The AE300² is Acoustic Energy’s first speaker to appear subsequent to its flagship Corinium. The latter is of course a high end tour-de-force, giving great sound from its large, floorstanding cabinet – and is the product of many years of development, according to designer Mat Spandl. He says that lots of know-how garnered from testing it is now trickling down into the company’s more affordable models. The 300² is the baby in the new range, which also includes AE309² and AE320² floorstanders and the AE307² LCR model. This in turn sits between the bargain-basement 100-Series and the mid-price 500-Series, before we get to the more high-end Corinium. Mat reckons the new 3-Series is now significantly closer in sound to the 500-Series than its predecessor was, and – as someone once said – I second that emotion.

“We have a new woofer, new tweeter, new cabinet material and new crossover layouts,” he explains.  “So although it bears some resemblance to the old AE300 we have done a lot of work on each component. Probably the most significant development is the mid-woofer. We had a specific sound in mind for this range, with a rich tonality but still lively through the crossover region, and a light, fast top end. We felt we couldn’t get this with the existing components. So the new driver formed the starting point for the sound, and we filled out the other components accordingly. Our new soft dome tweeter gets the correct tonal match right at the top end.”

The new 120mm bespoke mid/bass unit uses a blend of paper and coconut husk in its cone. “If you look closely at the cone, the long brown bits are the coconut fibres”, says Mat. “These help to reinforce the cone and minimise break up; the homogeneity keeps resonance under control.” He tells me that it has a warmer and smoother sound than the original AE300’s aluminium cone, without sacrificing dynamic articulation. This is mated to a newly developed 29mm fabric dome tweeter derived from the Corinium project. It’s said to have lower distortion than the previous model’s metal dome. Mat explains: “The midrange has a nice lively open sound, so we developed a tweeter to match those characteristics. In our experience a hard dome can often favour accuracy, whereas a soft dome, when executed correctly can add an nice open zest to the sound without becoming too hard sounding.”

The crossover does the business at 3.5kHz. Loudspeaker cabinets always form a major part of the build cost of the speaker; indeed it’s around half of the AE300²’s manufacturing budget. So the temptation for designers is to specify cheaper materials – especially at the affordable end of the market. Mat says that the cost-cutters didn’t get a look-in here. “This range has inherited the RSC composite cabinets, though technically not from Corinium – the technique dates right back to the Reference 1 – but it’s the first time we’ve used it at this price point. We were getting so much resolution from the drivers that we felt we needed the extra performance from the cabinet to make the most of them.” This RSC material is far less ‘lively’ in acoustic terms compared to traditional MDF or plywood construction. In order to pay for this premium cabinet construction whilst keeping the same price point, the decision was taken to drop the real wood veneer finish. Instead, a range of modern ‘silk-touch’ matte black and white finishes have been offered, along with colour-coded trims, grilles, and aluminium feet on the floor-standing models. My review sample had a faux walnut finish, which looks surprisingly realistic.

Acoustic Energy claims a sensitivity of 86dB for the AE300², which is not bad considering its modest 320x170x270mm [HxWxD] dimensions. It weighs 7kg, and feels very well made considering its price point. The 6 ohm nominal impedance shouldn’t frighten most modern solid-state amplifiers but it suggests the speaker will sound most at ease with gutsy designs. Frequency response is put at 42Hz to 29kHz, at -6dB points, and power handling is said to be 120W maximum.

THE LISTENING

This little loudspeaker offers an impressive and rather unusual combination of sophistication and fun, given its modest retail price. There are strong shades of Acoustic Energy’s twice-as-expensive AE500 here, thanks to its smooth, velvety voicing and relative lack of cabinet noise. Yet the AE300² isn’t just a cheaper version of its bigger brother, because in some ways it sounds more clubbable. This is partly down to its subtle lack of refinement relative to the AE500, but also because the new drive units are certainly fast and fun – and do really push the music along. It’s also fair to add that this new speaker is way closer to the performance level of its bigger brother than its little brother, despite being priced far closer to the latter.

Feed the AE300² a jaunty eighties pop track like ACT’s Laughter, and it serves up a highly animated sound that has you tapping your feet in sympathy with the electronic percussion. At the same time, it sounds surprisingly smooth with Claudia Brücken’s distinctively icy vocal work. Her voice always sounds a little brittle, and that can upset many budget speakers – yet the Acoustic Energy is perfectly behaved. It is set firmly at the centre of the mix, with the synthesiser and electronic drum work sitting well behind. The result is a big, well defined soundstage that’s bristling with detail – yet the music is never thrown at the listener.

Cue up some cranked-up indie guitar rock in the shape of Ride’s Leave Them All Behind, and the AE300² zooms straight in on the percussion. It highlights how the tightly skinned snare drum jumps around the beat, in a wash of ride cymbals. The guitars sound hard and edgy, and the vocals are deep and sonorous as they fight for attention with the dense backing instrumentation.

Yet despite the thickness of the mix, this speaker accurately conveys the music’s rhythmic flow and does a good job with dynamic accenting too. The result is powerful, moving presentation that’s especially uplifting when the vocal harmonies kick in. In absolute terms the tweeter lacks just a touch of refinement, but really captures the transients of hard hit cymbals. The velvety midband has a delicate, almost etched quality that refuses to shout out at you, even on the cranked up wah-wah guitar solo towards the track’s end. This is all the more impressive given the AE300²’s modest price.

This little speaker doesn’t over-egg the bottom end, unlike some smaller standmounters I have heard which sport artificial bass peaks to make them appear bigger than they really are. It’s commendably even and extended for its size. The Veldt by Deadmau5 featuring Chris James shows how the AE300² can dish out large amounts of low frequencies with confidence and agility. Happily, you hear very little of the cabinet, even with the speaker pushed quite close to a boundary wall. It’s perfectly happy at just 15cm out, in my listening room. Its little rear-firing slot port sounds inconspicuous even at high volumes, playing deep and sumptuous recordings such as Isaac Hayes’ beautiful cover of The Look of Love. Bass sounds tight and percussive in a way that’s simply not normal from a speaker of this price.

Overall then, this is a great baby box for the money. Sure, in absolute terms its bass is a little soft, its midband slightly veiled and its treble a tad lacking in resolution – but you need to spend almost the same amount of money again to get anything significantly better. My choice would be Acoustic Energy’s own aforementioned AE500 or the excellent ATC SCM7, if you have the extra.

THE VERDICT

Most budget/mid-price designs are obviously flawed, but this little loudspeaker covers its tracks well and – more importantly – has a highly likeable character which always makes music fun. Whatever genre you play, you end up with an even, engaging and enjoyable sound which simply isn’t expected for this sort of money. Acoustic Energy’s little AE300² is one of the best speakers in its price category, and therefore an essential audition.

For more information visit Acoustic Energy