AE309 Review: Salon AV (Russia)

Russian magazine Salon AV have got their hands a pair of the new AE309 floorstanders and compare them to the AE109’s…

You can read the full review over on their website (link here, Google Translate may come in handy for those who can’t read Russian!) but we’ve pulled out a few quotes for you…

“The photo shows the difference in dimensions between the AE109 and AE309 – the latter have an obviously larger volume and calibre of drivers, and the difference in their sound is not so much an increase in the overall dynamics (although it is immediately audible), but, strange as it may seem, in delicacy and transfer of nuances.”

“Musically, the AE309 is absolutely universal: rock will be given out with drive, chamber jazz – with beautiful natural timbres, and on the classics they will show scale and dynamic contrasts.”

“Systems are neutral from the point of view of tonal balance – in the whole working range there is no tinting, no shouting, no excessive brightness.”

“I was curious to include in the same system the AE109. They are roughly the same build, although a little more compact, and also very linear in the tonal balance. Their “budget” appearance only in comparison with the AE309 – the younger ones seem less pedigreed and not so neat in the transfer of nuances and timbral features of acoustic instruments, in particular. In the sound of the elders, in addition to all of the above, there is also a solid bass foundation on which the overall picture is built. In any case, both AE109 and AE309 justify their price, and with a very decent margin. The modern British company shows convincing results even in its junior classes.”