Some years ago, when I used to frequent this site more often, Acoustic Energy turned out a pair of actives, the aforesaid AE22, that caused quite the ripple in the UK hifi mags at the time. I saw them at the time and frankly lusted after them with unashamed enthusiasm. For a number of reasons, I couldn't get them at the time but I'd often recommend them as an alternative to "the usual".
Fast forward a year or six and lo and behold, there on Ebay were a pair of new AE22s! Further, these were on sale direct from AE themselves! And the price was just too good to pass up. Less than half price no less. One B-I-N and a phone call on Thursday with the payment later and two hefty boxes turned up at my door barely 24 hours later.
There's always some trepidation buying blind, but these days, it's arguably less hassle than buying instore and it's an approach that's worked with me for the last few years, so I was comfortable buying direct from AE. The process was simple too, one quick phone call (PayPal's an intermediary and cardholder protection doesn't apply, at least in the UK, if buying by credit card - one to bear in mind folks) and a nice chat later, the deed was done.
Finally got to use them today. The inputs at the back permit a balanced XLR or an unbalanced 1/4" jack, so a trip to Maplins was needed to get something suitable. An RCA phono at one end, a jack at the other (x2) and we're in business.
Buildwise, they're a solid 15kgs each, with a reassuring rigidity, there's a large heatsink protruding from the back and the means to adjust the high, mid and low frequencies as well as the sensitivity too. Cut, flat or boost for the the frequencies and sensitivity can be tweaked to either -3, flat or +3db. The fascia is very distinctive and a bold design still to my eyes. The main driver has the tweeter sitting, like a small planetary satellite, off-centre above it. This gives you some flexibility and can either have the tweeters sitting near the centre, or further out depending on how you set them up. Currently, I have them with the tweeters near the centre. To round it off, there's a small LED display that indicates what your filter and sensitivity settings are.
Soundwise, they have that clarity that I always enjoy from a good speaker. Unlike what you'll often hear about actives (which ranges from: "they're too neutral", "they're not meant for the home", "they belong in a recording studio", "you don't want such a clinical sound for a hifi speaker" (and so on). I don't quite get that line of thinking. It's more of a personal taste thing than anything else and with the other changes in home audio/entertainment over the last decade or so, then there's room for actives too. In any case, actives have been with us for ages anyway, so this really isn't anything new. Just attitudes changing, although this seems to take at least the same amount of time, but hey ho...
As with anything new, they need to bed in and my ears need to get used to their sound, but there si a lovely clarity that's anything but analytical. Albums like Elton's "Songs From the West Coast" enjoy a lucidity that well recorded discs can bask in. Less well recorded material gets, well, shown up. Not unlistenable, but you get the idea. You either go in the whole way, or you make compromises as a listener or enjoy audio as a hobby. For me, I like somewhere between the two. Analytical, but not too analytical. Listenable, but let's not sugar coat the pill too much.
Incidentally, I'm using these with the Onkyo TX-NR818 operating as a pre-amp, so I can still get all the functionality the amp offers me, but the AE22s are doing the driving powerwise. That said, these puppies come with balanced XLRs as I mentioned, so, I wonder...maybe next year!
So far, it's all good. And Jim, that design? Well smart...!
For others, last time I looked, Acoustic Energy have around six pairs left on their Ebay store. For £449 delivered, that's a very hard to beat deal.
Fast forward a year or six and lo and behold, there on Ebay were a pair of new AE22s! Further, these were on sale direct from AE themselves! And the price was just too good to pass up. Less than half price no less. One B-I-N and a phone call on Thursday with the payment later and two hefty boxes turned up at my door barely 24 hours later.
There's always some trepidation buying blind, but these days, it's arguably less hassle than buying instore and it's an approach that's worked with me for the last few years, so I was comfortable buying direct from AE. The process was simple too, one quick phone call (PayPal's an intermediary and cardholder protection doesn't apply, at least in the UK, if buying by credit card - one to bear in mind folks) and a nice chat later, the deed was done.
Finally got to use them today. The inputs at the back permit a balanced XLR or an unbalanced 1/4" jack, so a trip to Maplins was needed to get something suitable. An RCA phono at one end, a jack at the other (x2) and we're in business.
Buildwise, they're a solid 15kgs each, with a reassuring rigidity, there's a large heatsink protruding from the back and the means to adjust the high, mid and low frequencies as well as the sensitivity too. Cut, flat or boost for the the frequencies and sensitivity can be tweaked to either -3, flat or +3db. The fascia is very distinctive and a bold design still to my eyes. The main driver has the tweeter sitting, like a small planetary satellite, off-centre above it. This gives you some flexibility and can either have the tweeters sitting near the centre, or further out depending on how you set them up. Currently, I have them with the tweeters near the centre. To round it off, there's a small LED display that indicates what your filter and sensitivity settings are.
Soundwise, they have that clarity that I always enjoy from a good speaker. Unlike what you'll often hear about actives (which ranges from: "they're too neutral", "they're not meant for the home", "they belong in a recording studio", "you don't want such a clinical sound for a hifi speaker" (and so on). I don't quite get that line of thinking. It's more of a personal taste thing than anything else and with the other changes in home audio/entertainment over the last decade or so, then there's room for actives too. In any case, actives have been with us for ages anyway, so this really isn't anything new. Just attitudes changing, although this seems to take at least the same amount of time, but hey ho...
As with anything new, they need to bed in and my ears need to get used to their sound, but there si a lovely clarity that's anything but analytical. Albums like Elton's "Songs From the West Coast" enjoy a lucidity that well recorded discs can bask in. Less well recorded material gets, well, shown up. Not unlistenable, but you get the idea. You either go in the whole way, or you make compromises as a listener or enjoy audio as a hobby. For me, I like somewhere between the two. Analytical, but not too analytical. Listenable, but let's not sugar coat the pill too much.
Incidentally, I'm using these with the Onkyo TX-NR818 operating as a pre-amp, so I can still get all the functionality the amp offers me, but the AE22s are doing the driving powerwise. That said, these puppies come with balanced XLRs as I mentioned, so, I wonder...maybe next year!
So far, it's all good. And Jim, that design? Well smart...!
For others, last time I looked, Acoustic Energy have around six pairs left on their Ebay store. For £449 delivered, that's a very hard to beat deal.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram