Has anybody owned, listened too or heard of

I’m seriously considering changing my beloved AE1’s (circa '91 models) for a later pair of AE1 Reference MK3 (circa 2005). The current owner is a fair few miles away (like 250 miles) so a covid friendly halfway meet-up to do the exchange is possible, but this obviously excludes the possibility of a demo.
It’s a bedroom system… Superuniti BT feeding them. The trouble is as I’m sat here relaxing on my bed (missus downstairs so indulging myself with some Van Morrison on Tidal) these old AE1’s are so scarily good at imaging (and seemingly stretch the known boundaries of audio physics with crazy bass from such little boxes). I’m just wondering if the likely cost of a pony (£500 difference between what I’d get for these and what the later ones are gonna cost me) is it going to be worth it???
Has anyone else out there owned a pair of the later MK3’s or better still owned or listened to both???
AE1’s are power hungry little critters, the 80 watts a side from the Superuniti is probably on the lowest limit of acceptability and I’ve heard that the Mk3’s are slightly more efficient (not by much) and also go slightly deeper.
Opinions, advice, guidance, whatever on Cirencester’s finest welcomed!
Cheers guys. Garry

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