Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2

An understated but ever-so-capable performer

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Acoustic Energy? That's a name we haven't featured for a good while. It's not that the company hasn't been making capable products over the past few years, but rather that they seem to do it more quietly than most. Other speaker brands seem to shout louder and put more resources into marketing and promotion. Still, having got the new Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 into our test room, we are pleased to report that the effort was more than worthwhile.

These mid-range standmounters are good, and certainly talented enough to worry their rivals from the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Q Acoustics and Dali, to name just a few.

The AE300 Mk2 is a neatly made compact box. Each speaker unit stands 32cm tall and is a relatively slim design at just 17cm wide. Visually, this pair of standmounters is about as unobtrusive as speakers come at this level.

It is available in three finishes - walnut, matte black or matte white - and looks smart regardless of the option chosen.

Echoing the character of its manufacturer, this isn't a design that dazzles with its technology or appearance, but exudes a quiet aura of solid functionality that appeals to us hugely. This speaker's build quality is impressive. The cabinet uses a constrained-layer construction that combines 18mm MDF with bitumen to give a rigid and well-controlled foundation for the drive units to work from.

The attention to detail is pleasing, with neat, crisp cabinet edges and understated cosmetics that avoid the visual clutter of most rival designs.

The AE300 Mk2 is a two-way speaker that combines a large 29mm fabric-dome tweeter with a relatively small 12cm paper/coconut fibre mid/bass, a unit that leans heavily on the lessons learned during the development of Acoustic Energy's high-end Corinium range. The two drive units cross over at a relatively high 3.5kHz, and the result is a middling 86dB/W/m sensitivity and a nominal 6-ohm impedance.

Designed for smaller rooms