Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Loudspeaker Review

Asked to name the hi-fi world’s three most influential mini-monitors, many audiophiles would come up with the 1975 BBC LS3/5a, the 1981 Wharfedale Diamond and the 1987 Acoustic Energy AE1. Lest we forget, before these three baby boxes appeared, few people took small speakers seriously – you only used them if you couldn’t afford anything bigger.

But then the LS3/5a laid down a blueprint for so-called ‘near-field monitors’ which survives to this day – one of a fast, detailed and forensic sound, with minimal bass overhang or other such unwanted resonances.The Wharfedale Diamond continued in the LS3/5a’s footsteps, albeit at a more affordable price – and thus made the formula mainstream. It was dirt-cheap, feisty and fun, so much so that it arguably ignited a whole new sector of the speaker market. Then six years on, Acoustic Energy’s AE1 made the next great leap forward.

Combining the respective strengths of the LS3/5a and the Diamond together, it was fast, clean and neutral but also fun and fairly affordable, too. Like the innovative Audi Quattro sports coupe or Braun’s AB 30 voice control alarm clock, it became emblematic of the tech-driven, future-facing nineteen-eighties.

This decade saw the hi-fi world move swiftly away from big 3-way speakers – which often had poorly matched drive units, needlessly complex crossovers and oversized, resonant cabinets – to a leaner, cleaner aesthetic. At 295x180x240mm, the AE1 was a little bigger than the BBC LS3/5a, and sported a new (then) state-of-the-art aluminium dome tweeter and aluminium coned mid/bass driver, and a more vestigial crossover.

The result was a firecracker sound that wasn’t the most refined, but was certainly fun. Designed by bass guitar player Phil Jones, it had a wonderfully supple bottom end which, even though it wasn’t the most extended, was highly rhythmically engaging. The baby Acoustic Energy box swiftly became a great sales success – and even a sign of the times.

Second Coming

Now, thirty-eight years since the first AE1 came out, and forty years since Acoustic Energy was formed, the new AE1 40th Anniversary is with us. It’s basically a special project, not part of the company’s mainstream AE100, AE300 or AE500 range, nor is it a range-topping Corinium candidate. Although called a ‘limited edition’, the company says it will continue to make this little speaker until demand dries up – which could be a long while.

It’s not an identical facsimile of the original, but nor is it simply a badge-engineering operation with no real connection to the product with which it shares a name. Instead, it’s what designer Mat Spandl calls a “reimagined” version.What does this mean? Well, he says that he’s tried to recreate the sound of the original eighties design, whilst ironing out a few limitations that it had.

The cabinet size is identical, but it’s now internally braced and made out of high-density fibreboard with the company’s RSC damping compound instead of concrete-reinforced MDF. The ports are the same and location, but inside the cab, there’s been some minor reorganising, and the internal volume has increased by half a litre. The finish of this 7kg baby box is superb, given its price; a choice of piano black or lacquered real wood veneer is offered.

The new drive units comprise a 29mm aluminium dome in the case of the tweeter, up by 4mm in diameter, and a 135mm aluminium mid/bass unit, up by 10mm. Mat adds: “The cone is the same shape as the original, and built with the same process – i.e. spun and hard anodised – and the dustcap is aluminium like the original, whereas the later ones were plastic.

We added an aluminium pole shield in the magnet structure to reduce inductance modulation distortion, and this one has two magnets, whereas the original had one. This gives less stray flux and is a better use of magnetic material. So it’s a faithful evolution, not a simple reissue.”He says that a lower-order crossover was used for reduced phase distortion.

This makes it more revealing of low-level transient details such as reverb, and slightly more natural-sounding mid and highs, and a little more immediacy in the attack without the harshness”, he claims. The new AE1 is 2dB more sensitive than the original at 87dB, and the nominal impedance is a wee bit down at 6 ohms. It should present no problems for any modern solid-state amplifier, in terms of matching. Claimed frequency response is 50Hz–45kHz (+/-6dB), with 150W power handling.

Mat tells me that Acoustic Energy will continue to make this 40th Anniversary Edition while the demand exists, “but we can’t promise we’ll make it forever”. He explains: “When designing it, we listened to all previous versions of the speaker and the one we liked most was a thirty-year-old prototype of the mk2 model, which actually sounded different to the production model.

We matched the sound of this new speaker to that of the prototype, so it is the best of the best in terms of AE1s, in my opinion. Remember that the original was a studio speaker balanced to sound most natural when sat on the meter bridge of the mixing desk, whereas the mk2 version was rebalanced slightly for home use, with lower impedance to give greater sensitivity.”

In my room at least, the new AE1 40 worked best on stable, sand-filled 18” stands, or even higher 24” ones. I could push my review pair quite close to the rear wall; thanks to those three little bass-reflex ports being front-firing, it is less fussy about positioning than most bass-reflex designs. I ended up with each speaker being about 15cm from the back wall and slightly toed in. The source was a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC/preamp and amplification, a pair of Sony TA-N86B high-end monoblocks giving roughly 150W RMS per channel. This little speaker proved easy to drive, but it does like a bit of power to play with!

The Listening

Anyone who’s heard the original AE1 from the 1980s will instantly recognise this sound – but that’s not to say it is identical, because I think it’s even better. It retains the first speaker’s big character, but ever-so slightly softens its rough edges and adds a little bit more all-round ability. The result is a mini-monitor that has the word ‘fun’ imprinted through it like a stick of seaside candy rock.

The AE1 40 is a highly musically engaging performer that gets into the groove like few other speakers I’ve heard at anywhere near the price. Yet it certainly does not achieve this by being overly bright or uncouth.

Cue up some classic rock in the shape of the latest remaster of The Beatles’ Come Together for example, and you’re in for a treat. You’d expect a speaker that’s almost as small as an LS3/5a to struggle with a song that’s so dominated by Paul McCartney’s supple bass guitar work, yet strangely, the new AE1 revels in it.

You’d never call its bottom end deeply extended, but the upper bass is handled in a taut, tight and tuneful way that propels the song along with gusto.Although you’d never call it flabby, it is just a wee bit warmer than expected, likely down to port tuning. This moves seamlessly into a clean and engaging midband with lots of detail, and further up to a well-lit treble that’s fast and crisp.

Every part of the frequency range lines up perfectly, so tonally the AE1 40 doesn’t sound like it’s weighted towards either low or high notes, and in the time domain, everything starts and stops in a uniform way. This makes for a super-lithe and agile character, which not only brings real drama to the aforementioned Beatles track but also makes this speaker very capable even with multiple genres of music.

For example, the mid-nineties hardcore techno of Hyper Go-go’s Never Let Go is carried with lightning transients, making it an edge-of-the-seat listen when cranked up. With its well-damped but rigid cabinet and strong but agile metal dome and cone drivers, this mini-monitor is unburdened by what many larger speakers have to work with – and it sounds so much more direct and immediate as a result.

With its compact cabinet and drive units, there is, of course, a limit to the amount of level this speaker can push out without compressing musical peaks, but it’s much higher than you’d expect.

The new AE1 is actually a very detailed-sounding little speaker, but funnily enough, you often find yourself overlooking this aspect of its personality because its handling of timing and dynamics is so infectious. Give it a great classical work to reproduce, such as the opening allegro of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, D. 485 (Charles Mackerras and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment), and this speaker takes you deep into the concert hall.

There’s a wee bit of extra light thrown on the orchestra compared to, say, Acoustic Energy’s own AE500 or B&W’s rival 707 S3, but it’s not distracting. You get a pleasingly accurate rendition of massed strings, for example, with their sparkling harmonics issuing forth. Ditto the close-miked piano work on Kate Bush’s beautiful Snowflake. Suddenly, you feel like you’re practically sat right in the body of the instrument itself, so immediate is the sound. You feel every resonance of the piano, while Kate’s icy vocals soar above it.

Along with its open, airy tonality, lithe, rhythm-loving nature, and impressive detail retrieval, the other standout characteristic of this design is its stereo soundstaging. A great benefit of small speakers is the physical proximity of their drive units, which are themselves set into a narrow front baffle. This gives excellent dispersion, meaning that the music appears to leap out of the box.

The Kate Bush track sounds massive via the new AE1, issuing forth into the room almost as if the music was coming from space. Within this, stereo images are delivered with pinpoint precision, so complex multitracked pop like Seal’s Crazy comes over as a vast wall of sound with all kinds of strands popping out of the mix from highly defined places in the soundstage.

At the same time, depth perspective is excellent, which is something that really comes to the fore on vintage recordings like the shuffling modern jazz of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five. This has a wonderfully immersive yet intimate feel that is simply lost on lesser loudspeakers.

The Verdict

If you have a large room and crave a seriously spacious sound with great air moving ability, then Acoustic Energy’s new AE1 40th Anniversary is not for you – because it’s simply too small. However, those of us in smaller to mid-sized listening rooms now have a great new option that’s an absolute hoot to listen to.

This speaker has an upbeat, cheery personality that makes a beeline for the rhythms in the music. Yet there’s more to it than that, as it’s surprisingly open, even and detailed too – well able to fulfil the role of a forensic mini-monitor along the lines of the BBC LS3/5a.

Therein lies the strength of this new version of an old favourite, then. It has a great deal of what made the original AE1 such a big seller – and legend in its own lifetime – yet there’s an added new dimension of it being a superior all-rounder. It is once again an excellent argument in favour of serious small speakers, nearly forty years since the first Acoustic Energy speaker appeared. Thumbs firmly aloft then, if you’re seeking a big bang from a small box.

For more information visit Acoustic Energy