Warwick Acoustics Aperio Electrostatic Headphone System

[Laowei]

What $24,000 will buy you these days. 

PS: it’s parent company is Sonoma Acoustics. 

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/audio-shows/exclusive-warwick-acoustics-aperio-electrostatic-headphone-system-r792/

https://cdn.computeraudiophile.com/article-images/2019/0416/The-APERIO-from-Warwick-Acoustics.pdf

 

Must not sound too good, as the video is silent.

[Hopstretch]

The original ones couldn't be driven above a polite murmur, which is a bit of a design defect in my opinion if you're bundling them with an amp. Price is of course silly.

[wink]

Awwww, c'mon kilobuck headphons systems are de rigueur these days.

Measurements and performance are minute side issues......

Just ask Dan D'Aostino...........

 

[HiWire]

Hi-Fi+ magazine just gave the Aperio a positive review:

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/warwick-acoustics-aperio-electrostatic-headphone-system-1/

[spritzer]

I want to try one but the amps in these are pure garbage.  I found some nice

Also funny...this was supposed to be "cheap" tech. 

[JimL]

3 hours ago, HiWire said:

Hi-Fi+ magazine just gave the Aperio a positive review:

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/warwick-acoustics-aperio-electrostatic-headphone-system-1/

As I recall, HI-FI+ also raved about the Trilogy H1, which was basically an Egmont at a ridiculous price. Ignorance is not always bliss. 

[HiWire]

Nope... gotta love the trolls that come out in the comment section each time, too.

It may be that the Aperio sounds good, but I didn't see any measurements or interior pics. Way out of my price range.

[JimL]

I'm impressed (eye-roll). I read all seven pages of the Warwick Acoustics brochure and didn't learn one useful thing about the design other than it is balanced, which I assume means that it has two stators like every other electrostatic driver other than the Sonoma One. The specifications didn't include power draw, voltage or current output, or sound output capability, although the bias voltage is impressively high,. The chassis is significantly larger than the Sonoma One so I assume it has greater current capacity but there are no visible heatsinks, so I very much doubt it has the current drive capability of, say, a Carbon. I assume part of the cost is due to its integrated digital capabilities, but take the cost of a Carbon, double it for commercial considerations, and add the cost of a 009S, that still leaves about $10,000 for the digital part, which is a big chunk of change. And, unclear whether that is modular and upgradable or not - for that much dough I would want that capability. Not sure what the market for this is?

Edited March 19, 2020 by JimL

[catscratch]

The market is probably football players and execs that want something shiny on their desk. I wonder if it uses the same underperforming driver tech that the Sonoma Model 1 used? I'd like to see distortion measurements at 100db.

I lied, I wouldn't like to see distortion specs at 100db, because at that price, I don't care.

[spritzer]

Here are some pics of the amplifier modules:

...and the back:

'+

The model1 by comparison:

Same shit slightly beefed up.