Acoustic Energy AE100i Bookshelf Speakers

Acoustic Energy AE100i Bookshelf Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

A powerful compact two-way loudspeaker recommened for use on bookshelves or rigid stands. The AE100i features typical AE design drive units reflex loaded through twin flared front firing ports providing acoustic precision and accuracy with bass weight and solidity.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 10  
[Jun 12, 2011]
Fons Weijtens
AudioPhile

I use the AE100'si for about 15 years and they are still heaven to me. Because they are VERY neutral you hear everything from them, also good electronics/cables. When you use a very good amplifier....you hear a very good sound as well. These speakers NEED good/demand electronics! For top end bass I use a Rell Sub.
Result: very, very good large soundstage with a beautufull musical image. I've heard many systems on shows etc, but at home it sounds best. I never buy new speakers again! Tip: use solid core speakercable and twist them yourself (very tight!). High frequencies become VERY clean and real!

Regards, Fons Weijtens, Eindhoven, Holland

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 05, 2002]
cod
AudioPhile

Strength:

image depth, soundstage, clarity and after the tweaks excellent with Vocals and a much better mid to high frequency performance, build quality.

Weakness:

Not much at all at this price, although always biwire or biamp them otherwise theyre terribly drab, its a totally different speaker

i have only in the last week bought a pair of these speakers. They major on soundstage and Imaging, but tend to lose their way at higher levels, im talking loud really. Which you must expect, but i have found a few tweaks to make these babys sound even better read on. firstly i took out the tweeters and woofers and then got a four sandwich bags that seal and filled them with sand,(get rid of the air in the bags as much as possible). then placed one of the bags in the front of the box unit, (Because you,ll find they are braced in the middle)and the second in the back, being careful not to cover the hole in the brace that lets the Mid/bass unit breathe, then put a lot more wadding in the housing leaving no room for any inside resonations and this will reduce colouration. now take the tweeters and get some 2inch carpet tape or duck tape and around the rim of the magnet tape around so that it forms a small recepticle cylinder. Get some bubble wrap and with a scalple or modelling knife, cut 3 circles about 60 mm in diameter, actually using the inside of the duck tape rim is a good guide. then place the three bits in the centre of the cylinder, being careful not to crush the tape, then take just a little wadding and put that on top creating a four way sandwich, on top of that put 2 peices of tape to hold the filling in, then to finish off another big strip around your Cap to seal it in. you should be left with a tweeter with a bulbous cap on it. then just place it back into the speaker, Ifyou have done it correctly theyre should be no problems with it fitting back. And the Sound. the Image and focus open up much more, more clarity and depth and because of the dampening the colouration and resonance of the speaker at higher sound levels shows much tighter control. the tweeters now project with a much cleaner image and youre soundstage seems to live more in the listening room, the ambience is brilliant. The bass tightens up a lot more and becomes very accurate instead of loose and the best thing of all is that it stays in better control when driven loud ,try it you wont be dissapointed. Even better than my new mission 780,s (after the tweaks and biamped) Read A review of my music, that audiophiles are calling a "refernce in frequency extremes",goto: http://www.hifi-planet.com/hpah1.htm

Similar Products Used:

mission 780

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 03, 2002]
csodasrac
AudioPhile

Strength:

Clarity, openness, neutral, deep sound stage, very musical

Weakness:

treble could be smoother

Really outstandig speaker. Very fast, and at the same time very sophysticated sound. Enlglish design, but very much non English sound. Very neutral, open sound impressive at both high and low volume. If you have enough room behind them, unbelievable sound stage. Do not push them aginst the wall! That results in a very flat, two way sound. You may seem to loose some base, but what you actually loose is artificial, what you get is real deep sound stage, and firm base. The bigger the room, the more impressive the base is. Match it with good cable, and you will understand the clarity of midrange. The clarity of human voice. Just loves operas. When I purchased them, they were running againt Mission. Mission is typical English, these are not. Similar priced Missions are not even in the same league. Do not forget to remove the grills! I use them with Cambridge audio CD4, A1Mk3SE, XLO interconnect & XLO speaker cables.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 18, 2000]
Tony To
Casual Listener

OH, AE100i so cool, excellent, just buy, don't think any more! go go go

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 12, 2001]
Neil Cooke
Casual Listener

Good speakers. I can understand comments about lack of booming bass on initial hearing but a good 30 hours of play through them loosens them up and the bass is not the "mushy" bass sound that you get with other speakers at this price.

My only criticism is that low volume listening is not particularly good.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Dec 17, 2000]
bob kendall
Audiophile

Strength:

smooth midrange, extended, non-fatiguing treble, soundstage

Weakness:

little or no bass below 60 hz

Home theatre space requirements had me searching for a good mini-monitor, one that would "voice" well with my PSB C-6 center channel and still be musical on its own. I loved the AE-1, but it was beyond my spending limit. As it turned out, I simply swapped my Clements 800Si floor standers for these small wonders at my local high end emporium.

To this date I have no regrets save one, in that I have to use my powered sub to fill in the bottom octave which often requires adjustment from album to album, but this is a minor annoyance. The AE-100i's are detailed, extended, and stay true to timbre, pace and the human voice, no small feats at their impecunious price.

Compared to others in the same price range, Paradigm 3's, Mission 701's, and B+W 602's, they are less "fat" in the upper bass and not as strident in the lower treble, hence their slightly lean but not bright overall balance.

Sometimes the best things in life do arrive unexpectedly!

Similar Products Used:

B+W DM 14, Monitor Audio 700 Gold

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 05, 2001]
Leong
Casual Listener

good one in the same price range will not regret if u get one in your home..

Similar Products Used:

castle clifton

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 26, 2001]
Ted Nugent
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Detailed and natural Mid-Range. Bi-Wirable.

Weakness:

Un-impressive Bass and Treble.

Great Speakers for Solid-State amps that sounds too bright, for these speakers suppress all the high-frequency details. Not a good thing at first glance but on the other hand it makes most popular music sound warmer, and on tube-amps makes them sound especially warm. The bass issue is also 2-sided. On the plus side, heavy bass peices don't drown out the rest of the range, which means you can turn up the volume a notch and not wake the neighbors. Bass lovers however, will not be fooled with the warm tone and more likely complain about the lower end thin bass.
Overall: Not Recommended.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
2
[Feb 10, 2001]
Jay Park
Audio Enthusiast

look, I've wrote it in the 100's reviews (mistakes, mistakes...). go and see it.
And one thing - again - they're very honest speakers and do pump good bass. For people who says this speakers have light bass, it must be your system. Trust me... You can't really ask for more from such price range & size, when maintaining such great balance and coherence etc. Wonderful speakers. I went to the shop looking for aegis ones but changed my mind after hard audition. Give it a listen, you won't regret it - more listening, more amazing.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 13, 2000]
David Welton
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Size (very compact), sound (outstanding), Finish (superb)

Weakness:

In price range: none

Compared across above, AE's completely blew away them and alkl other similarly priced units. Have owned AE's for 2 years now and have never regreted it. Now if only I had the spare cash to get me some AE1s!

Similar Products Used:

PSB Avette, Mission 700, 701 and 702

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 10  

(C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com