Set-up and installation
Contents
As we receive a brand new set we let the speakers play at average volume for a couple of days. In the factory they will probably have been running for some hours but still they sound rather closed at first. Luckily they get better quickly and on day three we let the playlist pass for the first time. This is going in the right direction, we think out loud, but only after a week we have the feeling that things are in balance and critical listening can begin
We put the speakers in our small room at IsoAcoustics Aperta stands. This room is well furnished and has a large carpet on a parquet floor. All the monitors we have already tested, except for our own critical ATCs, come into their own here. We find it important that monitors sound good everywhere and that is certainly the case with the Acoustic Energy AE500
They must be given a little breathing space, at least 40 cm from the wall, otherwise the bass will press too much. So keep that in mind. We place the speakers about 2 meters apart and are about 3 meters away. We hardly turn them in because the stereo image is spacious and stable. Turning in is of course personal and depends on the space but the AE500 is not difficult to arrange and that is a plus in our book.
Associated equipment
The Acoustic Energy 500AE monitors replace our Audio Vector QR1’s in the reference set below:
- Ps Audio Stellar Gain Cell
- Benchmark AHB2
- Nad M50
- Metrum Acoustics Onyx
- Rega Planar 2
- IsoAcoustics Aperta 155
- Roon software
- Cabling: Audioquest and Grimm
