Полочная акустика — Acoustic Energy AE300

The AE300 is the two-driver standmount in the 300 Series from Acoustic Energy, a British loudspeaker company with more than 30 years of history at the time of the launch. The series was announced on 13 February 2018 and also covered the AE309 and AE320 slim floorstanders, the AE307 centre speaker and the AE308 subwoofer. The AE300 opened the range at a UK price of GBP 599. Acoustic Energy now lists it among discontinued products, and the AE300² took its place.

Key specs that matter

Two drivers and a rear port make up the layout, and the crossover hands over at 2.8 kHz. Acoustic Energy quotes a frequency range of 45 Hz to 30 kHz, a sensitivity of 86 dB and a nominal impedance of 6 ohm, with power handling of 100 W and a peak output of 112 dB SPL. Each cabinet is 300 mm high, 175 mm wide and 260 mm deep and weighs 6.5 kg. The maker describes the speaker as suited to small and medium-sized rooms. Finishes are piano gloss white, piano gloss black and real walnut wood veneer.

Engineering and use context

The 130 mm mid-bass unit uses a shallow-profile ceramic aluminium sandwich cone and an ultra-high force, long-throw motor, and the company traces its lineage back to the original AE1. Above it sits a 28 mm aluminium dome tweeter created new for the 300 range, able to take a lot of power and given a low fundamental resonance to cut distortion. The tweeter is set into a waveguide under the Wide Dispersion Technology name that shapes its output to match that of the woofer at the crossover and widens the listening area. The enclosure is made from 18 mm high-density MDF and braced internally with a proprietary method taken from the older Reference Series, so the panels contribute less of their own output. At the rear, a slot-type duct reinforces the bass and was shaped to reduce air turbulence. The cloth grilles are slim and fix on with magnets.

Pairing

The nominal impedance and modest sensitivity favour a solid-state amplifier with reasonable current rather than a very low-powered design, while the power handling limit sets the upper bound for the amplifier. There is only one set of binding posts per cabinet, so each speaker takes one cable run and cannot be bi-wired or bi-amped. In a home theatre it can be combined with the AE307 centre and the AE308 subwoofer from the same series.

Alternatives

The Acoustic Energy AE300² replaces it with a 29 mm fabric dome tweeter, a 120 mm paper and coconut husk cone and an RSC composite cabinet weighing 7 kg.