First spotted at Munich High End show earlier this year, the latest addition to its lineup, Corinium, is the culmination of a three-year project for the Cotswolds-based company's in-house design team. Perhaps drawing inspiration from its typically English landscape of lovely green rolling hills, stone walls, woodland and charming little towns and villages, this next-generation floor-standing model is “set to establish further new standards in sound, design and value”, says the company.

Acoustic Energy looked to its Applause Awarid-winning AE520 loudspeaker as a benchmark, and leaving no stone unturned, the team slowly chipped away at all areas of its design. The resulting 3-way bass reflex floorstander, they say, “is a more dynamic, live sounding and musically involving loudspeaker than we've ever created before”. 

Corinium starts with the same carbon fibre drivers used in the 500 Series that offer a good blend of mass, stiffness and damping, but knew they could go further, we're told. A new cone design was specially developed with a low hysteresis motor system to provide the best efficiency and greatest possible performance… leading the company to its second generation of carbon fibre drivers. One 120mm carbon fibre driver performs midrange duties, while two 140mm carbon fibre bass drivers take care of bass duties. 

The 29mm soft dome tweeter is also a new design. Having used carbon fibre in the 500 Series, the team decided the moving mass of the tweeter should be reduced to offer the fastest possible high frequencies. So they searched for a material lighter than carbon fibre and subsequently sourced a new soft dome encased in a synthetic polyester material called Tetoron. This newly developed tweeter design has now proven to lower colouration, they say, and “increase delicate high-speed transients and reproduce the very finest detail and refinement”.

Internally, Corinium uses audiophile-grade cable featuring a patented arrangement of conductors that the company says offers “clear improvements in musical detail and dynamic expression”. The crossover uses large air core conductors, metal oxide resistors and polypropylene film capacitors that have all been carefully evaluated for matching with the drive units.

But the most striking change for Acoustic Energy is its stunning new cabinet design, a departure from traditional rectangular-shaped loudspeakers. The beautifully curved and exquisitely finished cabinet, called “Hybrid Resonance Suppression Composite” or RSC for short, has a minimum thickness of 22mm and varies up to 45mm where necessary for optimal performance. The 4-degree tilt improves the time alignment whilst the 6mm ultra-rigid aluminium front baffle firmly houses the drivers.

And finally, what's in a name? Cirencester in the beautiful Cotswolds, the hometown of Acoustic Energy for more than 25 years, was an important outpost in Roman Britain. It was once considered the most important town outside of London. It was later renamed Corinium, so Acoustic Energy thought it fitting to proudly name its most significant and impressive loudspeaker after its hometown. 

The Acoustic Energy Corinium will start production in late September 2023 and become available shortly afterwards. It is expected to sell from around £6,000, with the likes of the stunning British Racing Green finish seen at the show costing €7,999.