Is that the Acoustic Energy AE1? If so that’s a surprising result. I’d have thought you’d be after the ATC 19 or 20.
You may want to consider the Linn Selekt. It is more expensive than what you indicate but it has the advantage of being modular and so you can expect to be able to upgrade it cost efficiently as technology advances. It is also new now and compatible with Roon (which the 272 isn’t).
Linn have historicaly been good at offering upgrades, I am on my second upgrade of my Linn Klimax DS.
If you find it ro expensive, why not just use what you have until second-hand, or ex-dem units become available.
Best tegards
Hans
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Yeah it is surprising Nigel… but I decided to try a different direction… I am very fond of my passive ATCs, and have been an ATC customer for over twenty years, but these AE1 actives give a different speaker presentation… perhaps not so different from Russell K speakers… and I have decided to enjoy this variation right now … and as they say I am rediscovering all my music again…
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Well, nobody can accuse you of running a mullet.
Nice !
I may well try the same
You’ll be back 
See what you think… they do need some good running in as with all speakers and electronics… and I found their dedicated stands worked best over my other stands… finally I have found the balanced input preferable to the unbalanced input… I prefer the sound of my Naim NAC 552 as opposed to not using… that 552 really does bring something to the enjoyment and feel department and gives that Naim sound. But do use good quality UnBal transformers to convert the 552 outputs to balanced…
I use Canford inline transformers… they only sell to trade and not consumer, but if you talk to them nicely you can sort that out
One of the things that hits you is the clarity, definition and musical feel in busy complex recordings… I am sure that is the benefit of actives…
The timing and phase seems good, along with the sound space/stereo image, no doubt helped by their diminutive size.
I do find they need good rear space however with their rear facing reflex port and significant low end energy when present in audio.
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I am not selling my current 19s… but they’ll go into storage for now.
Morning Simon
Can I ask what influenced your decision to go with the AE1s rather than active ATCs?
The BC pre3/VBS is superb, and a bargain.
The Bel Canto is on my top 5 list.
Do you have personal experience with it?
Does the 272 sound better with Roon?
Are you streaming Tidal via Roon?
Did you originally get a Small Green Computer box as an endpoint and then replace it with an RPi?
I’ve had AE1A’s for 2 1/2 years and haven’t noticed their a change in their performance. They sound as they did when i first used them.
Anyway by far the best i’ve heard from AE1A’s is with a pair of subs 
Yes. It is very flexible and excellent VFM.
In due course I replaced it with an EAR868PL, but all these things exist in a context. The ear worked superbly with my EAR534, but also with my 300DR …as does my Townshend Allegri.
How the Pre3 would work in your system I couldn’t say. I picked up the Pre3 with VBS for a good price and used it for a couple of years, but I found the Bel Canto hardware was NOT the easiest to shift.
Is the VBS in the Belcanto a power supply a-la-Naim?
I’ve seen a Belcanto DAC pre, the 2.7? the BC taxonomy is totally new to me and I’m struggling to make sense of it (eg the 2.7 is a newer than the 3.0?)
I decided to something different and I enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t say the 272 sounds any better via Roon, if there is a difference it is negligible. I don’t currently use Tidal, but I did have Qobuz running via Roon last year. It worked pretty well.
Well spotted! I did try a Small Green Computer earlier. This SGC used a different approach whereby Roon “pushed” audio to a regular network endpoint on the 272. From the 272’s perspective, it does regular streaming but you can use Roon’s UI. I had a lot of technical issues such as the 272 suddenly increasing volume to 100%! I was unable to resolve the problems and so gave up.
The RPI with Allo Digi One Signature is fantastic. Very stable and sounds great.
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How close to the rear wall are yours?
I’ve seen reviews say 1.5M is good!
But that suggests a very small speaker in a large room.
How far apart are yours?
And what length and make/model XLR cables are you using?
To even test a pair of these speakers with my 272 I’d need a good balun or unbal converter box and very long XLR cables, but that’s not easy to achieve when there’s a fair chance they might not sound good.
Hi Jim,
The ATCs are about 70cm from the rear wall, its not possible to pull them out much further without tripping over them. They are about 3m away from each as I am from them (equilateral triangle).
I’m using a DIN to XLR from Witch Hat. You don’t need a converter box to go balanced to unbalanced.
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Hi P,
Yes the VBS is the PSU and can power up to three devices. The power cables come in two flavours, the more expensive being better.
The 3 series is better than the 2 from memory. I had the 3.1/VBS as I wanted to experiment with removing the pre-amp, which lasted all of a week. At the time I was using the EAR864 which has no remote functionality, which is a pain when streaming.
Overall I thought the 3.1/VBS may be a tad better than the nDAC/XPS, but I would hate to have to put money on that, and no doubt system dependant.
Naim is a LOT easier to sell on than Bel Canto, and suffers less depreciation. BUT, the Pre3 is very flexible and sounded very good in my system with both my Naim and EAR power amps.
That said, system dependancy is such a MAJOR factor. I would say that with a selection of speakers I always preferred my EAR534 to my CB250s, but with the SBLs they were on a par. You need to try for yourself in your system to know.