REPRODUCED FROM HIFICRITIC
AcousticEnergyAE320 SENSIBLY-PRICED,BEAUTIFUL Y FINISHED AND SLENDERENOUGH TO FITINTO MANYAROOM,THESE BRITISH-M ADE FLOORSTANDERS SOUND FINE,TOO.
It’shard to believethatitwaswaybackin1987 thata new British loudspeakercom panycaled AcousticEnergyburston to the scene with the com pact AE1 loudspeaker, which garnered m uch praise and sold like the proverbialhot cakes. In 1994 the com pany ac epted a partnership w ith an overseasinvestorand like many other British brands moved some m anufacturing to the Far East, at the sam e time expanding its sales and marketing activitiesaround the w orld. Today, the company is once again fuly Britishowned, and headquartered in the Cotswold town ofTetbury.M anufacturing is stil caried outin China,underclose quality control bythe UK directors,butthey’re working on plans to return m anufacturing to Europe. Acoustic En ergy has never lost itscom m itm entto the design and m anufacture of loudspeakersand hasavoided the tem ptation to branch outinto electronicsorotherdistractions. Thus itwas thatin early Decem berone ofthe aforem entioned directors loaded a pair of the company’s £1600 AE320 slim floorstanding loudspeakersinto hiscarand delivered them to Kely Towers. The car in question was a three-door M ini, so that was im pres ive: as a felow M iniowner,it’s good to know that our choice ofvehicle isnotasim practicalasitm ight appear! Unboxed and spiked,the speakerswere carefuly positioned inwhatIhavedeterm ined isthesweet spotforloudspeakerplacem entin in our14’x12’ lounge:toed in towards m y listening chair,the inside rearcorners are 58cm from the rearwal. From the listening position,and with the black griles atached the AE320s don’t visualy overpower the senses:at a m etre tal,17.5cm wide and 32cm deep, these are substantial enclosuresbutdrew no word ofcom plaintfrom M rsKely,which isalwaysgood news!
The review pair were finished in a very
38 MUSICATHOME+
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