I was looking through CNET for a plasma recomendation and thought that I'd plug in Axion to see what came up. I was a little surprised to see the Grand Master only got a 6 out of 10. I then took a look at what they thought was the best package and the Aperion Intimus 5.1 system with 10-inch subwoofer came up with a 8.8... Has anyone listened to this system or their speakers?

I've never heard them, but they seem a bit pricey compaired to what you get with an Axiom system.

Aperion surrounds are the same as their front bookshelf speakers, not even bi- or di-polar. They have 1 tower, 1 bookshelf, 2 centers (one of which is just another of their front bookshelfs put on it's side), and a couple of smaller subs. The most interesting thing about them is that they offer front towers with built in powered 8" woofers built in. I know that my wife's biggest gripe with the system I want is that I plan on having a SVS PCi20-39 cylinder sub, and she saw these speakers at a local home theater shop that had the powered wooder (granted they were dual 12" powered woofers in EACH front) and they didn't have a seperate sub. Of course, those were also about $5000 for a 5 speaker setup.

I personally don't trust CNET reviews. They tend to be very biased in favor of their sponsors/advertisers.

I have a buddy with the Intimus 5.1 system. They're beautiful speakers - great fit and finish. His doesn't have them positioned properly and his system isn't calibrated and he continuously dicks with his settings (audio and video) so it's hard to give a good listed to them. But, I think they sound pretty good. They are more layed back than axioms. Call it warmer or more blendy or less accurate. He has the 10" sub which isnt' too bad - good down to 25 Hz. A couple of things to note - the power towers only go down to 30Hz, I think, so you still need a sub with them. They just came out with a horizontal center channel (a 3-way, four driver I think) and they have a dipolar/bipolar surround. I haven't heard the new center or the surrounds. I think it really cones down to personal preference and whether you want a more detailed and accurate sound v. a warmer and layed-back sound. I agree with Ken about not trusting CNet reviews. I'd put much more faith in something from Audioholics, or the like. This post probably isn't of much help. I'm hoping to do a better comparison between Axioms and Aperion once my buddy get his new furniture and sets his room up so we can calibrate his system.

Pete

I realized that I never really gave my opinion on which I like better. If I had to do it again, I'd get the same Axiom setup I have. What I was looking for was the clarity and accuracy. In that regard, Axiom rocks! The only 'feature' I'd like to see is wood veneer. although, for being vinyl, the Axioms look better than I expected them to.

Pete