Напольная акустика — Acoustic Energy AE509

The AE509 is one of two floorstanders in the 500 Series, the shorter and lighter of the pair, from Acoustic Energy, the British loudspeaker company founded in London in 1987 and based near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. The 500 Series sits above the 300 Series and comprises the AE500 stand-mount plus the AE509 and AE520 floorstanders. Acoustic Energy presents the AE509 as a slim-line floorstander for medium to large rooms offering more performance and finish than its 300 Series equivalent.

Key specs that matter

Two 125 mm carbon fibre cones handle the mid and bass range alongside a 25 mm carbon fibre dome tweeter in a 2-way arrangement. The maker quotes a bandwidth of 32 Hz to 28 kHz at plus or minus 6 dB, 89 dB sensitivity, a peak output of 115 dB SPL and power handling of 175 W. The crossover point is 2.9 kHz and nominal impedance is 6 ohms. Cabinet height is 1000 mm, or 1050 mm with spikes fitted, width is 185 mm, the spike thread is M10 and each speaker weighs 22 kg.

Engineering and use context

A Mid Tweeter Mid/Bass layout is used, the dome being mounted between the two cones so that the acoustic source stays small through the crossover region. Acoustic Energy picked carbon fibre for both cones and dome because it wanted the piston-like motion of its older ceramic aluminium units combined with better self-damping. Each mid/bass driver has an oversized 35 mm voice coil to limit thermal compression and a motor with a very high force factor, plus an optimised suspension for linearity. A stiff cast aluminium WDT waveguide carries the dome close to the mid/bass cones and stops vibration from being passed to it. Crossover parts include high-voltage polypropylene film wound capacitors and air-core inductors at critical positions. The cabinet uses 18 mm Resonance Suppression Composite panels with the same constrained-layer build as the Reference Series, and solid aluminium bars are supplied to couple the speaker firmly to the floor.

Pairing

Sensitivity is fairly high, so the AE509 suits solid-state integrated amplifiers that stay stable into loads below 8 ohms, with power kept inside the handling rating. Slim magnetic cloth grilles are fitted, and buyers choose between black or white high-gloss piano lacquer and American walnut wood veneer.

Alternatives

The AE520 in the same series adds dedicated sealed midrange drivers and three bass units in a 3-way cabinet rated at 300 W.