Home audio & video forum: Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD vs Onkyo 9100THX

I had the exact same question. I to am rather new to the market and the last A/V set up i bought was in the 90's. Therefore I have been doing a TON of research since sooo much has changed.

My personal opinion after all my research is that the Onkyo is not designed to compete with the Aperion set up. It's like comparing apples to oranges cliche. Maybe I'm wrong about this but its my conclusion as of 3 weeks of research.

I think the Aperion would sound better. How much better, I don't know. The problem I'm having is that I can't find any dealer around here that has the Onkyo system for me to listen to. Obviously I can't listen to the Aperions unless I order them and the receiver.

So, I have made the decision to buy the Onkyo soon. This is because without hearing the difference in person I can't justify on my budget spending $1000.00 more even though it might be worth it.

I will be using the system as a home theater system in a 12'x20' room for 80% of the time. The rest of the time will be used for listening to music.

Anyone else think I'm on the right track? Any relies would be nice.

The Aperions will give you much better sound than the Onkyo HTIB set. They shouldn't even be compared because the Onkyo HTIB set is basically a small budget solution to okay home theater audio. Building your own home theater system with a separate receiver and quality speakers will sound SO much better.

Also to note that you do not need to buy an Aperion subwoofer. Matching brands/lines within the speakers is important for voice-matching, but the subwoofer can be a different brand. You would get so much more sub for the money than what Aperion is wanting to charge you. Check out HSU and Elemental Designs for really good subwoofer companies. Just double check their sub sizes because quality subs are huge and heavy suckers so you will want to make sure you can fit them in your room.

At a minimum that's likely 400 dollar or so amp that comes with the 9100THX. So you're getting those 8 speakers for about 600 dollars (700 tops). How good can they really be when compared to 6 speakers that cost 1600?

I can't find any specs on the Pioneer's signal-to-noise ratio...? Hmmm...

Thanks for all the input (everyone). I'll let you all know how it works out. Best Regards!