Acoustic Energy AE1 Signature

[andyrlb]

Hi Guys , any fans of these little beauties? I can hardly find any info on them let alone current value .

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[Rush2112]

They were highly regarded back in the day. Need good stands to bring them up to ear height and away from the rear and side walls also they are as thier size dictates a little bass shy but what they do they do very well indeed. Great buy [emoji41]

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[andyrlb]

To be honest I thought they sounded awful.

[Puffin]

I heard these at several hifi shows years ago and didn't rate them. I found the small Mission range 760i and 780 (Standard ot SE version) gave a less in your face and more rounded performance and were way above their price range. These were in the days when the hifi mags were very keen on innefficient speakers and monster amps to drive them.

[Macca]

Never heard them but although they are not very efficient they do have a high impedance so you don't need a fancy amplifier to drive them as long as it has enough watts.

Possibly a good match for those late 1980s, early 1990s Japanese integrateds with 100 - 200 wpc but which couldn't drive a low impedance load if their life depended on it. Hello Technics!

[andyrlb]

Well I’ll probably get laughed at now but I found that they sounded better with my little Aiwa 22 series than they did with my Arcam A85 or my Roksan K2 . Either way they were not great . But then the new owner ( travelled from Luxembourg for them ) absolutely loves them.

[Enossification]

Always fancied these beauties. Just goes to show.

[Beobloke]

I also never understood the fuss over the original AE1. The AE2s are good, the AE4s are excellent and the very, very rare AE3s are superb but the 1s have never floated my boat.

The later AE1Mk3s, however, are completely different beasts and remain one of my all-time favourite small loudspeakers.

[Rush2112]

Maybe it's the later version I remember! I did hear them at a dealers on the dedicated column stands, I remember great dynamics and imagery if a little bass shy !

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[andyrlb]

I too had them on their dedicated stands , I also tried them on my partington dreadnought stands .
I had the Roksan amp set up so that I could switch between the AE1’s and my BC1’s and the relief to my ears when switching back to the Spendors was huge .
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[southall-1998_mk2]

Had a pair of early AE1s a few years ago. Punchy little things, but can sound a tad relentless at times. Not truly a musical sounding speaker, IMO.

S.