Aperion Audio and Kate
January 2, 2011 by Jim Davis
In early 2009, Aperion Audio's newly appointed CEO Jim Hillman began following a young jazz singer in Portland, OR. She wasn't aware that Hillman's company was churning out great speakers only a few miles away, and that several of the company's employees were passionate about her live jazz.
Unlike Kate, I was aware of Aperion due to my long career in the consumer electronics business. By September 2009, when it came time to mix "A Kate Davis Holiday" I contacted them in order to 'test' mix the songs through a variety of speakers in their local demo room. Instead of simply trusting one set of studio monitors and one engineer, I wanted to tighten the mixes through fine speakers of every sort before sending them off to a mastering house. I contacted Aperion and was surprised that there had been a change in management. My previous contacts (the 10 years-on founders) had gone on to other entrepreneurial efforts, leaving the ship to new management. I spoke to Mr. Hillman who gleefully told me that he had seen Kate several times live and that he would be happy to host us to do the final mixes on her second release.
I mixed along with two of their sharpest technical people, and was able to really get a sense for what the holiday CD would sound like when it was played in speakers all over the world.
Fast forward to December of 2010. Kate played 4 shows at Wilf's Restaurant in Portland Oregon, and on night 1, show 1, Jim Hillman and his crew were front and center, ready to find out what musical progress Kate had made since the last time they saw her in the summer. After the show, he asked Kate to stop by the showroom to listen to some speakers. Kate confessed that she really only listened to music through Apple earbud's, Sony MDRV6 headphones and an iHome! In fact, Kate had never heard other people's recordings regularly through high quality speakers. Hillman's eyes lit up and couldn't wait to witness someone "discover" music through his gear.
Just before Christmas of 2010, Kate went to the facility with an armful of CD's hoping to hear what they were supposed to sound like. Hillman and product developer Mike had the room ready and had a few songs up their sleeves too. "Little Drummer Boy" from the Holiday CD seemed an appropriate starting point. That 24" bass drum really sounded huge. Next, the first bits of a Japanese jazz singer's haunting voice poured out of the Verus Grand Tower speakers, Kate's jaw dropped to the floor. "Only two speakers are creating that sound?" She asked, shocked by what she was hearing. The recorded upright bass sounded as if it were just a few feet away and the singer's voice was silky smooth. The guitar came from the right and Kate was transported to a jazz club across the Pacific. It really wasn't fair to start with the very best speakers that weren't even shipping yet, but the impression was made. Kate would never again settle for compressed MP3 through an iHome.
After each new set of speakers was auditioned, it was clear that no matter what style of music, Jazz, Classsical (among others, Telarc 1812 Overture no less!), Pop, Alternative Rock, each set of Aperion speakers was changing her perspective on listening. Wireless, wired, bookshelf, floor standing, with and without subwoofer, there were orchestras, rock bands, emo groups, folk singers and chamber groups seemingly just a few feet in front of her. Sure, she's heard the music at Carnegie Hall, the Schnitzer (Portland) and Lincoln Center, but Kate had no idea she could get that kind of sound in her own ears, in her own room, on her own terms. These speakers are hand designed by gifted engineers, and you don't have to be rich to get great sound.
On December 22, 2010, Kate's ears were born again, and Aperion Audio showed her the way.
