The logo is individual chromed letters - the "sticker" is actually just a protector, rub it down and gently peel it off! :) The cabinets are 15mm HDF, same mass as 18mm MDF so frees up more internal volume for the same cabinet mass and stiffness...
I have just done this with my AE309, unfortunately it has taken one of the letters with it. The speakers are still under warranty so I have contacted the dealer to ask for help.
Nice review. I have them in my listening room. Marantz CD, into a teac DAC, into a Rega io. It's a simple set up but it sounds fantastic. They're great value for money & punch well above their weight.
Im clueless with audio, i walked in a store and said i wanted kef without listening to them, they had these ae109 i listened to them and they blew my mind,, i didnt buy these, i bought the ae509 and gotta say i am loving them, ive listened to speakers more expensive than mine and i liked the ae509 better
My very first floorstanding speakers were AE109s. At the time I thought they were great. My son still uses them and they are going strong some 30 years later.
I bought a pair of Q Acoustics 3020s to,pair with a Brio a few years back, amd was happy until I got some hd660s and an Ifi zen stack, which was giving me way more detail. For space reasons the 3020s were against a wall, so I eventually decided I was getting bass bloat and got a pair of the ae100s as nearfields to run on my desk. No complaints, very happy, especially as they were half price. The 3020s may get another chance if/when I have enough space to put them out into a room.
"A nice listenable sound" is exactly what I'm looking for at this age. I'm sick of sitting stone-statue-still and concentrating on what the system can- and can't do. I want a companionable presentation, so I can have music going and be thinking about the MUSIC, not the gear. There are a few things holding me back: First, I swore I would never muck about with floor-standers ever again, and second there's a lot of missing modularity for the future: If you have stand-mounts and a sub, you can swap *one* of those things.
I'm not sure I'd place a specific percentage on it, but I generally agree. One also has to look at their speakers, and if you don't have a proper listening room, they do need to at least look reasonably good in one's living space.
I bought them after living with Heco Argon for 22 years. Amazing good ,mutch better sound!, I use a Marantz 1509 receiver in pure direct mode (for music) and Maverick d/a to computer with Kodi Linux (only ALSA). I am very happy with my sound, do not even need a sub in my small apartment!
Had a pair of AE2'S with the hulled from a coal mine finish. The main problem for me was they didn't really work at lower volumes. In the end the foam surrounds perished and that was that. Vowed that I would never buy a speaker with foam surrounds again!
Used to have AE2s. Great speakers, but not great to drive with a smaller amp. Ended up bi-amping and now they belong to my brother. I'd be curious to see how they'd perform with the Rega Brio or Power Node that I now have though.
Lots of politics in selling hifi. Could have been a myriad of reasons, another dealer nearby, price discounting online, availability of stock, not selling enough to keep the account open or maybe the AE's have a much better margins. Dealers don’t usually like anything with less than 40% margin although MA used to be pretty good. It’s why you hardly ever saw Japanese brands like Sony, Yamaha etc in hifi dealers even if the reviews were favourable as the margins are terrible. I remember when I worked at Sevenoaks we had an account for Arcam but they wouldn’t allow us to sell the FMJ range as there was another dealer very close by and they were an 'FMJ' dealer. We also couldn’t get Cyrus as they would only allow one dealer within a certain distance and so on. So if you go into a dealer and they sell some products but not others this could be the reason although you’ll often be told that it's not stocked as they didn’t think it was very good. Also different dealers get different margins even on the same products.
I purchased these to replace some vintage wharfdale E20’s. Found them to be awful. I’ve ended up keeping the wharfdales because these don’t give anywhere near the same quality.
I used to own Warfedale E20, and to be 😂 were horrid, shrieking treble, bass was nothing to write home about either. I recently demonstrated a pair of Acoustic Energy AE 109,2 and was impressed enough to buy a pair. Everything said in this review is true, they are a great listen, the only problem is they won't play at stadium rock levels. Everything else is good partnered with Iota VX amp with power amp, front end Audiolab 8200 cd player or Imac with audioquest dragonfly red. I'm really happy with the sound So is everyone else who has heard them in my house.
@@jbz2079 I have reconnected them since my post to give them another go. I think you’ve got the nail with the stadium rock comment. I play mostly rock/alternative. A lot of 90’s stuff as well as some classic rock. I played Depeche Mode’s Violator on them and they sound great. I just don’t think they’re geared up to play rock.
You used the word "budget" a lot here, perhaps try to say "affordable", the former can come across as a little condescending. Besides which £600 really isn't "budget" at all (it's relative, what you might call high-end will be someone else's budget) when you have quality speakers from brands such as Q Acoustics starting at the £140 mark...that's what I'd consider "budget", not that I'd ever use that word!
@@Linux_Lucy It's still not "budget", not by a long shot, and the points I made about that word still stand. If you take the fact they're floor standers out of the equation, I'm almost certain he'd call £600 stand mounts "budget" too. Also hi-fi gear was, with inflation, comparably priced, just look at any magazine from that period.
Agree about Q acoustics, I'm an ex Richer Sounds salesman and the amount of people coming into the store with the intention of buying q acoustics 2020i/3020 off the back of what hifi review was surprising, however almost all of them ended up purchasing the Dali zensor 1 Instead after i suggested a quick a/b. The dali just have much more life to them, I personally own a pair of Dali Menuets, amongst others and they are truly a remarkable little speaker i highly highly recommend them.
I went in to the Weybridge store looking at the QA Concept 20’s and Monitor Audio Bronze 2, but left with the Zensor 3 and a CXA 60. I’ve been very satisfied with the combination for about seven years, but am considering an upgrade. The Menuet SE is one I’m considering, but I’d probably need to spend the same on an amp like the Exposure 2510, which I don’t have the budget for right now. What amp do you use with them?
@@doifeellucky hi, I use an Audiolab 8300a using the pre out' into a Audiolab 8300p power amp works very well, however, your CXA 60 will do just fine for now until you are ready to upgrade the amp too, you will certainly notice the difference against the zensor 3 even with the cxa60 however you might want to budget for a subwoofer as the Menuets will produce less bass than zensor 3 better more defined bass just less of it.
The logo is individual chromed letters - the "sticker" is actually just a protector, rub it down and gently peel it off! :) The cabinets are 15mm HDF, same mass as 18mm MDF so frees up more internal volume for the same cabinet mass and stiffness...
I have just done this with my AE309, unfortunately it has taken one of the letters with it. The speakers are still under warranty so I have contacted the dealer to ask for help.
@@1jhnpennington A new logo can definitely be supplied. Contact AE direct if the dealer doesn't sort it.
The AE500 is a fantastic speaker. It's definitely worth a review. Dynamic, refined, and very sweet treble with a lovely extended and tight bass.
Nice review. I have them in my listening room. Marantz CD, into a teac DAC, into a Rega io. It's a simple set up but it sounds fantastic.
They're great value for money & punch well above their weight.
Im clueless with audio, i walked in a store and said i wanted kef without listening to them, they had these ae109 i listened to them and they blew my mind,, i didnt buy these, i bought the ae509 and gotta say i am loving them, ive listened to speakers more expensive than mine and i liked the ae509 better
My very first floorstanding speakers were AE109s. At the time I thought they were great. My son still uses them and they are going strong some 30 years later.
I bought a pair of Q Acoustics 3020s to,pair with a Brio a few years back, amd was happy until I got some hd660s and an Ifi zen stack, which was giving me way more detail. For space reasons the 3020s were against a wall, so I eventually decided I was getting bass bloat and got a pair of the ae100s as nearfields to run on my desk. No complaints, very happy, especially as they were half price. The 3020s may get another chance if/when I have enough space to put them out into a room.
Lovely looking speaker, looks more than £600.
Very classy.👌
"A nice listenable sound" is exactly what I'm looking for at this age. I'm sick of sitting stone-statue-still and concentrating on what the system can- and can't do. I want a companionable presentation, so I can have music going and be thinking about the MUSIC, not the gear.
There are a few things holding me back: First, I swore I would never muck about with floor-standers ever again, and second there's a lot of missing modularity for the future: If you have stand-mounts and a sub, you can swap *one* of those things.
The way a speaker looks is atleast 30% of the reason to purchase
I'm not sure I'd place a specific percentage on it, but I generally agree. One also has to look at their speakers, and if you don't have a proper listening room, they do need to at least look reasonably good in one's living space.
I bought them after living with Heco Argon for 22 years. Amazing good ,mutch better sound!, I use a Marantz 1509 receiver in pure direct mode (for music) and Maverick d/a to computer with Kodi Linux (only ALSA). I am very happy with my sound, do not even need a sub in my small apartment!
Had a pair of AE2'S with the hulled from a coal mine finish. The main problem for me was they didn't really work at lower volumes. In the end the foam surrounds perished and that was that.
Vowed that I would never buy a speaker with foam surrounds again!
Definitely try the 500 magical treble with an exciting listen
Haven't heard them. I've always been attracted to them though.
Used to have AE2s. Great speakers, but not great to drive with a smaller amp. Ended up bi-amping and now they belong to my brother. I'd be curious to see how they'd perform with the Rega Brio or Power Node that I now have though.
The Power Node is surprisingly capable, it worked ok on a far larger pair of AE's I tried! :)
Q acoustics concept series are quit good
Sticker is coming off because it is supposed to be pulled off..
yeah. they need to be peeled off
Which speakers with the d'appolito arrangement are behind the AEs?
For me a speakers could look like my mother In law. It's how they sound is more important 👍
Are you divorced?
How much do they run in us dollars?
Just under $1k in the US, a little inflated compared to the home market but more people in the chain I expect!
So what made you drop MA Phil?
Anyone who drops MA is nuts.
Lots of politics in selling hifi. Could have been a myriad of reasons, another dealer nearby, price discounting online, availability of stock, not selling enough to keep the account open or maybe the AE's have a much better margins. Dealers don’t usually like anything with less than 40% margin although MA used to be pretty good. It’s why you hardly ever saw Japanese brands like Sony, Yamaha etc in hifi dealers even if the reviews were favourable as the margins are terrible.
I remember when I worked at Sevenoaks we had an account for Arcam but they wouldn’t allow us to sell the FMJ range as there was another dealer very close by and they were an 'FMJ' dealer. We also couldn’t get Cyrus as they would only allow one dealer within a certain distance and so on. So if you go into a dealer and they sell some products but not others this could be the reason although you’ll often be told that it's not stocked as they didn’t think it was very good.
Also different dealers get different margins even on the same products.
@@andrewlittleboy8532 Cheers Andrew.
@@andrewlittleboy8532Thanks for the insight.
These or the Dali Oberon 5?
any answers to this ?
I purchased these to replace some vintage wharfdale E20’s. Found them to be awful. I’ve ended up keeping the wharfdales because these don’t give anywhere near the same quality.
I used to own Warfedale E20, and to be 😂 were horrid, shrieking treble, bass was nothing to write home about either.
I recently demonstrated a pair of Acoustic Energy AE 109,2 and was impressed enough to buy a pair.
Everything said in this review is true, they are a great listen, the only problem is they won't play at stadium rock levels.
Everything else is good partnered with Iota VX amp with power amp, front end Audiolab 8200 cd player or Imac with audioquest dragonfly red.
I'm really happy with the sound
So is everyone else who has heard them in my house.
@@jbz2079 I have reconnected them since my post to give them another go. I think you’ve got the nail with the stadium rock comment. I play mostly rock/alternative. A lot of 90’s stuff as well as some classic rock. I played Depeche Mode’s Violator on them and they sound great. I just don’t think they’re geared up to play rock.
You used the word "budget" a lot here, perhaps try to say "affordable", the former can come across as a little condescending.
Besides which £600 really isn't "budget" at all (it's relative, what you might call high-end will be someone else's budget) when you have quality speakers from brands such as Q Acoustics starting at the £140 mark...that's what I'd consider "budget", not that I'd ever use that word!
@@Linux_Lucy It's still not "budget", not by a long shot, and the points I made about that word still stand.
If you take the fact they're floor standers out of the equation, I'm almost certain he'd call £600 stand mounts "budget" too.
Also hi-fi gear was, with inflation, comparably priced, just look at any magazine from that period.
Agree about Q acoustics, I'm an ex Richer Sounds salesman and the amount of people coming into the store with the intention of buying q acoustics 2020i/3020 off the back of what hifi review was surprising, however almost all of them ended up purchasing the Dali zensor 1 Instead after i suggested a quick a/b. The dali just have much more life to them, I personally own a pair of Dali Menuets, amongst others and they are truly a remarkable little speaker i highly highly recommend them.
I went in to the Weybridge store looking at the QA Concept 20’s and Monitor Audio Bronze 2, but left with the Zensor 3 and a CXA 60. I’ve been very satisfied with the combination for about seven years, but am considering an upgrade. The Menuet SE is one I’m considering, but I’d probably need to spend the same on an amp like the Exposure 2510, which I don’t have the budget for right now.
What amp do you use with them?
@@doifeellucky hi, I use an Audiolab 8300a using the pre out' into a Audiolab 8300p power amp works very well, however, your CXA 60 will do just fine for now until you are ready to upgrade the amp too, you will certainly notice the difference against the zensor 3 even with the cxa60 however you might want to budget for a subwoofer as the Menuets will produce less bass than zensor 3 better more defined bass just less of it.
@@danielbrown2715 Thanks for the feedback. I’ve also got an old 8000a (last model) and was thinking of something like the Rel T Zero or T5x
QA speakers seem to be more popular paired with AV recievers
@britishaudiophile7314 awarded the AE100 Mk2 with Product of the Year 2020
Not quite. They were shortlisted but the Q Acoustics M20 won, and it was 2022.
@@doifeellucky Sorry to say but you seem to be mistaken; 2020 product of the year.
@@andrehendrik I just watched the video, and the mk2 was only launched last year.
@@andrehendrik AE1 Active was the 2020 winner. Completely different model.
@@andrehendrik And neither of those are the product in this video, as they are stand mount and this video is about a floor standing speaker.