During a shopping event, like the Amazon Big Deal Days bonanza currently running, as editor of What Hi-Fi? I’m usually asked which speakers I’m personally keeping an eye on by readers and friends.
This happened earlier this week, when one of my friends came over for dinner and was impressed by my modest – by What Hi-Fi? standards – system, which pairs Q Acoustics 3030i speakers with a Technics SA-C600 streaming amplifier and wanted some advice on building his own system.
But, while he nodded when I told him which speakers I had my eye on, the Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2, he was less impressed when I gave a blunt “no” in response to his question about whether they would be discounted during the Amazon Prime sale.
And to be fair, I get why. Shopping for hi-fi with a sales event happening, or just around the corner, means you will always want to get a good deal on the hardware you're planning on buying and naturally focus on what’s being discounted first as a result.
But I think that’s the worst thing to do in some instances. Why? Because I love hi-fi and have specific tastes that rule out a lot of options, regardless of their price.
That’s one reason why I’ve kept the Technics/Q Acoustics setup for so long. Anything I’ve been tempted to swap in has been way more expensive than I can afford or not delivered a big enough improvement on my current system for me to bother.
Unless I enjoy the sound and listening to my music significantly more, I don’t see why I’d bother with the faff or taking a punt on a random thing.
That's why I always insist on trying before I buy and recommend any hi-fi fan do the same. If you do you can go into any shopping event with a hit-list of items you've heard and know you're happy with rather than an “I need to get something” attitude.
From there you probably have two questions; how do I know they won’t be discounted, and why these speakers above all the others I've heard?
On the first point, they definitely won’t get a Big Deal Days discount because Amazon doesn’t sell them. You have to go to a specialist store, such as Peter Tyson or AV.com in the UK, to find them in stock. Even if you do you’ll see them all carrying the same £649 price tag.
On top of that, based on our experience covering the speaker market since the 1970s, products in the AE300 Mk2's class don’t tend to go on deal often. Smaller companies don’t usually have the luxury as they don’t mass produce products and need to be very careful with pricing if they want to turn a profit.
On to the second question; why these speakers specifically? It’s because they tick all my boxes. Repeat What Hi-Fi? readers will know, in my personal life, I enjoy a controlled and neutral sound. That’s in no small part why I really like the four-star Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 wireless headphones as my on-the-go workhorse.
And that’s exactly what the AE300 Mk2 delivers, in a way that no other speaker in its class that we’ve tested can match. The What Hi-Fi? team knows that as they've run them all head-to-head in our listening rooms.
As our reviewers said: “These Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 are up against some tough competition, but we feel their controlled and detailed presentation serves them well. They don’t try to bite off more than they can chew, and in the process deliver a superbly judged sound that works well across musical genres and with a wide range of electronics.”
Their Award-winning rival, the Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 have a more energetic, lively character that some of the team adore, but never quite jelled with my personal tastes.
The KEF Q3 Meta came close to drawing my ear and are better in some areas, but as we said reviewing them “the five-star Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 rivals are a touch more natural in how they tie music together”.
And that’s exactly why until I know first hand something meets my specific tastes better, the Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 will remain earmarked as my next set of lounge standmounts, regardless of what deals are doing the rounds right now.
Nothing else I've heard will do the job as well and I’m not interested in compromising my music listening experience for the sake of a few bucks. I'll buy them when I can afford them and need them, rather than compromise and get something I'll only want to swap out later just because it's a bit cheaper right now.
MORE:
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