[Review] home dem. acoustic energy evo 3

home dem. acoustic energy evo 3

first impressions are:

3 yr warrantee, excellent,

ceramic pressed alloy mid and bass unit, very hi tech, magnetically shielded all around.

thick copper multistrand cable on all 3 drive units, not the usual thin stuff,

metal chassis for the squakers and woofers, again, well built.

heavy inert cabinet,

not quite the finish of the proacs, vinyl print, looks quite good though. made in malaysia, designed in UK.

Customery information given includes all plastic capacitors in the xover.

Vifa tweeter, shielded.

Shielded metal cone 5" mid and 6.5" bass.

Touches I really like are:

plinth supplied, you don't get this with many budget speakers.substantial spikes.

factory sand fillled, ditto, makes them heavier to lug upstairs tho'.

I recall hearing their predecessor at the Preston show one year, the aegis 3, and they really impressed me as being one of the best balanced sounds in teh show.

ok now for the listening bit.

crisp, detailed, good detail, slightly cool and laid back, doesn't bring that mid richness that I like, but what I would call a late night speaker, weiighty bass that's not exaggerated, good separation, esp. where drums n bass guitar are concerned, clear delineated notes, not quite as big a soundstage as proacs, but that is what proac do best, I think, project, perhaps some of the traits of a true 3 way coming in here?
very well integrated and balanced. nothing forward or obvious, very neutral

they bring to mind the harbeth hl compact 7s, for neutrality and clarity ,tho the latter again have the edge on projection and soundstage, at £1500 they ought to , one of my favourites of all time.

price well best I can get is £250, astonishing for what you get, from unbeatable.

very good for the cash, partner with a rotel amp and you will be laughing.

my alesis, for sale have more punchy bass, due to a fantastic bass unit and long port, and are more easy to listen over long periods of monitoring, I would put them around equal.

further listening reveals a speaker that likes to be driven, I found the cheapo aegis 1 to be a bit dull, and this is similar, it likes to be cranked, and then comes on song, sounding a bit reticent at quiet levels, it also has a great freedom from spitch, particularly on a nasty digital distorted recording i have, this is welcome.

 

well further to that, I am not taking to them, they are far too delicate for me, I keep having to turn the amp up, as its as though something is missing, its all there but I don't really like their presentation. So they are going back.

They take to electronic music very well, the bass really does thwack, but on simpler stuff, the sound is a bit diffuse, there is little soundstage, and I really like a good soundstage, its all a bit matter of fact the imaging, but if you are into party stuff, they do rock quite well. They bring to mind very much of the musical fidelity sound, bit smooth, dullish.

I am hankering back after my proacs, you don't know what you have got till its gone, fortunately, a pair is coming this afternoon nice man dropping them off.

THe ae's are tho one of the first speakers I have heard that thwack, I have been using a much more powerful transistor amp, and it really does make it fun.perhaps the time for valves is coming to a close? trouble is, thwack alone isn't enough.

ahhh bliss musicality restored, pair of proacs now dropped off.

comparisons reveal the Ae are a bit laid back in the mid, not as rich or warm sounding, clean, a bit too uncoloured, a very good speaker, but not really to my taste with that scooped mid.

 

The opposite happened for me, was not sure about them at first, but sound seemed to improve with use. maybee those metal cones need time to run in.Definatly one of the better low cost floorstanders. Better than the kef q4 and mission volare v62 which I listened too at the shop.The evo3 had better weight and scale when the volume was cranked but like you say a bit polite at low volumes.

 

try a pair of acoustisc energy ae109's they are astonishing sounding. and you can pick them up for a 100 quid. i had a set a few years ago and they were amazing, but we moved and they had to go