Introducing Corinium from Acoustic Energy

/ Audio T Oxford/

Our customer, Martin, is a long-time user of Acoustic Energy. He has a dedicated home cinema setup with the aforementioned brand. When he came to visit us, he was looking to replace his Hi-Fi speakers at the time, which were the Acoustic Energy AE520. We knew exactly what he was after…

Martin’s trust acoustic energy ae520

Serendipity can be a good thing

Martin was fortunate enough to hear the Coronium at the same time that we did, and we were lucky enough to be joined by Mat Spandl, Managing Director and Chief Designer of Acoustic Energy and Paul Burnip (Acoustic Energy Sales Manager). The two had come down specially to demonstrate a pre-production pair of the long anticipated speakers and as Martin had already indicated to us that he was keen to listen to a pair, the timing worked out well for everyone. Plus, Acoustic Energy were more than happy to have the opinion from an existing fan and user of the brand.

Long story short

We loved the Coronium, as did Martin. So much so that he placed an order straight away and thus ordered the very first pair in the UK.

Three months later, the fantastic Tectona finish loudspeakers were ready for delivery; Paul and James (AE’s Industrial Designer) personally delivered the speakers and helped with the setup. Despite the fact that the speakers were brand new and still cold to the touch from a chilly December day spent in the back of the delivery vehicle, they instantly sounded fabulous in Martin’s room. During our short time there they really began to loosen up. With a hundred hours more under their belt, they will sound truly amazing!

After a couple of cups of coffee, during which time the tunes were played, James explained to Martin and myself the philosophy behind and the benefits of the Coroniums.

The words of Mat Spandl and the design philosophy

“With Corinium we believe we've built something which goes to the next level. This is a speaker which not only reproduces music, it produces a musical performance, it tells you about the musical intention of the artist, you hear the subtle inflections, the spaces between notes that separate the 'me too' from the really great. It can bring new meaning to familiar material, reinterpreting your favourite passages and bringing new life to your favourite old tracks.”

The Coronium’s are a philosophical design departure from previous Acoustic Energy speakers. Their profile is curved, to reduce standing waves. The cabinet is tilted for time alignment and is made from a composite of materials and is up to 50mm thick.

A synthetic polyester soft dome tweeter replaces the 500 series carbon fibre designs, because it is lighter. Brand new carbon fibre midrange and bass units complete the array, with the 120mm midrange covering five of the eight available octaves.

What this means in reality, is that in comparison to the AE520, everything has improved: The treble is more open, the midrange more lucid and detailed, bass quality is better (especially at lower listening levels), the speakers are substantially faster and dynamic.

 Finish options are:

  • Tectona wood (particularly gorgeous).

  • Matt white.

  • Matt black.

  • Metallic British racing green.

Our colleagues at Portsmouth have already done an in-depth review of the Coronium, which you can read here.

Job done

The Coronium are truly high-end speakers available at a very reasonable price - and they deserve to be heard.

We left Martin a happy man and I hope he has a fantastic Christmas listening to his favourite songs.

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Jon - Audio T Oxford

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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