Tower Speaker Reviews

Frequency response (at 2 meters)
• left/right 61 Hz to 20 kHz ±4.3 dB
• center 78 Hz to 20 kHz ±5.1 dB
• satellite 87 Hz to 20 kHz ±7.1 dB
• subwoofer 28 to 94 Hz ±3 dB

Sensitivity (SPL at 1 meter with 2.8 volts of pink-noise input)
• left/right 88 dB
• center 85 dB
• satellite 83 dB

Impedance (minimum/nominal)
• left/right 3.3/6 ohms
• center 3.6/7 ohms
• satellite 5.3/11 ohms

Bass output, subwoofer (CEA-2010 standard)
• Ultra-low bass (20-31.5 Hz): 86.7 dB
• Low bass (40-63 Hz): 104.4 dB

Bass limits
• left/right 50 Hz at 86 dB
• center 63 Hz at 84 dB
• satellite 80 Hz at 80 dB

I measured the Verus Forte Tower, Verus Forte Center Channel, and Verus Forte Satellite at a distance of 2 meters in order to incorporate the effects of cabinet diffraction. The center and satellite speakers sat atop a 6-foot stand to give quasi-anechoic results down to 240 Hz. The tower speaker stood atop my measurement turntable, about 2 inches off the ground.

The curves in the graph show an averaged response from 0° to 30°, smoothed to 1/12th of an octave. I close-miked the woofers and ports of all the speakers, then scaled and summed the results to get each speaker’s bass response. I then spliced the bass responses to the averaged quasi-anechoic responses to produce the curves you see here. To measure the subwoofer’s frequency response, I close-miked its active woofer and passive radiators, summed their responses, and confirmed these results using a ground-plane measurement. The tower, center, and satellite speakers’ responses are normalized to 0 dB at 1 kHz, the subwoofer normalized so that its peak response shows as +3 dB.

The Verus Forte Tower’s frequency response measures pretty well; if you exclude the rolloff in the upper treble above 17.3 kHz, the response is ±3.0 dB, and that’s a pretty darned smooth midrange. Off-axis response is nearly perfect, with nothing more than a smooth and gradual treble rolloff at 45° and 60°. It has clean bass output down to 50 Hz, where it hits 86 dB at 1 meter. That’s not super-deep, but remember, this is a rather tiny tower speaker.

As with the tower, the Verus Forte Center’s frequency response measures pretty well if you exclude the upper treble rolloff. Response up to 18.5 kHz measures ±3.9 dB. Off-axis response is very good, with just a smooth treble rolloff at 45° and a –4-dB notch appearing between 6.5 kHz and 11 kHz at 60°. Bass output is an ample 84 dB at 1 meter at 63 Hz — plenty enough for a center speaker.

The Verus Forte Satellite’s frequency response looks a little dicey by the numbers, but again, that’s due mainly to a big treble rolloff above 16 kHz. With that rolloff excluded, frequency response measures ±4.8 dB. As expected from a concentric design, off-axis response is great, with smooth treble rolloff at 45° and 60° and no off-axis anomalies. There’s solid bass output of 80 dB at 1 meter at 80 Hz, and even some output at 63 Hz, although it’s about 12 dB down at that point.

Impedance of the Verus speakers won’t present problems for even a low-cost A/V receiver. The Verus Forte Tower’s impedance drops to a low of 3.3 ohms at 190 Hz, but the phase angle at that frequency is mild at –19° and impedance generally runs about 6 ohms. The Verus Forte Center looks similar, presenting the toughest load at 125 Hz, with 3.6 ohms and –23° phase shift; nominal impedance is about 7 ohms. Impedance of the Verus Forte Satellite runs surprisingly high at 11 ohms nominal; the low point is 5.3 ohms at 270 Hz with –2° phase shift.

However, sensitivity runs a little low for the center and satellite speakers — especially in the Verus Forte Satellite, which delivers just 83 dB at 1 watt/1 meter. That’s not a big cause for alarm with most systems, but the satellite isn’t the kind of speaker you’d want to use with, say, a 30-watt-per-channel tube amp or desktop system.

The Bravus II 10D sub performs about as expected for its size and cost. Output is solid in the 2nd octave of bass (40-63 Hz), averaging 104.4 dB; a limiter prevents it from playing any louder in this octave. In the bottom octave (20-31.5 Hz), output is just okay, averaging 86.7 dB but dropping fast below 30 Hz. I was able to get measurable response at 20 Hz, where the 10D delivered 78.1 dB.

I tested the response of the sub’s internal parametric EQ by measuring the response with the EQ set for –6 dB at 40 Hz. The Narrow, Normal, and Wide Width (or Q) settings all had a measureable effect between 26 and 63 Hz. The difference is that the Narrow setting, as promised, produces a tighter “notch” at 40 Hz, while the Wide setting produced a broader dip; maximum difference between Narrow and Wide at 31 and 53 was about 4 dB, with the Normal setting falling roughly in the middle.

There’s one flaw in this subwoofer: It has what appears to be a fixed low-pass filter with a fixed –3-dB point of 94 Hz, with a combined acoustic/electronic rolloff of about 16 dB/octave. The manual suggests no way to defeat this filter. When combined with the low-pass filter on your receiver’s subwoofer output, the 10D’s filter could result in a sonic “hole” between your satellite speakers and the subwoofer, especially if you’re using it with speakers that require a higher subwoofer crossover point than the usual 80 Hz. This filter should be made defeatable or removed entirely since it’s not needed if you’re using an A/V receiver or surround sound processor. — Brent Butterworth

Bottom Line

Other than the possibly tricky bass-balance sub-integration issue (and possibly confusing sub-setup menu structure), I mostly have only positive things to say about Aperion Audio’s Verus Forte speakers. This system is gorgeously finished, winningly compact, more-than-solid performing, and quite inexpensive given its looks, sound, and presentation. Aperion’s new family qualifies as a paragon of value-engineered audio.