Acoustic Energy presented the new Corinium speaker series in the fall of 2023 and they have already proven so popular that the first production copy has been completely sold out. To give us a good impression, the importer suggests us to listen to the mobile demos as long as they are still in the Netherlands. Do we share your enthusiasm? Read quickly.
Corinium sound energy
The Acoustic Energy Corinium is a high-quality, affordable line of speakers from the British manufacturer and the speakers we’re reviewing this time around also have an extra British touch. We’re listening to the limited edition Corinium series and it’s finished in British Racing Green Metallic. The beautiful color provides a nice contrast to the black anodized aluminum front, the matte black base, and the black pointed cones that act as the screws.
As we don’t have review copies available yet, this review is based on an extensive listening session with the demo models at Bender Hifi in Arnhem. but Before we get down to business with the speakers, we’ll first look at the developments behind this new Corinium.
The birth of the 3-way bass reflector floor stand took no less than three years. The highly acclaimed Acoustic Energy 520 was the model for this. The British design team used light, strong and fast carbon fiber engines – just like in the 500 series. The team has developed a completely new cone and drive system with low hysteresis. In this way, the manufacturer was able to add better efficiency and higher performance to the second generation of carbon engines.
The soft-dome tweeter also couldn’t escape the manufacturer’s improvement drive and underwent extensive plastic surgery. The design theme mainly looked at ways to reduce the weight and overall inertia used by the vehicle upper extremity It is reproduced more quickly and matches better with the snappy character of the 120mm midrange and dual 140mm bass drivers. In the end, the manufacturer chose a 29 mm diameter dome made of a synthetic polyester compound called Teturon, which is lighter than carbon. With this, the manufacturer was able to further reduce the colors in the upper midrange and the upper end of 3400 Hz.
Eye-catching design
The shape of the structure adds to the stature of these 110cm high floors. Instead of a flat design, the wings have been given a slight curve to reduce internal reflections and increased cabinet thickness has been used in important places to keep cabinet resonance to a minimum. The drivers are mounted in a 6mm thick aluminum front plate that stiffens the diaphragm and further reduces resonance.
The tweeter is tilted back four degrees for perfect alignment of the co-drivers with the listener’s ear. This reduces the time differences of the signals from the tweeter, midrange and tweeter. The manufacturer calls this a very stylish name with the “Hybrid Resonance Suppression Composite” casing. We especially think it looks very pretty.
Internally, Acoustic Energy has used high-quality cables and high-quality filter components with the goal of further improving dynamics and detail over the 500 Series. The result is a speaker system with a frequency range of 32 Hz to 30 kHz (-6 dB) and 38 Hz to 25 kHz (-3 dB). Impedance is 4 ohms and sensitivity at input is 2.83V at 92dB distance. This is certainly not a hard-to-drive speaker with – say – a modest subwoofer.
Everything too technical? I immediately forgot because these people standing on the ground look so good. But what does the beautiful green and black corinium sound like? It’s time to settle into the comfortable furniture of Bender Hifi’s fully furnished listening room.
Listening impressions Corinium acoustic energy
Bender chose to drive these speakers with an Atol ST300 subwoofer and an AN300 network driver, and it’s a nice, balanced combination. The speaker cables and interconnects come from Supra’s Excalibur range. The power cables are also from Supra and come from the LoRad SPC series. This means that the complete configuration with cables does not exceed the limit of fifteen thousand euros, but we admit in all honesty that this is still a large collection of euro notes. Naturally, it all comes down to the final performance and musical experience experienced with such an investment. We then begin the listening sessions with some popular albums from different musical genres. We prefer the online streaming service Qobuz.
We first choose “Order of the Night” from “Moments of Clarity”, an electronically produced album from 2018 by Rotterdam deejay Eelke Kleijn. This track presents itself to us with great force in the low end. We take an imaginative step into a 3D audio image in which this track is presented in full width, depth and slightly height. It is characteristic that we cannot detect any imaginary “holes” in the audio image. We can detect the different mixed layers with surgical precision. The synthesizer strings emerge from the background with beautiful precision and you hear details of the mixed “bubbles” floating from left to right and varying slightly in height through the sound image. In many good hi-fi sets, these details often remain intertwined with other details in the sound picture, showing off the set’s transparent and precise character.
Next we listen to the song “Dreamy Skies” from the new album “Hackney Diamonds” by the Rolling Stones. The song appears to be recorded with an XY microphone configuration. With our eyes closed we can roughly estimate the size of the hall that is used as a recording room. The acoustic guitar and the typical sounds of a steel guitar are located at an imaginary distance halfway down the recording room and can be heard with tremendous sound depth due to the clearly audible room resonance. The bass accompanies dry, muted sounds with scattered percussion from the distant background. Jagger’s lead vocals are firmly at the forefront and are supported by the warm sounds of piano and electric guitar. Occasionally hit drums sound full, dynamic and authentic. Despite the spatial representation and the multiplicity of tools, we do not experience a confusing scene, but rather we witness a high degree of order and realism.
We close out the session with “Perfect Darkness” from Fink’s live album “Wheels Turn Beneath my Feet”. Joey’s performance made us feel as if we were present at the live concert with our eyes closed. Once again, the room reflections add a lot to the atmosphere in Bender’s listening room. Vocals are reproduced flawlessly from the center of the sound image. The bass guitar lays down beautiful melodic lines and the authentic sound of an acoustic guitar equipped with nylon strings, percussion and brass sounds realistic to us. When we close our eyes, we feel as if we are right there.
The best surprises often come from an unexpected source, and so did this time. While recording our findings with our slightly overweight fingers on the iPhone’s cramped screen, the previous song ended faster than we expected and the next one inadvertently started. It’s a somewhat premature choice by Qobuz and before we get to it we listen to the remixed version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Frank Sinatra’s “Christmas With The Rat Pack” album. Every rasp and vibration of his vocal cords penetrates deep into our souls and the “voice” gives us instant chills. The backing chorus is reproduced from left to right and with enhancement. A string orchestra led by an authentically reproduced first violin fills every gap on the imaginative stage. Even though it’s too early for the genre, and we’re not true Christmas fans, we listen to this beautifully presented song in its entirety.
The overall impression
Acoustic Energy has introduced a beautifully finished floor stand with their new Corinium speakers, the Limited Edition in British Racing Green metal with black front, base and drivers leaves us with a luxurious impression. With this Corinium, the manufacturer attempted to develop a system more dynamic, lively and musically attractive than anything it had created before. An attempt has been made to create new standards in the areas of sound quality, design and price-performance ratio. Let us already reveal that we think the manufacturer has succeeded in achieving its goal here with distinction.
In the Bender Hifi listening room, we experience faithful and open musical reproduction of the tracks we have played. The musical image this group creates is fast, direct and extremely precise. The speed drivers don’t provide cold or bright reproduction, but they add a sense of music, reproducing sounds with more realism. The bass delivers a nice boost and is quiet. We have a feeling that with a few more hours of play there will be more music, but what we hear actually gives us goosebumps. The sublayer could be viewed a little deeper, but this would require some extra time for all the chain parts and the moving parts of the drivers. The expansive, multi-layered sound picture this group creates is also impressive. This creates an impressive stage where it can be precisely indicated where the songs and instruments occupy their intended spaces.
Then we didn’t even talk about the price of just the speakers. The regular version of the Corinium is available for just under seven thousand euros per set, while the limited edition has a slightly higher price tag with an additional cost of one thousand euros. This extra cost may not translate into higher sound quality, but it does translate into a higher overall experience and we’d definitely be willing to pay that extra price for it. With this pricing, Acoustic Energy is positioning the new Corinium speakers at a very interesting price and will be a formidable contender against the competition in this price range.
Conclusion
We consider these speaker models to be a good choice for discerning music lovers with a sense of interior design and design. The British Racing Green Limited Edition is also a great addition for fans of British cars and the lifestyle. How great would it be to be able to purchase a set of high-end hi-fi speakers that are color-matched to your beloved Mini Cooper, Lotus, Aston Martin, Jaguar or Austin-Healey? It is easy to imagine that this latter target group might not be able to resist the temptation to keep their bank card in their wallet after one listening session. If you meet this profile, you have been forewarned.
Corinium sound energy
A pair priced at €6,999 in satin black, satin white and matte walnut
€7,999 for the set in British Green Metallic
viertron.nl | Albandarhivi.nl | acousticenergy.co.uk
Rating 5/5
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