The sound of the Aelite Three is just like their appearance – the shape of the cabinet and the sound has no “sharp angles”. Comfortable and musical sounding speakers do not like unnecessarily harsh notes, even when they are required by the meaning of the song. The Aelite Three floorstanders are the “older” models in the line. Speakers have a bass cabinet and a 3-way crossover configuration…
TEST RESULTS
CONSTRUCTION FEATURES: The British Acoustic Energy AE speakers we tested belong to the latest range of this company with the beautiful name Aelite. In developing the series AE designers took into account modern trends, as a result of the new speakers got curved side panels and rounded corners of the enclosures.
It’s not just beautiful, it’s useful, too, because it reduces sound diffraction. At the same time in the design of the Aelite have been used and proven solutions that go straight back to the technology of the famous reference series AE.
The Aelite Three earpieces are the top models in the range. Speakers have a bass-inverter cabinet and a 3-way crossover configuration. The cabinet is made of 15-mm-thick MDF, while the front panel is even thicker at 22 mm. Curved side panels make the rear panel of the speakers narrower than the “face.
For stability the cabinet is mounted on a wide wooden plinth into which adjustable height steel spikes can be screwed if desired. On the back of the speakers, in addition to two pairs of gold-plated, plastic-coated terminals, there are three ports and a cover for the sand or shot filler compartment. The presence of a large number of ports suggests the idea of multi-chamber body structure Aelite Three. A foam plug is provided for the bass port.
There are four drivers at the front. The top position is occupied by the 25mm silk dome tweeter. Tweeter is equipped with neodymium magnet, voice coil cooling is made with ferromagnetic fluid. The tweeter is inserted into a metal “platter” with a special profile which controls the dispersion of the emitted upper frequencies. The midrange driver has a 32mm voice coil and a 110mm diameter metal alloy membrane. Alloy not only increases the rigidity of the diaphragms, but also conducts heat away from the coil well.
Two 125mm bass drivers each are also equipped with proprietary alloy diaphragms. They use 26mm voice coils. All midrange/midrange drivers have die-cast aluminum chassis. All Aelite Three speakers are magnetically shielded, this will be particularly useful when using the speakers as front speakers in home theater sets.
The speakers are veneered with a choice of three veneers: black ash, birch, cherry.
AUDIO QUALITY: A pair of Aelite Three immediately established itself as a “mature” acoustics with a good sense of music. The sound had natural timbre, the aftertone was clear and vocal parts sounded naturally. Tone balance seemed very even to the ear, with a nice rock accent in the mid-bass area.
The midrange and treble were drawn neatly, without any unpleasant resonances. A slightly elevated top, devoid of harshness, gives a pleasant spring mood sound. No complaints about the bass of the trio – the quantity and depth are enough for any genre of music. Bass timbre is expressed in relief and accurately, although the microdynamics of the lower frequencies is a little bit worse than in the middle.
The stereo image was easily constructed, the stage has a decent width and depth. The scene is not full scale and high contrast, but the objects have quite realistic scale. In the construction of the scene, the speakers additionally highlight the solo instruments, pushing them slightly toward the listener. With such a deliberate presentation of the musical material it is difficult to remain indifferent, especially as the sound of “three” is remarkable by genuine emotionality.
The English might not be analytical enough, the nuances of the recording often seem to be obscured by a light haze, but the basic timbres are uncommonly beautiful and musical. Aelite Three keeps your room comfortable. Without boring the listener with a bunch of small details, they focus on the spirit of music and the main line of melody.
PRICE: $1250.
SUMMARY
ADDITIONAL TIMES: natural timbres, comfortable sound without harshness.
RESTRICTIONS: softened dynamic contrasts.
CONCLUSION: The sound of the Aelite Three is just as good as it looks – there are no sharp edges to the contours of the body and sound. Comfortable and musical sound of the speakers does not like the unnecessarily harsh notes, even when they are required by the meaning of the song.
