Acoustic Energy - egy angol történet

2015. november 18., szerda, 11:30

Acoustic Energy audio hifi házimozi hangfal hangfalszett AE házimozi hangfalszett AE hangfal gyárlátogatás AE hangfalgyár hangfal gyártás Acoustic Energy hangfalgyár

Thanks to kind invitation from Acoustic Energy and Audio Centrum our editorial delegation could visit AE-s head office, development center and manufacture in Cirencester.

First things first!

Acoustic Energy's story began in London in 1987, with introduction of the AE1, a speaker intended for professionals. It was based around the -then unusual solution of- metal woofer. The model was a success, preferred not by just professionals, but the press and music fans as well. Thus, demand turned out to be much higher than anticipated, and so begun Acoustic Energy's success story. Soon, they went on to design further models, like the now classic AE2, the somewhat simple looking AE3, the frighteningly large AE4 and the beautiful AE5. The company was still primarily focusing of professional buyers, which is kind of clear when you look at the boxes of that era. However, the AE1, AE2 and AE5 models were still, real beauties.

Although the goals went far beyond the potential of the metal membranes, it has become an important part of the brand image.

In the nineties the company's continued it's growth. Between 1992 and 1998, it started to target a broader consumer audience with the beautiful 100, 200 and 500 series. These boxes, that faithfully reflected the era of British hi-fi industry. Then came the DVD era, and with it the new world of Internet, MP3 and streaming as well. In addition to the growing range of speakers, great attention was given to experimentation with new product categories, such as WiFi and Internet radio integrated sound systems. Acoustic Energy entered the market segment ahead of its peers and the first model become a huge success in the UK. The company also entered relatively early, to the market of in-wall and weather proof speakers. Overall, in the early 2000's Acoustic Energy offered a wide range of products.

In 2007, the AE MkIII Special Edition was made, which again swept in a multitude of prizes. Then the company renewed the traditional range of speakers with the new Reference, Radiance and NeoV2 models and the reinvented 3 and 1 Series. So, in recent years, Acoustic Energy was quite active, yet still, some have felt that the brand could do more.

This spring, brought some exciting news. The ownership structure behind the Acoustic Energy has changed! Now, we do not want to bore you with the details, after all, AV-Online is not financial magazine. But some important points do worth mentioning! The first is that the parent company's are in the business of electronic goods design and manufacture, and they have long-term plans for the Acoustic Energy brand. (sounds good!) But the most promising thing is that after a seven-year hiatus Neil Truckell has returned to lead AE, taking Richard Stevenson, to re-join the team as well.

At the time of the news, we were not sure about what this could mean for the company. Although statements of revitalizing of the brand combined with the fact mentioned above, sounded promising. Some of us at AV-Online even recalled the time when Steve Jobs retuned to Apple, and we all know, how that turned out. Of course nobody expects AE to reinvent computing, or HiFi for that matter. But after a visit to the company's headquarters, we did get a much deeper understanding of what is going on.

Head to the headquarters!

Thanks to AE and the Hungarian distributor, Audio Centrum we recently were invited to a presentation of the new products, held at Acoustic Energy head office. Thus we got to meet the new management, and basically most of Acoustic Energy's employees.

Although every trip begins at the start, mine begun at the arrival. At Luton airport, none other, than Neil Truckell was waiting for Polish and Hungaryan delegation. So the two hours long road to Cirencester become a great opportunity to get to know each other, to talk about audio, the market, competition, and of such things as cars or schools. We learned that the company has moved out of the overcrowded London to charming little town of Cirencester during the nineties. The head office, workshops and warehouse are located in a common building that although still in good condition, is in need of modernization. After arrivel, we realized, that, while some parts do remind us of the nineties, the windows that separate the office from the nearby roundabout, do a great job in blocking all noise! An important feature, when you design HiFi equipment! We also learned that the previous management have not spent munch on anything else than actual product development. Sure a great team could still design good speakers for a while, building on experience but this might not be enough to keep the pace with the market. This is where the new owners and management plan to start fixing the company. Providing strong financial and technical background for development and a more competitive range of products. But also, the fact that Neil returned, seems to matter quite a lot. The engineers and office staff were full of smiles and determination.

The Acoustic Energy factory

The highlight of typical factory tour is the presentation of the production itself. But not this time! The purpose of our visit was more about the revitalizing of Acoustic Energy, and the new products and prototypes. The program, of course, began with a short presentation and some insight on the ongoing development of products. Also, we got a chance to listen to some almost production ready speakers, and some, that were just half way through the development pipe.

As these products are not yet announced, I can not write about them in great detail. But I can tell, that the experts around me, were all nodding their heads, and were asking availability of the new products. Of course, as the new models will ship, AV-Online will do their reviews!

Later we went upstairs, to the exhibition room where we tried a few more semi-finished models, of which we can not reveal much. Although it does not harm, to say, that company sticks the classical values of quality materials. The engineering team avoids cheap, lightweight plastics.

Moving on, I peeked in one of the offices, where I saw some prototypes, and parts and asked if I can take a pictrue. Of course, not! I knew it! We laughingly agreed, that I saw nothing. The next stop was the demo room downstairs where you could feel some of the nineties crawling back at you. The home theater décor was straight form the golden age of the DVD, and the back of the room was full of shelves, filled with discs and magazines. It must have took years to collect them all?

Due to time constraints, we only listened to a few songs here on speakers we already knew well. The journey then led through a meticulously maintained storage hall, straight to the production department. The workshop, and the hall, where tools and materials are stored, is in a separate wing.

This part is the Acoustic Energy manufactory itself. This is where parts become a whole and where many raw materials are turned in to parts. Up on entering, I felt quite surprised because I expected slightly larger workshop. Nothing like a gigantic TV factory, just a bit bigger. I knew that the cheaper models are made by the parent company's factory in Malaysia, and also that even the largest speaker manufacturers are nowhere near in size to a TV factory. However, it is not only the conveyor belts that are missing, but the roller surface tables, or rolling benches. This is a classic manufactory, where products are made on order. Here you get tables, filled with sound boxes, speakers and crossovers lined up, for assembly. And if you want to get them to another corner of the room, you have to lift them!

Along the wall, there are some more tables, with tools as well as trays and boxes, full of parts. What You don't see here are robots, or any big machines. The models that are manufactured in the UK are hand made, and the guys are quite proud of this. Even pointing out, that they don't accumulate large stocks of locally made models, and usually work for orders. British music fans take for granted that they need to wait for their speakers to be made and delivered.

Having a workshop, also means that most of UK's service requirements can be serviced by the factory. So if your cat knocked over the speaker stand, or the neighbors kid dented the dust cap or tweeter, you just send the speakers to the factory, where repairs will be done with original parts. For this, the company has nearly all parts, from the past 29 years, on stock. They are on the gallery, enjoying the company of a British flag.

While in the shop, I caught a glimpse if some parts, of a yet to be announced speaker. And just as I tried to ask about them, the guys suddenly started to show the stages of production of aluminum alloy membranes and talk about the importance of proper surface treatment. So, now I can tell You, that these membranes need to be formed in several stages, otherwise the material would get stiff, and would brake.

After the visit to the manufactory department and warehouse, we hurried toward the parking lot, where I quickly took a few pictures. Soon we were in the car, heading forty miles south, to the city of Bath. This time, Our driver was the chief engineer of AE, with whom we talked long about local magazines, and finding the right balance between the measured sound and the one, that pleases people. And of course, we talked about cars, and how one has to find the right one, starting from fun, performance cars, slowly going towards more practical ones. And while we talked about technology, it was interesting to hear that the parent company not only provides financial support, but they throw in their own time, engineers and connections to find the best components. So anything that's beyond the expertise of AE, can be arranged by someone, who knows how to do it.

After arriving to the glorious hotel in Bath, we headed out, for a promising dinner, and ended up having laughs with a great company. The next day, we still had some time to walk around Bath, but my mind was all occupied with thoughts of the speakers I saw the other day, and how it will all play out in the market. If the sound quality will be close to what we heard, and the price stays as predicted, AE is going to get big. In the end, even I might end up spending on the new? We'll see!

Summing up what all we saw

The Acoustic Energy we saw is the embodiment of possibilities. The team has received solid financial backing and with the new-old management, they also got great moral support from the parent company. From this point, it is really just a question of creativity and keeping their determination, to rebuild the brand's great past in to a greater future.

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