.
First Impressions
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I was impressed by how nicely these speakers were packaged. The 522D-PT towers were encased in very slick blue velvet bags. |
The rear of the Intimus tower is quite impressive. The top midrange/tweeter section is rear ported and in its own isolated enclosure from the active ported subwoofer. |
The internal baffle is 1" thick and constructed of High Density Fiber Board (HDF). The midrange enclosure it both well braced and dampened. These speakers passed the knuckle wrap test with flying colors. I was absolutely stunned by their sturdy construction and excellent cabinetry. |
One week prior to me receiving my review samples of the Intimus Towers, I received a care package from Aperion Audio with white gloves (not to be confused with OJ's or the King of Pop's), a soft cloth and care instructions to keep these babies looking as good as they sound. I again was beside myself by the level of attention Aperion Audio shows its customers.
Manufacturer Care Instructions
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Step 1: Put on your favorite cleaning music.
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Step 2: Use cotton gloves to handle speakers.
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Step 3: Apply a smidgen of Old English lemon oil or pre-diluted Murphey's Oil Soap to cloth and clean speakers with a circular motion.
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Step 4: Buff to a shine lustre!
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Step 5: Stand in awe.
To me this was a nice sentiment as it made me feel as if I was being treated like an individual customer and not just another sale. So often these days one can get a great product without the service to match it. It's nice to see you can have both, especially from an Internet based "buy direct" speaker company.
