The AE22 marks Acoustic Energy's return to its roots in the studio environment. It's been 15 years since AE Pro created our last "Pro" speaker (the AE2) and in that time we have learned much about the needs, wants and demands of the modern studio engineer.

Extended information

In developing the AE22 AE Pro set about designing the speaker from the ground up to fulfill its purpose as a highly accurate recording monitor which would better both contemporary and classic designs currently in use as industry "standards". During our testing they trialled the AE22's at some of the UK's leading studio's with some of the top recording engineers in the business. The results exceeded even our own expectations, confirming beyond doubt that they had achieved their goal.

Common design and engineering features that help make the AE22 range class leading include:
* Solid, low-resonance, infinite baffle cabinet construction
* Die-cast aluminium, vented woofers chassis
* Under-hung voice-coil on the woofer
* Pressed and anodised aluminium cones
* Die-cast aluminium tweeter housing
* Neodymium Tweeter motor with individual heatsink

The AE22 is a low distortion, closed box speaker with an exceptional time domain performance (better than 40dB down within 5ms) and good horizontal off-axis consistency. It doesn’t have the flattest anechoic amplitude response you’ll ever see, nor the widest bandwidth, but from 60Hz to 25kHz it is about as musically accurate as moving-coil driver technology can achieve at the price.

The AE22 bass/mid driver is unusual in a number of respects. Its use of a metal cone ensures a linear amplitude response and minimal time-domain errors up to frequencies well above the crossover point. The metal cone also acts as a heat-sink that increases thermal power handling and reduces thermal compression. The driver also has an ‘underhung’ magnet/voice-coil system. An under-hung system — a short voice-coil in a long gap — is inherently more stable and linear than the more usual, and far cheaper, over-hung arrangement. The voice-coil is 50mm in diameter (25-38mm is typical at this price point) and has a black anodised aluminium former — again to increase thermal power handling and reduce thermal compression. The AE22 tweeter is a proprietary unit chosen for its good linearity, low compression, high power handling and ability to operate with a relatively low crossover frequency. It is often seen in high-end hifi speakers and is characterised by a clean and detailed sound with better than average high frequency dispersion.

Technical specifications

* 2 Way Closed-box loaded design for minimum colouration
* 25mm "Ring Radiator" H/F driver with Neodymium magnet
* 200mm Pressed-alloy L/F driver, 50mm (Dia.) underhung voice-coil
* 60Hz - 40kHz (+/- 3dB) Frequency response
* LF Amplifier - Class A-B - 100 Watts RMS
* HF Amplifier - ClassA-B - 60 Watts RMS
* Balanced input (XLR and ¼"Jack)
* Variable Input sensitivity
* Textured black finish
* 250 x 350 x 300mm (H x W x D)
* Weight 15Kg