Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Speaker Review & Comments

Nice write up. Do these come supplied with grilles? If not it's a pity because anyone with young kids know kids just love pushing tweeters and woofers if they are not covered
 
Nice write up. Do these come supplied with grilles? If not it's a pity because anyone with young kids know kids just love pushing tweeters and woofers if they are not covered

Grilles are supplied. Apologies, I didn't get a photo of them.
 
Excellent, thanks. These are very interesting. Stick a bluesound node or something there, one might need nothing else
 
Lovely, thanks for taking time to review it for us.

AE100/AE109 in plan to be reviewed any time soon?
 
Nice write up. Do these come supplied with grilles? If not it's a pity because anyone with young kids know kids just love pushing tweeters and woofers if they are not covered
He does mention grilles in his "write up" :)
 
For the last 7 years I've been happily using AE speakers for front, centre and rear duties in my 7.1 setup - during which time various Marantz, Pioneer and Denon amps, plus many DVD, Blu Ray and UHD spinners have come and gone - and I still have no urge to replace them - which is as good an endorsement of the manufacturer as I can give.
 
You give it 8/10 for connectivity.... for a conventional active speaker what other connectivity would you have wanted to see to give it 10/10?
 
You give it 8/10 for connectivity.... for a conventional active speaker what other connectivity would you have wanted to see to give it 10/10?

A slightly wider bass/treble cut with full bypass basically. It also reflects the slightly small power indicator light.
 
I almost bought these. Almost. Had the fantastic 301's for a couple of years and love the brand. But i ended up with passive audiovector qr1. But the ae1 actives with a great source and you're done indeed. Very clean both in sound and set-up.
 
Those are a bit of a bargain really.

I remember when I worked at Sevenoaks Bedford in the late 90s we sold *TONS* of AE1s. The Wife Acceptability Factor of the piano black was quite high. Astonishing little speaker really.

I have an eBay alert for a pair of AE5s but none have appeared yet....
 
@AEJim They sure are.

Colin (who went on to rep for AE) worked with me at Sevenoaks Bedford before AE. 20 years ago now so can't remember his surname.

He lent us a pair of AE5s which I'd occasionally borrow on a weekend. Somewhat tricky getting them in the back of my Fiat Cinquecento though...

Was also a fan of the AE2s but they were such a tricky sell due to errr, somewhat challenging appearance. ;)
 
They are.

Colin (who went on to rep for AE) worked with me at Sevenoaks Bedford before AE. 20 years ago now so can't remember his surname.

He lent us a pair of AE5s which I'd occasionally borrow on a weekend. Somewhat tricky getting them in the back of my Fiat Cinquecento though...

Ahh Colin Hare I think? He left just before I joined in 2001! Met him a few times since, nice guy. :) I only remember Alan and Henry from Bedford back when I used to visit the shops more often...

I bet that was hard work - About 50kg each! I delivered a pair to Des'Ree many years ago and struggled with them in the back of the company Vectra estate! :D
 
Ahh Colin Hare I think? He left just before I joined in 2001! Met him a few times since, nice guy. :) I only remember Alan and Henry from Bedford back when I used to visit the shops more often...

I bet that was hard work - About 50kg each! I delivered a pair to Des'Ree many years ago and struggled with them in the back of the company Vectra estate! :D

Yeah, Colin Hare sounds right. Alan was the owner, I don't think I met Henry.

Colin once found a very very tatty 'seconds' pair of AE5s. From memory it wasn't a pair, it was a black one and a wood one or something. Both damaged. I was offered them but declined. Should have gone for them and had them painted or something !
 
A floorstanding pair in gloss black/white for about £1500 would be a best seller I'm certain.
 
You have other brands who already do this. But stereo image is much better with standmounts. A good bookshelf is much more fun than a reasonable floorstander.
 
Ugly? They are beauties! Easy to place. Close to the wall. That's why i had the 301's. No stands needed. Clean, crisp and fast. Star tweeter, beautiful lows, precise midrange. Not one floorstanding speaker of 1500 can do all this. Not even close. Photo included
 
That does look mighty fine sir.

But I have my telly on a stand ( wall next week ) and I simply hate the look of speaker stands. A simple floorstander is my ideal toy.
 
I always liked the look of the AE3 mk II. The "art deco" one. It would be nice if they did an active version of that.
 
Anyone use these in a nearfield setup?>
 

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