Acoustic Energy - AE1 40th Anniversary Edition - Bookshelf Speakers

In 1987, the loudspeaker world was shaken by the arrival of the Acoustic Energy AE1 - a compact monitor that defied the norms of that time. The AE1 was a revelation: a small speaker that delivered the kind of dynamic range, clarity, and bass extension typically reserved for much larger enclosures.

Now, decades later to celebrate 40 years of this ground breaking loudspeaker, we’re proud to launch the AE1 40th Anniversary Edition bringing that legacy into the modern era - with cutting-edge engineering and timeless design.

Designing the new AE1 was no easy task. Not only was it a design classic but all the original parts have been out of production for some time, so we had to start from scratch. With the sound of this speaker and its reputation for very high performance already well established, there was no room for wild variation from the original design. Each element had to be crafted to sound the same as the old, and while we smoothed off some of the rougher edges, it was with a very light touch so as not to destroy what was great about the original design. So we allowed ourselves a few modernisations weighed carefully to be at no detriment to the original.

Tweeter

Featuring a new larger 29mm voice coil, it supports a slightly larger aluminium dome to lower distortion. Like the original it’s ferrofluid cooled and damped.

Woofer

A new woofer was also developed to specifically match the characteristic sound of the original. The new cone is slightly larger, conforming to modern 125mm woofer standards, whilst the greater radiating area offers slightly higher efficiency, lower distortion and the ability to move more air. The cone design was the key element to the original woofer and fundamental to the original speaker’s success, producing a very natural midrange, great power handling and dynamics for its size. So we retained the straight sided aluminium profile and a little used forming process known as ‘spinning’ as opposed to the more usual pressing method. The cone itself is then further strengthened by a thick, hard anodised ceramic layer coating on both sides. The new woofer further features a thermally conductive aluminium voice coil with a very powerful motor structure. One modern improvement we allowed ourselves was the addition of an aluminium shorting ring in the motor structure. This dramatically reduces the distortion caused by motional variation in the voice coil’s inductance.

Crossover

Drawing inspiration from the luxury ‘Signature’ version of the original speaker, the crossover uses low order filters and high-quality components to achieve a very natural ‘live’ dynamic sound. It has a warm natural midrange, good bass weight for its size, forgiving high frequencies and exceptional punch throughout its operating range.

Cabinet

Coated in ten layers of high gloss black paint or walnut wood veneer, the cabinet has been tuned to match the characteristic sound of the original AE1. The cabinet has been upgraded to include our RSC material capturing the sound of the original without any of the production drawbacks.

Specifications

• Tweeter: 29mm alloy dome
• Mid / Bass Driver: 125mm spun ceramic / alloy cone
• Frequency Range: 50Hz - 45kHz
• Sensitivity: 87dB
• Power Handling: 150w
• Crossover Frequency: 2.8kHz
• Impedance: 6 Ohms
• Design: 2 way
• Grilles: Cloth, magnetic fit
• Dimensions: 295 x 180 x 255 mm (HWD)
• Weight: 7kg (each)
• Finishes: High Gloss Walnut and High Gloss Black