Have I lost the plot

[flapland]

Yesterday I ordered AE Aelite 3 to replace my old/second hand B&W P6. The price of 400 quid from superfi is what did it for me.

The rest of the system is a Lexicon 212 (Rebaged Bryston 3B st I got for 430 quid) and Linn Numerik/Merdian 206.

Main difficulty is they were bought of the web and therfore I haven't heard them in action and I am also unable to find ANY reviews on tinternet.

If I have made a mistake I suspect I could still get 300 quid for them on eBay.

Anyway any feedback from happy owners or those who have heard them in action would be greatfully recieved.

Stock pictures of B&W P6 speakers attached and Aelite 3 picture at the following.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/1822

 

[JANDL100]

Looks like quite a lot of speaker for the money.

AE are usually pretty good too, real engineers who know their stuff. You'll probably get a livelier sound than the B&Ws.

I reckon you'll be all right with them !

 

[flapland]

Thanks for the feedback, nice system and what looks like a nice view from your lounge.

Paul

 

[Dannish]

They look nice. This is based on RRPof £750 so I reckon you got a bargain

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Acoustic_Energy_Aelite_3__6330218

Quote:

Author's product rating:

Sound Quality

Excellent

Bass Quality

Poor

Treble Quality

Good

Look & Design

Excellent

Value for Money

Good

Advantages:

Great mid - high range

Disadvantages:

Weak bass

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Fullreview

[line]

These speakers are very well made with real wood veneer all round in a choice of wood. They are heavy with sound deadening material and weigh in at around 20Kg each. One point to note is that these speakers actually have a power handling of 175W as opposed to the much lower value stated. This allows them to work well with a wide range of amps.

When auditioning these speakers it was clear that they were aimed at audiences where bass does not play sucha major role as, although there are three different sizes of cone (each with seperate crossovers so different parts of the sound signal are sent to the correct cone size) the largest of the three cones is only 5 1/4" big. This leads to modest bass and anyone who enjoys music such as drum and bass should look elsewhere or add a subwoofer to boost the bass.

The tweeter can sound harsh at times if the amp and cable is not matched well so auditioning these speakers before buying is a must as they may be too bright for some. The mid range however is spot on with the speakers beautifully recreating vocals and digging up great detail from recordings.

So, for this price bracket (around 750) I would highly recommend these well built speakers for any vocal heavy music or where mid-high end detail is necessary but steer clear if bass is what your after.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I quite like the old P6 speakers. Good luck with the AEs - possibly a sidegrade but only you can be the judge of that. Be sure to run 'em in properly for a good 50 hours before coming to any conclusions.

 

[flapland]

I will let you all know when I get them next week how they sound, and again after they have been run in. In the meantime I think I will hold onto the P6's until I know what they really sound like as it could well be a side or even downgrade.

:

 

[Cable Monkey]

They will be of a different charcter to the B&W's, rear ported etc. so they won't be a straight swap and will need a fair amount of space around them.

 

[Steveh]

flapland wrote:

Yesterday I ordered AE Aelite 3 to replace my old/second hand B&W P6. The price of 400 quid from superfi is what did it for me. The rest of the system is a Lexicon 212 (Rebaged Bryston 3B st I got for 430 quid) and Linn Numerik/Merdian 206.

Main difficulty is they were bought of the web and therfore I haven't heard them in action and I am also unable to find ANY reviews on tinternet.

If I have made a mistake I suspect I could still get 300 quid for them on eBay.

Anyway any feedback from happy owners or those who have heard them in action would be greatfully recieved.

Stock pictures of B&W P6 speakers attached and Aelite 3 picture at the following.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/1822

Paul, you can relax. I have just received the april edition(I am subscriber so I get copies early) of Hi-Fi Choice. The AE AELITE 3 got a "best buy" gong in their speaker test(£500 - £850). It was up against ALR JORDAN Entry XL, FOCAL Chorus 716v,JAMO Concert803, MISSION M66i, & QUADRAL Pico.

"Exceptional neutrality with deep, smooth bass. Top end could be more incisive"

Only other gong was the Quadral, and that's a standmounter.

Looks like you've grabbed a bargain, but of course, as with all speakers, IMHO, they will take at least a week, and probably more before they are at their best. Let wammers know how they are doing.

 

[Tel]

The brand new copy of HFC plopped through my letterbox this morning and there is a group Speaker test between the following

AE Aelite 3

ALR Jordan Entry XL

Focal Chorus 716V

Jamo Concert 803

Mission M66i

Quadral Pico

They said

"The £750.00 AE Elite 3 proved a real star this time around, providing evidence that the samples tested 2 years ago had faulty crossovers. It's not only handsome in its real wood veneer it also delivers exceptional neutrality with deep smooth bass. A clear best buy."

They also gave it a badge and a 90% review score. All that was based on a price of £750.00 so as long as you can keep them away from walls and they work in your system it looks like you got yourself a good deal!

Hope that work for you in your system/room.

 

[Tel]

Shows what a slow typist I am, Steveh's post wasn't there when I started!

 

[Steveh]

[No message]

 

[Steveh]

:goodone:Tel wrote:

The brand new copy of HFC plopped through my letterbox this morning and there is a group Speaker test between the followingAE Aelite 3

ALR Jordan Entry XL

Focal Chorus 716V

Jamo Concert 803

Mission M66i

Quadral Pico

They said

"The £750.00 AE Elite 3 proved a real star this time around, providing evidence that the samples tested 2 years ago had faulty crossovers. It's not only handsome in its real wood veneer it also delivers exceptional neutrality with deep smooth bass. A clear best buy."

They also gave it a badge and a 90% review score. All that was based on a price of £750.00 so as long as you can keep them away from walls and they work in your system it looks like you got yourself a good deal!

Hope that work for you in your system/room.

:goodone:more comprehensive than mine. Both should reassure Paul

 

[ob1]

Demo AE Aelite 3 two years ago and wow! lots and lots of bass...need to be place them well in to the room.

 

[flapland]

Looks like a need to grab a copy of Hifi Choice when it appears on the shelfs, but it is starting to sound like a good deal.

Luckly I do have some flexiability on placement as long as its no more than 75cm from the wall.

Only 5 days to go before I can pick them up from the Camden Branch of Superfi.

I am away Tuesday and Wednesday for work otherwise I would collect Tuesday.

 

[ob1]

When pick up from superfi pls check that everything are in the box ie spikes and form bung. Speaking from my own experience with superfi.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I believe I'm the one of the (very) few wammers to own a pair of these speakers. I've had them now for about 18months and I'm quite happy with them.

I have them placed about 30cm from a the rear wall but they do sound better further into the room. Domestic issues do not allow this however.

I did notice the treble was initially a little 'soft' in character, this has improved noticeably after they've been run in and the sound has generally opened up as well.

I'm currently running them with a Shanling CD-T80 CD player via a Linn LK1 Preamp with a NAD C320 serving duty as a power amp.

Pros

Decent midrange

Extended Bass

Open Soundstage

Cons

Bass is not the most tuneful or dynamic

Treble is well balanced but could be a litte more open/extended

Not best suited for heavy rock/metal

But, for £400? I really think you'd not find much better at that price.

Hope you enjoy them

UB

 

[Davewhityetagain]

flapland wrote:

Yesterday I ordered AE Aelite 3 to replace my old/second hand B&W P6.

:shock:Why ? what will the new speaker do that the B&W will not ? The P6 might be old but they are very good

Hope you like your new speakers........ but hold on to your old ones for a couple of weeks

 

[flapland]

I went for the Aelite's for two reasons

1) Was a bit implusive and liked the spec, design and price of them.

2) My current B&W P6 look nice but don't appear to do tuneful base and the treble is a bit muffled. Could be the age of the speakers especially the tweeters where is a know issue with the tweeters and the ferofluid OR a mismatch of amp or speaker cables.

Anyway we will see after I have broken in the Aelites in a couple of weeks.

 

[hifikrazy]

I doubt they will be more lively than the P6. I had the model before them the Aesprit 309 for a while. Quite nice sounding, responded well to plenty of juice and volume. All you can do is see if you like them (as others have said be sure to run them in before you make any judgements), might well be a better match than your b&ws.