We are back with more rad gear from the fine folks at Aperion Audio.  Today we will be covering their new Novus Series, specifically the 5.25″ 2-Way Towers.  There is a lot to check out, test and admire on this high end model.  Let’s see if you truly get the best beats for your bucks.

Tower of Power

Deliveries are always fun being a reviewer, but I get especially excited when covering high end home theater equipment.  On this particular day, we had several shipments arrive, but two larger boxes with Aperion Audio logos on each side stole my immediate attention.  I’ve been eager for several months at this point to test these out and the time had finally arrived.  For those new to the brand, Aperion Audio is a very exciting company that continues to make serious waves in the home theater sector, whether it be excellent entry level bookshelf speakers to complete elite sound systems for even the most demanding audiophiles.  They have slowly but surely developed a cult following and this branches out from the obvious elite grade speakers and systems they develop and engineer in house.

Aperion Audio gives every customer 60 days to try out their latest gear.  They offer a trade-up program within 1 year of the initial purchase to make the jump to their next level of performance if you so desire, all in an attempt to make it more economically feasible on your part.  Lastly they feature up to a 10 year warranty on select lines in combination with lifetime customer support (with actual audio professionals picking up your call).  There are no pushy sales or pressure to purchase anything, quite the opposite.  They will help you design the perfect system for your environment and your specific budget, regardless if this is something you plan on doing next week or a year from now.  They take care of their customers first and foremost, personally over the phone and here in the US.  They simply have an immense passion for home audio equipment and will sincerely do all they can to help build your dream system.

I was actually new to their brand till last year.  I ran across their site online and started chatting a couple times about their products, latest speakers and goals for the year.  That first friendly chat has now lead us to where we are today and Collin has been just awesome to deal with on every occasion.  His enthusiasm for what he does is undeniable and he’s always a pleasure to speak with.  We eventually settled on covering their Allaire series last year and that in quick order won us over.  This time however they sent over something with a bit more finesse and punch that is far more capable of causing an entirely new level of ruckus.  Let me introduce you to the Novus Towers.  This is one of their latest offerings that sits between the Intimus product line and their flagship Versus speakers in terms of price and performance capabilities.  Let’s just be clear all three series can quickly get you evicted or slapped with noise ordinances if you are unfortunate enough to deal with those matters.  So play nicely…or plan on budgeting for a DIY soundproofing project if you like to bang.  Bait your friends with payment in the form of pizza, cold beverages and a showing of their favorite movie once everything is installed.  Doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Gorgeous Design

The Novus line is sleek and absolutely gorgeous from every angle.  Our pair came in a satin Pure White finish and the contrasting woofers and tweeters look phenomenal.  Each tower comes with acoustically transparent magnetic grilles, but it would be an absolute tragedy to cover up what’s behind them.  It’s comprised of two 5.25″ woofers that are split with a 1″ silk dome tweeter in the middle.  You’ll notice a slotted reflex port at the front that features a recessed slope design, giving this impressive tower cabinet even more character.  Work your way down from there and you’ll spot a well braced gunmetal foot stand that comes pre-installed at the bottom of the base.  This not only looks awesome, but provides excellent stability.  They also include floor spikes, if these are going to be placed on carpet versus hardwood floors.  Bean the cat supervised this setup and approved final inspection.

Aperion Audio chose to go with slimmer dimensions for this particular line; a different approach when compared to some of the behemoth sized cabinets you see from some of the competition.  Yet, each Novus Tower still weighs in close to 30 pounds.  These things are certainly built with longevity in mind and feel near bullet proof in structural integrity.  The build quality that Aperion Audio enforces across their product line is just astounding.  Their smaller profile make it perfect for small to medium sized rooms, delivering big sound with a modest footprint.

“Don’t be fooled into thinking that the smaller size of these Novus towers are indicative of the sound they can produce…that’s actually far from the truth as they pack a punch several times their size.  Thanks to ingenious design and next level engineering, this pair is ready to go to war.”

Exceptional Parts and Elite Performance

As recommended, we ran these non-stop for close to 24 hours prior to the day of testing.  This will properly break them in and return the best performance overall.  Aperion Audio has certainly nailed the look of the Novus Towers, but what’s going on inside this beautifully designed cabinet?  Enclosed within each tower are dual long-throw 5.25″ Woofers with linear excursion that produce a wide range of powerful mid and sharp low level notes.  Each Woofer is made out of aramid-fiber, which is heat resistant for extreme durability and their known for incredible strength that enables each speaker to withstand even the loudest settings for prolonged sessions without fatigue.  These synthetic fibers are also used in ballistic rated body armor.  I love when a company over engineers their products!  Custom tooled rubber surround make the mounting screws invisible, adding to the super clean look this tower has going for it.  The sloped front baffle and slotted reflex port were constructed to provide maximum bass performance and minimum air-leak noise when pushed hard.

Are you catching a theme here.  These towers are like a high revving sport’s cars that was engineered to produce max power in the upper RPMs.  The real treat from this type of design is hearing that epic exhaust note just grow louder, more violent and menacing by the second.  These were built in the same manner for those that not only love music, cinema and games; but especially for those that get a huge grin every time they push their systems, creating the most exhilarating experience possible from their favorite entertainment medium.  The good news is these can take your best effort and wink back at you while not even breaking a sweat.

These woofers are simply midrange kings.  This is their crowning achievement and this is the range where they truly excel.  As discussed above, they seem to thrive on being pushed hard, in which we are always more than happy to oblige.  For those seeking lower frequencies and deep impactful bass that is both heard and genuinely felt, adding a high powered subwoofer to this setup is key.  To see how these paired with a suitable home theater sub, we invited our 700+ watt SVS-SB1000 to the party.  Even with the sub set at high and the receiver at near peak volume (providing 140W per channel), the Novus towers delivered by far some of the most dynamic and visceral sound I’ve heard at this price point; now paired with a sub to dish out those low guttural bass notes that shake your very core.

“Listening to ‘A New Color’ by Astronoid was eye opening in just how capable the Novus Towers are.  The atmospheric melodic metal riffs gave me chills, as these speakers ripped with definition and clarity.  The sound effects present in Resident Evil 3 absolutely shined when channeled through this system.  It creates an entirely new layer of immersion, heightening all your senses and making the game’s campaign that much more nightmarish.  It allows this survival horror remake to provide one of the most terrifying gaming experiences of 2020, combining mind blowing visuals alongside profound, stunningly accurate audio that is all but guaranteed to leave you with your hairs standing on end.”

For crystal clear highs, a brand new 1″ silk dome tweeter is at center stage.  This is not just any regular silk dome tweeter though, it’s comprised with a special fiber sourced from Germany that has been found to be of the highest quality available.  It’s attached to a neodymium motor with a ferrofluid cooled voicecoil.  With two decades of experience behind this team now and loads of R&D under their belt, they were able to identify and set the best overall frequency response that can reach up to 30 kHz.  But wait…we haven’t even got to the coolest part of this tweeter.  You can manually adjust it from the back of the cabinet for better performance based off your environment and room setup, now that’s innovation!  It ships with a post on the tuning inputs that lock in the stock settings.  Remove this post to reduce tweeter levels by 3dB.  We personally preferred the stock setting in our loft staging environment and haven’t looked back.  None the less, this is just another way Aperion Audio sets them self apart from the crowd.

Let’s dive right into Tweeter performance.  The vocals in “Jig Is Up” by Ice Nine Kills screamed with absolute ferocity through the high performance silk dome tweeter.  Once again the high quality materials and parts sourced by Aperion Audio more than proved their worth with amazing precision and range present here.  Multiplayer matches in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare were especially thrilling.  Bullets, grenades and rockets came through both towers with tremendous authority.  From downstairs, it sounded like a war documentary was being put on blast up in the loft area.  The realism of each rifle, shotgun and fired shot was captured with such authenticity.  I now noticed distinct differences in how the game processed sound in different environments.  Whether you were in the open, sprinting down a corridor in an attempt to outrun incoming gunfire or if you happened to get pinned down inside a bunker for an intense standoff, each weapon exhibited unique audio qualities.  This was the case when breaking out the close quarter shotgun, firing a high caliber sniper rifle for long range tactics and the constant ricochets from all the close calls of hot metal pounding against the environment around you. I can’t imagine the time that was spent on creating so many audio variances.  Simply put, when playing this through the Novus Towers, each effect was immensely unique in overall sound complexity and execution.  It was as if I was experiencing this game almost for the first time in many ways and you can’t really give any speaker a greater compliment than that.

Conclusion

The Novus 5.25″ 2-Way Tower Floorstanding Speakers from Aperion Audio make a serious statement with their elegant aesthetics and cutting edge engineering.  The twin aramid-fiber woofers in combination with the slotted reflex port refuse to distort no matter how hard you push them, while the adjustable German sourced silk dome tweeter is wonderfully matched for near perfection in sound delivery.  They excel at providing intense midrange performance alongside crisp unfaltering highs.  If you are looking for the best tower speakers for your home theater under $1,500, these are it.

I do recommend pairing these with a strong powered subwoofer for the absolute best experience.  Aperion Audio offer some absolute bruisers in this department too and we’ll be covering their new model upon release later this year…so stay tuned!

Note:  This may also be your best bet to snag an incredible deal over at Aperion Audio, as they are running a Spring Promotion for 20% off the entire Novus and Versus III lines.

Media Sample provided by Aperion Audio