Description
The AE1 Active is a two way stand mount speaker with integrated class A/B amplification and fully active filter networks. Featuring Acoustic Energy’s 
legendary pure piston ceramic aluminum cone technology, the AE1 Active has all the refinement and impact you would expect from the original AE1 housed within a self powered, fully active package. The speakers also feature Acoustic Energy’s proprietary aluminum dome tweeter with our unique WDT waveguide for improved coverage and room integration.
The AE1 Active is equally comfortable in the home or the recording studio. With the added benefit of adjustable bass and treble and a choice of RCA or balanced XLR connections, this speaker blends seamlessly into any listening environment.
The AE1 Active differs from preceding AE1 models due to it being an active design but what does this actually mean? An active speaker is a design where the amplification that provides the power for the drivers is placed after the crossover – the device that determines what frequencies
are sent to what driver. By doing this, only the frequencies relevant to that particular drive unit are amplified by an amplifier that has been configured exactly for that task. The result is a speaker that solves the balancing act of amplifier, crossover and driver at the design stage without any trial and error on the part of the owner and offers higher performance than a passive speaker of the same basic size and design.
The AE1 Active combines the amplifier and drivers into a single enclosure which has further benefits in terms of space efficiency and packaging. The drivers have received no less attention. The AE1 Active includes an all new Wide Dispersion Technology (WDT) tweeter. This incorporates a wave-guide into the tweeter surround that ensures that the tweeter interacts more effectively with the room it is in. Higher frequency coverage is wider than it would otherwise be without the waveguide while lower frequencies are narrowed at the same time. This is called constant directivity and is something Acoustic Energy has been working on over the course of many years. The result is that more of these frequencies reach the listener’s ear directly rather than reflected off other surfaces which increases efficiency and reduces distortion.
The mid bass driver is no less sophisticated and builds on the vast experience that Acoustic Energy has with metal drivers to create a driver that has extraordinary impact but not at the expense of the transient speed and tonal accuracy required of a truly high performance loudspeaker. The bass response of the AE1 Active is enhanced by the latest version of the slotted bass port used on a number of our speakers. The slotted profile allows for a large surface area that does not take up too much space on the speaker and also reduces the audibility of the air passing through it.
See the Acoustic Energy Full Product Review Brochure here.
“Throughout my listening, I was wowed by the AE1 Actives’ speed, agility, and transparency. They created a vast soundstage, with incredibly precise location of aural images. Dynamics scaled up and down effortlessly. Microdynamics were outstanding, making it easy to appreciate subtle expressive nuances in the recordings I listened to. And these little speakers could play loudly with little or no distress, and without sounding congested or compressed.” Gordon Brockhouse, SoundStage Simplifi Sept 2021
Michael Evans, Stereonet UK April 2021 –
“The Acoustic Energy AE1 Active is a baby powerhouse that provides a seriously grown-up sound for far less money than you would expect. Indeed I’d say it’s astonishing value for money, as you’re removing the need to buy a potentially costly power amp too – plus the speaker cabling that goes with it. Not only that, it is good looking and very well made too.
Because it’s a purist, old-school active design, you’ve saved yourself from the forward march of technology, which will deliver similarly priced ‘digital’ powered speakers an early death, when some ‘must have’ new format comes out a few years from now. Yet there’s nothing old fashioned here; this speaker has timeless quality and should give decades of musical enjoyment – rather like its namesake from 1987, in fact.” Michael Evans, Stereonet UK April 2021
Gordon Brockhouse, SoundStage Simplifi Sept 2021 –
“Throughout my listening, I was wowed by the AE1 Actives’ speed, agility, and transparency. They created a vast soundstage, with incredibly precise location of aural images. Dynamics scaled up and down effortlessly. Microdynamics were outstanding, making it easy to appreciate subtle expressive nuances in the recordings I listened to. And these little speakers could play loudly with little or no distress, and without sounding congested or compressed.” Gordon Brockhouse, Soundstage Sept 2021
Martin Collums, Hi Fi Critic UK, July 2017 –
“It is capable, musical, entertaining and clearly great value…..a Best Buy rating is clearly appropriate”. Martin Collums, Hi Fi Critic UK, July 2017
J Loh, Audiofi.net, Oct 2017 –
“Tonally refined, coherent and musical; excellent transparency; superb imaging and soundstaging. Sound: 9.5/10
Value: 10/10” J Loh, Audiofi.net, Oct 2017
Brian Lorde, UK audiophile consumer, Oct 2017 –
“An excellent product! Bought complete with the Reference stands. Sound is amazing and speakers replaced a very highly rated passive system. Extremely good value for money!” Brian Lorde, UK audiophile consumer, Oct 2017
AVForums UK, August 2017 –
“the immediacy of the AE1 Active is genuinely invigorating…..score it a 9 out of 10” AVForums UK, August 2017
Stereoplay Germany, May 2017 –
“Unobtrusive equipped Active Speaker, that audibly does convince, actually excites! Neutral like a monitor, at the same time playful, agile and homogeneous. For this price an absolute Killer. Sound Quality? Top Class! Price/Quality? Outstanding!” Stereoplay Germany, May 2017
Hi Fi Choice UK, June 2017 –
The AE1 Active is persuasive. No hype or exaggeration here, just a natural sense of power, pace and perspective. Essentially, the sound is dynamic, tactile, tightly focused and creates a stereo arc that effortlessly ghosts through the walls of my larger listening room. More than that, though, is the way everything has order, solidity, a specificity of image and beautifully balanced tonality.
Hi Fi Choice, June 2017