Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary Edition

Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Bookshelf Speakers 

To celebrate 40 years of ground breaking loudspeaker design and build, Acoustic Energy have released this 40th Anniversary special edition bookshelf speaker. Stereonet reviewed them first and gave them the "Applause Award" and stated “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.” Read Review here.

So what makes these speakers stand out? 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 had been out of production for some time, so they had to start from scratch.

New AE1 Loudspeaker - Upgraded Tweeter and Woofer

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 they 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.  This speaker also had to meet the approval of the many AE1 fans around the globe whilst also appealing to a new customer who may not be steeped in the tradition.

So they allowed themselves a few modernisations weighed carefully to be at no detriment to the original.  The fundamentals of the high mass, high stiffness, straight sided cone driven by high BL motor, housed in a small, strong, heavy cabinet with classic twin front ports, paired to a metal dome tweeter, are the defining elements of this speaker.  

Premium Bookshelf Speaker with 29mm Aluminium Dome Tweeter

A completely new tweeter design was developed specifically to match the performance of the original, which has been long out of production. Featuring a larger 29mm voice coil, it supports a slightly larger aluminium dome to lower distortion through a greater radiating area when compared to the more usual 25mm dome. Whilst the dome profile is ultra-shallow to provide excellent bandwidth, it also features a large rear chamber to keep the fundamental resonance low and help absorb rear energy.  Plus, like the original, this tweeter is ferrofluid cooled and damped to give greater power handling, dynamics and lower thermal compression.

Powerful Dynamic Sound with 125mm Woofer

The 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.  Retaining 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… effectively forming a sandwich. 

Beneath the trademark aluminium ‘pointy’ dust cap, the new woofer further features a thermally conductive aluminium voice coil with a very powerful motor structure. However, 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.  They designed this woofer around a 5ohm DCR instead of the original 7ohms which was partly responsible for its reputation to require higher power amplification to drive it. Therefore, the new AE1s are easy to drive and require less power.

High Quality Components = Natural Live Dynamic Sound

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.  We’ve balanced this latest version to be enjoyed more within a typical home audio, domestic environment rather than the studio monitor original.  So it has a warm natural midrange, good bass weight for its size, forgiving high frequencies and exceptional punch throughout its operating range.

All these drive unit and crossover enhancements are housed inside a luxuriously finished 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 which has been successfully applied in all of the high-performance models from Corinium down to the 300 series. By increasing the cabinet stiffness compared to the usual formula, they have captured the sound of the original concrete lined cabinets without any of the production drawbacks.

Thrilling, Powerful Loudspeakers

Offering unparalleled levels of performance, quality and value the AE1 will sit equally comfortable in the home or the recording studio. The result is a loudspeaker with clean, uncluttered lines delivering a thrilling and powerful presentation worthy of the AE1 mark that discerning Acoustic Energy owners have come to expect for 40 years.

Why Choose The Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Bookshelf Speakers?

The original AE1 came out back in 1987 and was in the top 3 most influential mini monitors of their day. So creating the 40th Edition is quite special, bringing the legacy into the modern era – with cutting-edge engineering and timeless design. If you have been looking for a classic bookshelf speakers that really hits the mark, then the special AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Bookshelf Speakers are something to truly consider. This is a small speaker that delivers the kind of dynamic range, clarity, and bass extension typically reserved for much larger enclosures.