Acoustic Energy AE520 Loudspeakers
'Tonally it’s lovely; it has a richness you don’t often hear from modern speakers'
HI-FI CHOICE, 2020
The AE520 is a powerful, slim-line, floor-standing loudspeaker which builds on the AE500 and AE509 models to firmly establish itself as the brand’s new flagship, featuring multi-driver design, imposing size and performance.
The AE520 features two dedicated 125mm mid-range drivers, three low frequency drivers and a 25mm tweeter – all fashioned from carbon fibre to provide perfect tonal matching across the frequency range.
The two dedicated 125mm carbon fibre mid-drivers include new oversized 35mm voice coils for low thermal compression and optimum motor force factor. Both are mounted within their own dedicated sealed enclosure whilst the three dedicated low frequency drivers are reflex loaded by a large rear facing rectangular port. Designed to match the pistonic power and accuracy of our legendary ceramic aluminium drivers, these new units offer much improved self-damping for a smoother, more transparent sound.
Vertical directivity has been optimised to provide excellent vertical coverage whilst reducing the energy otherwise wasted on ceiling and floor reflections when compared to traditional designs.
The slim-line cabinets are finished in Piano Gloss Black, Piano Gloss White or American Walnut wood veneer finishes. Solid Aluminium bars are supplied to ensure rigid floor-coupling and maximum stability, whilst the stiffness of the metal structure reduces the room to speaker interaction.
TWEETER
Our 500 Series tweeter features a brand new 25mm carbon fibre dome. Carbon fibre is much lighter and better damped than other typical hard dome materials and provides a lightning fast, natural sound which will surprise the listener with its neutrality. The new cast aluminium WDT waveguide on the high frequency driver is positioned close to the mid/bass driver for optimum dispersion and is extremely stiff to reduce vibration being passed to the tweeter, ensuring sweet, clear and natural highs.
DRIVERS
The 125mm mid/bass driver includes a new oversized 35mm voice coils for low thermal compression and very high motor force factor, to provide a highly dynamic yet controlled bass response. The woofer has an optimised motor and suspension system for maximum linearity and lowest distortion ensuring mid-range definition, whilst the lightweight nature of the carbon fibre cone material increases transient speed and clarity.
CROSSOVER
The crossovers use high voltage polypropylene film wound capacitors and air core inductors at critical locations for optimum dispersion through a smaller acoustic source size within the crossover region.
The AE509 is a Mid Tweeter Mid/Bass (MTM) driver layout and both models use a 2 way crossover, whilst the AE520 utilises a 3 way design.
CABINET
These unique drivers are housed in our new 18mm Resonance Suppression Composite (RSC) cabinets, evolved from the prestigious Reference Series and featuring the same constrained layer composite to greatly reduce cabinet acoustic radiation, which would otherwise colour the sound.
