Sound
Contents
Our testlist gives us a few interesting results. First of all, we are surprised by the speed of these speakers. Floorstanders in this price range rarely deliver this kind of tight, punchy bass that holds up even during complex passages. The bass is really gorgeous and quite addictive. We didn’t see that coming. There is no lump in the upper bass and the mid-bass is full of quality and information. The sub bass has impact and resonates wonderfully.
The mids are quiet, controlled and voices are just slightly forward. What about that carbon tweeter? Pretty refined, never sharp and with sufficient detail. This speaker doesn’t force anything on the listener, but you do hear everything. The reproduction is balanced, natural and musical. You can listen to this speaker for hours without getting a headache.
Because of its speed, the AE509 is also a dynamic speaker full of energy and a high fun factor. The best fitting adjective only came to mind when listening to Prince. The Acoustic Energy AE509 are funky speakers! We couldn’t describe it any better. You’ll have a lot of fun with these speakers. Music is produced very nicely , almost like a bookshelf and the soundstage is wide, clear and almost 3D in our room. Not bad at all.
Listen
What do you do when you get such an amazing speaker in your listening room? Well… yes! You take out your best records or in our case CDs out of the closet. If you want to know if your system is on the right track you have play “The bends”, by Radiohead. If you can keep that playing for more than three tracks you’ll be fine. That’s not because of the tracks themselves but because of the recording quality. They go from sounding reasonable to sounding terrible. Through the AE509 the whole album is not only listenable but enjoyable from beginning to end. A great start!
The album “The love symbol” by Prince and the New Power Generation on the other hand is wonderfully recorded and will sound great through a JBL soundbar. No offence JBL! But with the AE509 it becomes an experience. You’re immersed in the music and you never have the tendency to analyze things. You just long for the next song, and the next and the next. Yes, it looks like things are just a touch softened in the highs and the detail isn’t beryllium clear, but rest assured all the details come through nicely.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are next with “The best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds”. Nick Cave is a genius and just like a good Bordeaux the man improves with age. This compilation album from 1998 has many great hits, each one recorded better or worse than the other. ‘Where the wild roses grow’ with Kylie Minoque is this disc and it makes us realize that time flies when you’re having fun. It seems like yesterday that we were watching the wonderful video on MTV. A feeling of nostalgia soon enters the mind.
Deus with “A bar under the sea” is an album with a flawless production, every song starts quietly and gets busier towards the end, a tried and tested recipe with this Belgian top band. Once again the reproduction by the AE509 is just right. A nice amount of weight to the guitars and when things get more complex the AE509 has no problem handeling it.Â
One last blast from the past with “Dummy”, the debut of Portishead. The beats on “It could be sweet” are amazing but not easy to get right. The AE509 brings this triphop song with depth and musicality. The beats sound great and the angelic voice of Beth Gibbons doesn’t get too sharp. Their live performance a few years ago was absolutely stunning and came close to perfection. Gibbons voice is delicate and sweet. This is still a great album. Timeless! Pop music, electronics and jazz go great on these speakers and even classical music works great. The AE509 is a true all-rounder
