ALL NEW AE100 Series speakers for 2022

Before I regale you with the AE100 Series – ‘Tis twelfth night and when the Rayner grotto gets turned off for the last time. And while bonkers tech is being released in Las Vegas at the CES, Acoustic Energy have redesigned their 100 Series speakers to offer a step change in quality for their entry level range. And that’s real world goodness, not BMW showing silly things they will never do. I am afraid I lost faith with CES’ automotive offering when they awarded AUDI a big prize one year for a car system with a tablet that was just for their cars yet could be removable, just AS IF they could compete with apple. Hilarious. There were still one or two aftermarket exhibitors but now, less so. And sadly, I saw images of the CES unveiled press event area in the vast acreage of the Mandalay Bay convention centre, that was an empty queuing system nobody needed.

Here is the Acoustic Energy AE100 Series press release; (And here is the stuff about their posher 500 series .. https://www.adamrayner.net/acoustic-energy-announce-launch-of-flagship-500-series/)

After the amazing success and 5-year run of the Acoustic Energy’s highly acclaimed 100 Series, the design team decided it’s time to shake up the budget Hi-Fi arena and raise the bar once again…

The new 100 Series, available from today through selected authorised dealers throughout the UK, isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a completely new design from the ground up. The design brief was to try and maintain the compact dimensions and sleek appearance of the previous 100 Series but offer a more mature, refined and bigger sound with greater
bandwidth and power. So, what’s changed?

First in line for an upgrade was the main drive unit; the 4” paper cone used for over a decade has performed admirably but we’ve extracted all the performance we can get from it. Therefore the decision was made to move up to a 5” driver – this time utilising a 4 layer voice coil with flux rings to enable the dynamics, headroom and clarity demanded from the series design engineers. This of course created a new problem of size and keeping those compact dimensions…

Enter HDF (High Density Fibreboard). The engineers came to the conclusion they needed more internal volume to achieve maximum benefit from the new 5” driver. After much calculation and experimentation, the decision was made to move to HDF – unheard of at this price-point and usually limited to the very high-end. HDF provides the option of using thinner cabinet walls with no loss in acoustic performance, the mass and stiffness of the
15mm HDF being the same as the previous 18mm MDF. The result of this move is a small 15% increase in cabinet size but a 30% increase in internal volume gained over the previous 100 Series speakers.

The final piece of the puzzle was retaining the fantastic integration and musically rewarding character the slimline 100 Series cabinets benefitted from. For this, a new 25mm soft-dome tweeter and waveguide was developed to perfectly match the new bass driver… taking a leaf out of the 500 Series book and pushing them as close together as physically possible thanks to a cutaway trim.

Aesthetically the new 100 Series retains similar lines to the older generation but cleaner and more refined. Cabinet veneer finishes have also been improved along with a dedicated flared trim on the bass port and higher-grade binding posts.

MD and Chief Design Engineer Mat Spandl commented “We knew the previous AE100 Series was going to be a hard act to follow so we had to do something special and rewrote the design book for loudspeakers at this price. The result is a compact, slimline budget speaker range that we believe will raise the bar again and be unparalleled at the price.”

The new AE100 Series will retail from £229 to £599 and comprise of the AE100² bookshelf, AE109 2 floor-stander, AE107² centre and AE108² active subwoofer… with a new AE120² flagship floor-stander following in the Spring. All speakers are available in Black and Walnut
vinyl veneer with the AE100² also available in White.

Specifications

	AE100²	AE109²	AE120²
Drive Unit:	130mm paper cone	130mm paper cones	130mm paper cones
Tweeter:	25mm fabric dome	25mm fabric dome	25mm fabric dome
Frequency Range:	51Hz – 26kHz	41Hz – 26kHz	39Hz – 26kHz
Sensitivity:	87dB	89dB	90dB
Peak SPL:	112dB	115dB	116dB
Power Handling:	120w	175w	200w
Crossover Frequency:	2.9kHz	275Hz, 2.5kHz	300Hz, 2.7kHz
Impedance:	6 Ohms	6 Ohms	6 Ohms
Design:	2-way	2.5 -way	3-way
Grilles:	Slim, cloth magnetic fit	Slim, cloth magnetic fit	Slim, cloth magnetic fit
Dimensions (mm):	290 x 165 x 250 (HxWxD)	860 x 165 x 250 (HxWxD)	950 x 165 x 250 (HxWxD)
Weight:	9.2kg (pair)	16kg (each)	19kg (each)
Finishes:	Satin Black, Satin White and Walnut vinyl veneer	Satin Black, Satin White and Walnut vinyl veneer	Satin Black, Satin White and Walnut vinyl veneer

For more, see: https://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/