After thinking it over and deliberating overnight I am tempted to try and borrow a demo pair of AE100 Actives. They appear well made and have conventional Class A/B amplifiers and also have some on board tuning to mitigate placement and room effects. They are around £1k and the matching stands also look decent. They would also work with the 272 replacement I want if it ever arrives. Thanks for all the suggestions
Bob
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AE1 Active (not AE100)
I don’t think you will be disappointed. I’m buying an Atom HE for my study, primarily for headphone use but I’ve already started thinking about where I place the Active AE1’s that I will inevitably buy!
Please post your opinions back when you get your AE1s. I’m hoping to borrow a pair for demo at home, initially to compare with my ATCs which I do like sound wise. Next step is either to go for the Atom HE or, if the 272 replacement is imminent, wait to hear that and trade in my Nova and 250DR towards it if the cost is not prohibitive
I suspect that ATC will have new products next year too - perhaps active? You never know…
Perhaps Focal will bring out a range of active speakers if/when Naim finally release the new 272 replacement
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Focal Professional already have… 
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@AndyR beat me to it - Focal do have their pro range of active’s of course…now a 272 replacement would be amazing - especially if it had a proper implementation of XLR’s. I do think that we’ll see some development in Naim pre amps next year in some form or another. Seems like a logical step to me…
I think you’re wise not to go for the KEF LS50w II as they really are not designed in any way to optimise working with a source, their raison d’être is as an all in one. I have a pair and highly rate them but even compared to their version I iteration have less input options.
I really do expect Focal to enter this market next year so it may be worth waiting as there is bound to be more synergy. I’d be very surprised if 2023 does not also see major changes in Naim’s classic offerings too.
Loads of options though which is always a nice position to be in.
.sjb
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I hear rumours of an announcement early next year regarding a 272 replacement but then I have heard similar rumours more than once before.
The AE1s have XLR inputs and the Atom SE has XLR outputs so hopefully any new streamer-pre from Naim should also have them.
I wonder how well the AE1s would measure up against a 250DR and speakers such as ATC scm11 or Proac Tablettes bearing in mind the big price difference
Bit of an unfair comparison!
I had AE1 with my Atom HE for some weeks, but ditched the AE1 in the end. I much more prefer HE with NAP155XS and Focal Aria 906 K2 which I also have.
Did not like the sound of AE, neither the extra pair of powercables needed. Let me add the lack of flexibility.
S
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