Scarth

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $215.00 from Ebay

Summary:
Great product. Beautiful soundstage. I listen to vinyl. Running a 1980's planar 2 with a Grace 707 tonearm, a Carver C-1 preamp and an NAD 2200 amp. Sweetest sound. Even my wife, an audiophobe if thats the word, admits that these speakers sound great. More important. During Mardi Gras some idiot cranked up the system. One of the cones partially blew. I contacted the distributor to replace the cone at my own expense. He would not accept my money and sent me the cone under warranty free of charge. Great product with excellent service. Truly these speakers are worth twice the price I paid. I always watch e-bay for them and will spend up to twice the price for another pair. A+++++

Strengths:
Sweet sound. Nice bass. Really transparent.

Similar Products Used:
Too many to list

Price Paid:  $230.00 from ebay

Summary:
For this speaker to sell at $240 is a steal. When I bought these speakers off of ebay, I had absolutely no idea that they would sound this good. The soundstage is incredible (you would have to jump up in dow by a LOT to get this kind of performance). The bass was good when I was using my Denon AVR-2802 as the power source, but when a friend brought a Parasound amp over it really got a lot tigher and deeper. So I went out and bought an Adcom 5400 off of ebay (a steal in its own right) and use my Denon strictly as a pre-amp. I have an older Denon DCM 260 cd changer which I would eventually like to upgrade, but still kicks out good performance. I have monster cable interconnects and Straight Wire Stage's speaker cable. Back to the Aegis 2. The cabinet is well built, using MDF. Five way binding posts, although not bi-wirable (which shouldn't be an issue) with a 90.5 db sensitivity. So most amplifiers will drive these babies with ease. The vifa silk dome tweeter provides the silkiest of sounds. No harsh sounds at all and there's no hint of fatigue either. A glimpse through the rear reflex port reveals premium OFC copper wiring, a nice touch at this price level. I'm not sure what the woofer cone is exactly; some sort of alloy that's not specified. However, have no fears, it sounds rich, dynamic, good accurate bass (no it won't go south of 40 hz, but what speaker does for under $300), and the midrange/soundstage is phenomenal. These are British speakers (made in Maylasia though) and they do tend to have a warm sound. Ultimately, I had only heard of Acoustic Energy through a Stereophile ad of years past before I bought these speakers, but if the Aegis 2's are indictative of AE's other products, then they are a crown jewel in the rough. Highly recommended!

Strengths:
Absolutely stunning soundstage and breath. The bass, midrange, and treble are flawlessly integrated. Great dynamics and speed. Imaging is precise with bass down to 40 hz. Slim cabinet structure, will fit in most spaces. The sound just glows.

Weaknesses:
At this price I would be absurd to mention anything.

Similar Products Used:
Wilson Audio, B&W, Klipsch, Polk Audio, NHT, Definitive Technology

Price Paid:  $190.00 from ebay

Summary:
I have a rather small home theater 16x20.I have tried to get the best sound for the dollar as everybody else on a modest budget.I have had in my room,NHT super 2's whitch sounded good,but the tweeter was very laid back and with a sensitivity of 86db they required lots of power to get them singing,also the cabinets were very hard to keep up,next I bought B&W 305's,also nice sounding with a fine soundstage and great highs however they were not as refined as the NHT's and the soundstage was rather shallow,and the paper woofer showed signs of distortion at higher levels.so far none of the speakers were right for my taste.Moving up the ladder in price and quality I bpught B&W 602.5's.These by far were the best of the lot.Kevlar woofer and metal dome tweeter.What a beautiful speaker.Able to handle my Denon 2400A's 200 watts per channel of class a power with aplomb.Great build quality and high tech drivers for $600 a pair.However with metal dome tweeters you either love them or hate them.I didn't like them.They didn't distort or anything,but with the Denon Amp the highs were a bit shrill even after the recomended 100hrs or so break in period.Still not happy I sold the B&W's on ebay.There I sat no front speakers for my home theater.I hooked up my rear speakers,A pair of Paradigm Titans V2.You know the good ones with the binding posts and all.My what a nice sounding pair of speakers large stable soundstage,really detailed highs,But again the whole refinement thing reared it's head.I was not happy.By chance I was looking on ebay for an older "classic" pair of speakers mabey JBL L100's or something,But a good pair with the foam around the tweeter intact were going for $500+ and I didn't want to get stuck with old speakers that might need repair or have been abused.Thats when I came across the Acoustic Energy Aegis Two.The looked good and after doing a Google search I found some reviews.They were all good.Glowing in fact.For $200 a pair including shipping I bought them.I figured if I didn't like them I could use them in my family room to replace a cheap pair that came with the Awai mini system we use.I hooked them up to the Denon Amp and never looked back.These speakers are very well built.The silk dome tweeter is sweet and not to mellow.The woofer is an alloy of some kind.These speakers are just what I wanted.The sound stage is deep and layered.I could place every instrument in the classical music I played on them.Vocals both male and female sound natural.They sound very acurate,very detailed.I cant belive these speakers have gone unoticed this long and sell for so little.Are they as fine sounding as the B&W 604s3 I was going to buy when I got the money.No,but not by much.The cabinets are very well braced no,really well braced.A rap on the top produces a solid knock,almost like knocking on a thick solid oak door.I have used these speakers for 3months and have never been disapointed,using a digital power meter revealed the speakers were able to withstand peaks of 150 watts before clipping.Thats incredible for speakers rated at 120watts per channel,although the clip was a startling pop.But caused no damage.I am very impressed with these speakers they are well built and sound very nice.I cannot hear any distortion at all at any level.I notice these speakers are selling on ebay from the factory for $249.A bargin in my opinion.Had I heard these before buying them I would have been willing to pay twice as much,They are that good.P.S.I am not associated in any way with the people selling them.I just bought them and are very pleased with them.

Strengths:
Very well built.smooth detailed sound.very good soundstage.Bass extentsion down to 40hz.Great value.As most speakers from canada are.They are destined to become classics.

Weaknesses:
No Bi-wiring.Thats it I can't find anything else

Similar Products Used:
NHT,PARADIGM,B&W.

Price Paid:  $175.00 from ebay

Summary:
Being a poor audiophile, I generally lunge at products that approach the "high end" sound without killing my cash flow. I heard the Aegis 2's at a high-fi hut and was impressed with them right off the bat. At $399, though, I thought I see if there were any on E-bay. Oh yes! $175 later(about $215 with shipping) I was able to grab a pair. Although intended for my bedroom, I immediately hooked them up in my rompus room. B&K pre and 140 power, Creek cd35 playing discs, I loved their imaging. This was even before placement tweeking. I thought their sound was as expected until I moved them about 8" from the wall behind and that's when I heard the unexpected bass. Beautiful and honest. The tiniest loss of imaging gave way to bass that I felt. No boom , just solid speed. These puppies are fast. I had factored in a subwoofer when I bid on these but know I think that I'll live without it. Mind you, I'm not into boomy home theater setups. I like music. Even orchestral passages(Beethoven's 5th&9th, Prokiev's Alexander Nevsky via LAPO) they really impressed me. The very bottom octaves may have been missing but I'd rather them absent than inaccurate. They never chickened out and rattled nor did they get tizzy in the highs. The silk dome tweeter stayed smooth as silk. Although not biwireable, the 2's are well-constructed. One rap on the cabinet tells you that they are like rock. They can also be filled with sand which I plan to do. The more I tweeked, the greater I was rewarded. These two are just honeys. My wife first liked their pleasant appearance but has since grown to dislike them as I don't get to bed at a decent hour any more. My main speakers have been Mission 763's. Also Klipsch Heresys spend a lot of time in that room which is 550+ sq. feet. Yes, these little cuties performed in such a room. Again, tunes only, no movies. I'm thus far very satisfied with their performance. I can't wait to try them with tubes. Yummy!

Strengths:
Imaging, Soundstaging, balance. They just get it right as my friend from Sweden stated in a previous review.

Weaknesses:
Will need a sub for movie buffs.

Similar Products Used:
Mission 763's and 760's, Celestion DL 8's.

Price Paid:  $400.00 from LIOR STEREO

Summary:
i had an old pair of solid JBL lx44 with titanium tweeter. i did not like the crispy sound , and when you drove those speakers loud, the sound was quite bad and not accurate.
the AE are just the oposite - very accurate sound and truly enjoyable to listen to at almost any level for a normal living room.
i use a denon avr-2800 and it drives them wonderful.
i suggest you to try them.
great speakers.

Strengths:
Well built, sleem, ecurate soundstage, hard bass - not bummy, very "english" sound - great for jazz music.

Weaknesses:
not the easiest to drive, for av systems needs sub.

Similar Products Used:
kef Q35, jbl lx44, mission 780.