Adding it up. A rear-ported bass system smartly tuned for the real world. A small dedicated also rear-ported midrange voiced for organic not technical resolution. An exotic textile dome whose reflexes and insight feel more laminate hard dome than genteel silk pj/tweeter. Fine 'boat-hull' build with aluminium dress baffle and outriggers where taller front footers create intended rake. Quality single-wire terminals to bust the silliness of bi-wiring. Black, white or veneer for all popular finishes. Surcharge British Racing Green lacquer to exorcize some patriotism in this post-Brexit age. Having worked with Phil Jones during his Soliloquy tenure though never heard an AE speaker from his era or thereafter, I had no conscious expectations for Corinium's voice. That said, I still was surprised so clearly must have nursed some uninspected expectations. Perhaps those were informed by the brand's interim excursion into perceived 'midfi' models? If so, Corinium overwrote them decisively.

It doesn't kowtow to the modern obsession with counting virtual needles in an aural fir forest. Yet it doesn't rewind the clock to retrolandia of +10-inch mid/woofers either. To return to my earlier analogy, I hear it as a speaker-based approximation of planarmagnetic headfi. Quasi e-stat tunings like upscale HifiMan excepted, it tends to be softer and warmer than Focal's dynamic brethren. Of course planar headfi still leaves plenty of room for divergence. The recently reviewed sealed Meze Liric II for example counteracted its concept's darker bloomier softer milieu with a hotter mid-to-upper treble for some freshness and edge limning. I didn't hear AE's Tetoron tweeter as more turned on. Rather, I perceived it capable of more finely nuanced resolution than its midrange mate. Yet the effect was similar if more polite. Think dash of balsamic vinegar or a spritz of lime juice. They will cut through a heavier Italian meal. This tuning set the textural balance different than my 1st-gen Audeze LCD-2. That really was overtly chocolatey. Corinium's recipe used rather less cream for a higher cocoa percentage. Then it mixed in a pinch of chili as even deserts do in New Mexico. I suspect that the end result really occupies a generous sweet spot which many listeners will feel right at home in without needing elite electronics to make it so. Add a popular Raidho/Scansonic form factor for smaller visible width in favour of more depth; make it a solid substantial affair; build in monitoresque soundstaging when set up properly… the once again British brand Acoustic Energy has a very listenable new flagship on their hands. It remains as 'everyman' as flagships tend to go. You might just want to take a pair off their hands?