This question was raised back in 2019 with little response. Has anyone here had experience with this little active speaker? Thank you
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Yes I have, I had a pair temporarily last year for a few months, ran them off my CXN100 I thought they where excellent little speaker,
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How large was the room and what did you move them on for?
Just under 4x5m brought them cheap from a family member inc matching stands, I already had sbls, traded them towards my P8
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Many thanks
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Following with interest. The AE1 Actives have a long and illustrious pedigree with all reviews I’ve seen ( many) summarising as excellent. I previously ran a pair of AE500s ((passive) with an Atom and they too were brilliant. They benefited from AE’s own stands, which I added later.
They were moved on as I moved into a larger property and I now use AE509 floorstanders, as you can tell I’m a big AE fan, having demoed many similarly priced alternatives.
Note also that all AE speakers historically (I don’t know if this is the case with the later Corinium’s) were tested in pre-production with Naim electronics.
Whilst the Atom/AE500s is not to the level of my current system, I am still considering an Atom HE with AE1’s as a second system. If your space is not huge, I’d say you are on very safe ground.
As always, I do suggest you organise a demo against other options, if you are able.
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I’ve had a pair for a couple of years. Use them with my Auralic Vega G2. The sound from such a titchy pair of speakers is remarkably good in a pretty small room and I’m a bit of an addict of active speakers. I do have the dedicated stands which might help the sound. The polished wood finish, echoed on the stands, looks surprisingly premium.
Roger
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Seeing as how the AE1 Actives are being updated to a 2026 version, I do think the speakers have something to offer for smaller room settings where intimacy may be their fortitude. From what I surmise, this is a speaker that has it’s roots in analogue origins with an absence of digital infiltration and Class D amplification. Hence it all depends on your personal preference towards current design philosophy and execution but ultimately resides on the ears of the listener.
I’m old school, so for me it’s more soul than measurements that matter.
However I don’t see myself listening to Metallica or AC/DC at breakneck levels on these speakers though.
Actually they can go surprisingly loud. They’ve got 100w of amplification per channel, after all. What they can’t do is chest thumping low bass. After all they really are tiny and there’s the laws of physics to consider …
I wonder if the 2026 models will be at the forthcoming NW audio show. I heard the passive Anniversary AE1s at last year’s show, so I guess they might be.
Roger
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They were at Vienna, but only a single speaker in the walnut finish. Impressions were that it looked more similar to the AE1 than expected - not as refined as the promotional shots but perhaps was a pre-production unit. No demo either - I asked and the response was they didn’t want to put 1k speakers next to 100k speakers as they would sound bad. OK.
I think it was a third party distributer there, and they didn’t seem to know too much about the other new speaker either unfortunately. Hopefully will get some other impressions from the NW show.
The Anniversary models I heard last year were pre-production versions. They weren’t in the shops for a few months after so perhaps they’ll do the same with the actives. We’ll see soon anyway.
Roger
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I bought a pair to use with an Atom HE and that combination sounds great. Highly recommended.
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Yeah I bought a pair a few years back blind. I found them ok, but not really upto the quality/performance I like. I found the treble disappointing, with a slightly higher level of colouration than I prefer. There are better actives in my opinion for a similar or lesser price such as from the likes of some of Yamaha’s commercial active range.
I currently have them stored in my garage.
Are the comparable Yamaha speakers you are thinking about Simon the HS Series and the MSP Studio Series?
Yes it’s specifically the HS series I am thinking of. They are the antitheses of many hifi speakers as they reveal everything including flaws and wont flatter audio tracks, but allow you to hear the music right into the production. .. which makes them ideal for mastering and why I love them.
However if you after those hifi attributes like slam, enhanced eq detail, slightly exaggerated upper bass, enhanced pace and rhythm etc then look elsewhere… and of course they are designed for near field. They do have basic eq controls like most actives do.
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