Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3
Smooth operators
By Brent Burmester
July 2004
Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 Loudspeaker. $999
It doesn’t seem so long ago that models from Brit manufacturers
Acoustic Energy, KEF, and Mordaunt Short were the pick of the bunch when
it came to entry level hi-fi floorstanders. MS has faded away, and the
company’s range is no longer available in New Zealand, while KEF
still remains competitive from the budget ranks to the high-end. Acoustic
Energy dropped off the map for a year or three, but now makes an all-guns-blazing
comeback at the wallet-friendly end of the market. The wait seems to have
been worthwhile.
Then and now
Some things have changed and others remain the same since the days of the fondly-remembered AE109. Cheaper AE gear is still put together in Malaysia, and vinyl wood-print remains the veneer of choice, which under artificial light looks just like vinyl wood-print.
Two-way configuration has been superseded by three-way, which is alright if done right, and the mid and bass drivers are now alloy-coned, where once, if memory serves, polypropylene was the material of choice. The Evo retains the slim-fronted columnar shape, front firing reflex porting for the bass, and a mass-loadable cabinet (the review samples came sand-filled).
Maybe the biggest difference is the price: in inflation-adjusted real terms the 109s were almost twice the price of Evo 3s!
From a listening distance these aren’t bad-looking speakers, with
their matt-finish silver drivers, and well-chosen proportions, but their
plastic hides are obvious up close. A black plinth screws securely into
the base of the cabinet to add stability, further helped by sturdy carpet-piercing
spikes. Binding posts are mounted at the bottom of the rear panel, letting
you keep speaker cables shorter and less obtrusive, but take care if using
bare wire – the post-holes are drilled at angles that could easily
lead to a short-circuit.
Stand clear of the speaker
When I installed the Aegis Evo 3’s I set them down where my regular Castles stand, and they seemed to do well enough with DVD or TV, or in background music mode. After more critical CD listening it was clear that the sound wasn’t quite gelling the way it ought to – and a bit of time wandering around my room lead to the realisation that these three-way bad-boys expected me to keep my distance. Shifting the listening position back from not quite three to over four metres from the plane of the speakers rewarded me with a more coherent and integrated sound. Bass became more even and better defined, and the soundstage grew pleasingly in depth and height. The Aegis Evo 3: not for small rooms.
Other than the need to keep some listening distance, positioning was not difficult. About 3m apart with a little toe-in provided a convincing soundstage, and 70cm from the front wall yielded a well weighted bass free from unsightly bulges. Closer to the front wall created some over-exuberance in the mid-bass. A good test for this was in male voices, which became chesty and thickened when the 3’s were given insufficient space to the rear.
Safe for all ages
The AE Aegis Evo 3s are nice sounding speakers, which is meant as a compliment. They have a neutral tonality, untroubled by unpleasantness.
AE makes a
bit of a fuss about the new treble unit in the Aegis Evo range, and there
are certainly no nasties in the squeaky bits. In fact some might hanker
after a little more acoustic energy in the treble, for my room is quite
lively and the smoothness of the number 3’s could yield to a recessed
quality in a more absorbent environment. The freedom from hardness in the
sound, even at hefty volumes, was very welcome, though.
This was also thanks to the quality of mid-range driver and it’s lack of stress. The big wobbling is undertaken by a specialised driver, avoiding distortions introduced when one cone attempts to produce deep bass alongside frequencies in the thousands of Hertz.
I was quite taken with the scale of the Aegis Evo 3’s: they like to rattle the cutlery. While not the world’s most dynamic speakers, only hi-fi enthusiasts used to more specialised, and probably more expensive, transducers will feel let down.
The average punter will be more than satisfied, especially when using them as the front pair in a home theatre set-up. The well-weighted bass is not so quick or detailed as you might find in similarly priced stand-mounts, but it is not at all sluggish or monotonous. So, not budget high-end, but these are real hifi speakers with real floorstander abilities, and they should be on the shortlist of anyone wanting those virtues for real money.
For your nearest Acoustic Energy dealer
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