Acoustic Energy Aelite Three review. Magazine "WHAT HI-FI?"

Convincing and balanced speakers, but competitors sound better.

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Acoustic Energy Aelite Three

$1250

BEHIND:

Solid, tonally balanced and powerful sound
CONS:
Build quality could be better;
narrow dynamic range; require space and a powerful amplifier VERDICT:
AE has the advantages and disadvantages typical of floorstanding speakers, but new competitors have more versatile capabilities

Compared to the new products on the market, they look somewhat old-fashioned. We were also disappointed by the quality of assembly and finishing of their cases, which clearly contradicts the assessments that we gave to a pair of AEs that we tested three years ago. This is probably possible with

TEST RESULTS

DESIGN FEATURES: the tested speakers from the British from Acoustic Energy (AE) belong to the latest line of this company with the beautiful name Aelite. When developing the series, AE designers took into account modern trends; as a result, the new speakers received curved side panels and rounded corners of the housings.

This is not only beautiful, but also useful, as it reduces sound diffraction. At the same time, when designing Aelite, proven solutions were used that directly go back to the technologies of the famous AE reference series.

Aelite Three floorstanders are the “senior” models of the line. The speakers have a bass reflex enclosure and a 3-way crossover configuration. The body is made of MDF sheets 15 mm thick, and the front panel is made even thicker - 22 mm. The curved side walls make the rear panel of the speakers narrower than the “face”.

For stability, the body is mounted on a wide wooden pedestal, into which steel spikes of adjustable height can be screwed in if desired. On the back of the speakers, in addition to two pairs of gold-plated plastic-coated terminals, there are three ports and a compartment cover for filling with sand or shot. The presence of a large number of ports suggests a multi-chamber structure of the Aelite Three case. There is a foam plug for the bass compartment port.

There are four speakers in front. The top position is occupied by a 25mm silk dome tweeter. The tweeter is equipped with a neodymium magnet, the voice coil is cooled by ferromagnetic fluid. The tweeter is inserted into a metal “plate” with a special profile that controls the dispersion of the emitted high frequencies. The midrange speaker is equipped with a 32 mm voice coil and a metal alloy membrane with a diameter of 110 mm. The alloy not only increases the rigidity of the membranes, but also removes heat well from the coil.

Two woofers of 125 mm each are also equipped with diffusers made of a proprietary alloy. They use 26mm long voice coils. All mid/bass drivers have a cast aluminum chassis. All Aelite Three speakers are provided with magnetic shielding, this will be especially useful when using the speakers as front speakers in home theater sets.

The speakers are veneered with three types of veneer to choose from: black ash, birch, cherry.

SOUND QUALITY: The Aelite Three pair immediately established themselves as “mature” acoustics with a good sense of music. The sound was distinguished by natural timbres, after-sounds were clearly conveyed, and vocal parts were reproduced naturally. The tonal balance seemed very even to the ear, with a pleasant accent for rock music in the mid-bass area.

The middle and upper registers were drawn neatly, without any unpleasant resonances. A slightly raised top, devoid of harshness, gives the sound a pleasant spring mood. There are no complaints about the bass of the “triples”; the quantity and depth are sufficient to cover any genre. Bass timbres are transmitted clearly and accurately, although the microdynamics of the low frequencies are slightly worse than in the middle.

The stereo image was easy to construct; the scene had decent width and depth. The scene does not have full scale and high contrast, but the objects have quite realistic scales. When building a scene, the speakers additionally highlight solo instruments, slightly pushing them towards the listener. With such a deliberate presentation of musical material, it is difficult to remain indifferent, especially since the sound of the “troikas” is distinguished by genuine emotionality.

Perhaps the British are not analytical enough, the nuances of the recording often seem to be shrouded in a slight haze, but the main timbres are extremely beautiful and musical. Aelite Three maintain a comfortable atmosphere in the room. Without boring the listener with a host of small details, they focus on the spirit of the music and the main line of the melody.

PRICE: $1250.

Home theater set Acoustic Energy AELITE 3/Centre/1/Sub.

The new line of acoustic systems from the British from Acoustic Energy (AE) bears the beautiful name Aelite. When developing the AE series, we took into account modern fashion in the Hi-Fi market; as a result, the new models acquired curved side panels. At the same time, when designing Aelite, proven solutions were used that directly go back to the technologies of the famous AE reference series. Initially, AE released the floor-standing model Aelite 3 and the large bookshelf Aelite 2. But in the spring, the “older” models were supplemented with rear speakers, a center and a subwoofer. Now we can say that the Aelite series has taken place, and from its components you can assemble a complete set of acoustics for your Home Cinema. That's what we'll do. The front speakers in our set are represented by Aelite 3 models. The speakers have a bass reflex enclosure and a 3-way crossover configuration. The body is made of MDF sheets 15 mm thick, and the front panel is made even thicker - 30 mm. The edges of the front panels are rounded in an anti-diffraction manner. The curved side walls make the rear panel of the speakers narrower than the “face”. Therefore, for stability, the body is mounted on a wide wooden pedestal, into which, if desired, steel spikes of adjustable height can be screwed. On the back of the speakers, in addition to two pairs of gold-plated plastic-coated terminals, there are three ports and a compartment cover for filling with sand or shot. The presence of a large number of ports suggests a multi-chamber body structure of the Aelite 3. A foam plug is provided for the bass compartment port. There are three speakers located in front, voicing their frequency ranges. The top position is occupied by a 25mm silk dome tweeter. The tweeter is equipped with a neodymium magnet, and the voice coil is cooled by ferromagnetic fluid. The tweeter is inserted into a metal “plate” of a special profile, which controls the dispersion of the emitted high frequencies. The midrange speaker and bass drivers are made using the same technology. They use 130 mm and 165 mm metal alloy membranes, 32 mm voice coils and polymer diffuser holders, respectively. The alloy not only increases the rigidity of the membranes, but also removes heat well from the voice coils. All Aelite 3 speakers are magnetically shielded. Aelite Center is a center channel speaker. It is made in a bass reflex housing made of MDF with a front panel 22 mm thick.

The rest of the body, including the flat top and bottom of the speaker, has a thickness of 15 mm. Inside, the case is divided into two compartments isolated from each other. On the back of the case there are gold-plated terminals that allow Bi-Wiring, and a bass reflex port. In the box with a tweeter and 110 mm mid/bass speakers.

Aelite 1 is a rear speaker with a 2-way speaker configuration.

The bass-reflex type body is reinforced with internal ties and curved on the sides in the style of other speakers in the series. The thickness of the Aelite 1 case is not inferior to floor-standing models. The speaker drivers are the same as in the center channel speaker: a 25 mm tweeter and a 110 mm mid/bass driver. Two pairs of universal terminals on the back of the housing allow two-cable connection.

The Aelite Sub features a 220mm paper woofer and a built-in 200W RMS amplifier. The body of the device is made of MDF 15 mm thick, but the front panel with a single speaker is thicker (30 mm). The bass reflex port is directed downwards, and the gap between the body and the floor is fixed with rubber feet with spikes. One of the main advantages of the device is the convenient adjustment of volume and cutoff frequency (35-180 Hz) using remote control. A compact remote control with four buttons comes complete with the subwoofer. The infrared sensor eye and motorized controls with LED indicators are located on the front panel. In addition to those listed, Aelite Sub also has several more settings, which can be accessed by accessing the rear panel: these are polarity and On/Auto mode switches. The device allows different methods of switching using linear and acoustic inputs and outputs.

This is necessary! The former “excellent student” from our First Tests loses not one, but two stars. But it should be noted that Acoustic Energy are not bad speakers, it’s just that new rivals have raised their quality standards high. This is not surprising, since Aelite Three received their highest score back in September 2004. Compared to the new products on the market, they look somewhat old-fashioned. We were also disappointed by the quality of assembly and finishing of their cases, which clearly contradicts the assessments that we gave to the pair that we tested three years ago.

“Convincing and balanced speakers, but competitors sound better”

This is probably possible with

What makes sound

Let's start talking about speakers with the tweeter. This is a Ring Radiator with a woven dome from one of the most respected manufacturers - the Danish company Vifa Audio. AE specialists have been closely cooperating with its research center for many years, which made it possible to develop an original emitter - thanks to the use of new materials and a more powerful magnetic system (in particular, due to the shunt rings of the original design introduced into the magnetic circuit, distortion is reduced).

Tweeter of floor-standing acoustics Acoustic Energy AE Reference 3

As an acoustic design, a DXT (Diffraction Expansion Technology) waveguide is used, which makes it possible to obtain homogeneous radiation both on and off the emitter axis. A batch of modified Vifa tweeters are exclusively manufactured to our own specifications for the Reference Series speakers. The AE1 Classic speaker has a 25mm tweeter dome made of magnesium alloy and protected by an aluminum grill.

LF/MF drivers of AE acoustics traditionally have proprietary diffusers made of carbon material and aluminum and a conical protective cap on the core, which improves the radiation directivity characteristics. However, for flagship speakers, this proprietary concept has acquired new features: the diffuser is made of an alloy of ultra-light metals, which contributes to the realistic reproduction of frequencies even outside the operating range (due to the fact that the piston-like nature of the movements of the diffuser is maintained at all frequencies). Powerful magnets and double-layer voice coils on an alloy frame allow you to work with high-amplitude input signals. The foam surround provides the necessary damping characteristics for deep bass and high midrange resolution at the same time. Due to effective heat dissipation, the degree of thermal compression, that is, changes in sound after prolonged operation at high volume, is reduced.

Midrange/bass speaker of the Acoustic Energy AE Reference 1 bookshelf system

Reference 1 uses a single woofer/midrange driver with increased magnetic clearance and increased bias. It allows you to get surprisingly deep bass in a relatively small package. The three-way “floor-standing” Reference 3, in addition to the midrange driver with an aluminum alloy diffuser, is equipped with two long-throw low-frequency drivers with a reinforced magnetic system. The double voice coil made of aluminum wire is connected to the aluminum diffuser by thermal bonding and forms a rigid structure with high linearity of vibrations and improved heat dissipation. The AE1 Classic speaker is equipped with a low-frequency/mid-range driver with a 110-mm diffuser made of a ceramic sandwich with an aluminum cone, as Victor Gorbatov assessed the acoustics in a test by Stereo&Video magazine, No. 10, 2012

When developing crossover filters, AE specialists adhere to the concept of maximum simplicity of the signal path, using a minimum of components, but with the highest possible quality. The crossovers of the Reference speakers are equipped with polypropylene capacitors with a large operating voltage margin, inductors with a stacked core, and a transformer for matching the sensitivity of the high-frequency and low-frequency sections. There are no resistors in the HF section, which reduces the level of distortion and gives the sound of the upper registers openness and unity. In all Reference models, the crossover board is mechanically isolated from the speaker cabinet using a special elastomer coating. High-quality terminals from WBT ensure reliable connection of the speaker cable.

Terminals for connecting speaker cables from an amplifier (manufactured by WBT) on Acoustic Energy AE Reference 1 (left) and AE Reference 2 (right) systems

Flagship loudspeakers should please not only the ear, but also the eye. For this reason, the Reference speaker cabinets are hand-finished in Coromandel ebony (Makassar) veneer, which elegantly combines dark red and dark brown lines. This veneer is hard and brittle, requiring extraordinary skill from cabinetmakers. In order to reveal the texture of the veneer more clearly, it is manually coated with nine layers of transparent piano varnish, and each layer is polished after drying (again by hand). And even the panel with the acoustic terminals is made of hand-polished ebony.