To Jeff Fritz,
I appreciated your review of the Aperion Audio Verus Grand speakers. I have never heard them, but I have heard the B&W 803s. I own the Legacy Focus HDs that are about 15 years old. I am shopping for another set of mains for a basement system or to replace the Focus and move them to the basement. I love the Focus but won't pay their new, much higher price tag. I have been studying the Aperion line and the Swans line. Do you have experience with the Swans speakers and do you have an opinion or recommendation? Thanks so much and I look forward to your reply.
Greg Martinette
Yours is an interesting position. Your older Legacy speakers were highly regarded in their day and the new ones also look quite good. But, yes, they are more expensive than they were back then and are also quite a bit more expensive than the most expensive Aperion loudspeaker.
Loudspeaker design -- particularly as applied to the drive units -- has undergone an evolutionary improvement process over the last 15 years of which the Aperion speakers are a fine example. For instance, their new tweeter design (the Axially Stabilized Radiator) is certainly quite a bit better than the tweeter in the old Focus you have. So I have no doubt that the Verus Grand can better your Focus in the high frequencies, and maybe mids too. My concern would be the bass. The Focus is a much larger speaker with multiple large-diameter drivers. The Aperion is still a relatively compact floorstander. I don’t think the Aperion would have the oomph in the bass that you would want. However, there is a secret weapon at Aperion: their Bravus line of subwoofers that were designed to mate well with their loudspeakers.
I'd put the Aperion Versus Grands and a well-integrated Bravus sub (or better yet, two) against the old Legacy Focus speakers any day and expect a wipe-out. If you can swing it, I think the Aperion combo will make you very happy. I have no experience with the Swans line. . . . Jeff Fritz
