Acoustic Energy AE100 2 V vintage classics speakers

[@johnkendrick7304]

Just wanted to let you know that I listen to a lot of stereo people and you are the only person that I can actually understand what the speakers or the product really sounds like. You really do a great job at explaining and making people understand what a certain speaker or amplifier will give you. Long time subscriber keep up the great work love your videos man

[@zenfishbike]

Ahhh, another Sunday morning breath of fresh air with Kelvin, thank you!

[@jozefserf2024]

Honest, direct and opinionated, Kelvin might well be the best subjective reviewer we have right now.

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

🙋‍♂️THANKS KELVIN 🤗 for enlightening us and showing us it’s the best time to be an audiophile on a budget 👍💚💚💚

[@thomasstone1363]

And another excellent video. Thank you!!

[@iancatchpole5223]

I am Happy you've found a budget speaker that brings you joy, it shows in the way you have commented on there sonic quality's, Enjoy'd your impressions as allways , Nice one Kev.🎉

[@iancatchpole5223]

Whoops, called you Kev, sorry Kelvin, maybe I should have called you Kef..

[@SamFirthDesigner]

​@@iancatchpole5223yes lol I'm not sure I've seen a sr-x video without some bextrene lurking.

[@Linux_Lucy]

Yep, there are as yet Un-Discovered Tribes in the Amazon Jungle that KNOW LS3/5a's NEED a Sub-Woofer ! ! ... I use a REL T Zero Mk 3 with my 1985 Spendor 3/5's ... Superb ... Agree with your view of the AE100/2's. A mega 'Steal' at their price. I use mine in the Garage with a Wiim Mini Streamer / SU-1 DAC / Quad FM 4 Tuner and a Rega io Amp ... Brilliant.

[@stereoreviewx]

Thanks for the info!

[@michaelvincent8306]

Finally found a pair of modern speakers you can live with god how many you tried before you got there

[@andrehb]

'Great to see an affordable pair of speakers being so well-regarded -- the first edition of the AE100 were also very well received/reviewed

[@SamFirthDesigner]

Used to have 109's, they had real class from the XO and big cabinet..shame if the 100 wasn't up to it

[@chrisblock6697]

With the bass you talked about for the LS3/5a, I've always wondered how the Graham SUB3 that is supposed to be designed for LS3/5a would work to fill everything out.

[@frostwise87]

Absolutely fantastic review

[@stereoreviewx]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@metroboom25289]

Luv the AEs! I bought these early last year. Well balanced speakers! Has PRAT cos of the quick bass

[@stevezeidman7224]

Loved the enthusiasm for these speakers. Keep them coming, Kelvin.

[@ianstreeter5291]

Great stuff Kelvin don’t let up on the reviews well presented videos as always .

[@stereoreviewx]

Will do

[@boubakane]

Owner here paired with fully recapped NAD 3020A🎉. So mature little things. I've owned or listened to W diamond, Q, elac, Dali, KEF Q not even close

[@timmo7610]

Any 60w budget amplifiers you would recommend for these speakers?

[@SvenfromKiel]

Thanks!! Sounds and looks like my active Dali Zensor 1 which I have since 8 years but with no bass ;)...the speakers have everything but they are somehow boring and have a flat sound and I still miss the old warm full sound from my 3020 and Elac EL75 which I had in the 90ties. Not perfect but more from the heart.

[@alangregory9534]

You really know how to do a review Kelvin .......if it were not for you I would have never have found Sansui now have 101 & AU 9000 thank you so much just bought the Linton Heritage very happy with them on the big Sansui

[@stereoreviewx]

great to hear Sansui put the work and love in to make a great sound

[@patmcg4755]

I still love my AE109s from 1997. Fabulous floor standers for me and my room

[@karelvandervelden8819]

Yes, compare more similar speakers with your benchmark ls35a´s.

[@philipford9234]

Try mission 751 bookshelf great speakers

[@alanrobinson2229]

I have Epos es14s. Would anybody be able to suggest a better speaker,sub £1k?

[@otroligaollis3885]

Excellent review, many thanks!

[@SpyGuyUK]

Great review and cool looking speaker - Acoustic energy A100 2 . I'm tempted to buy these although I'm using Tannoy Mercury V1 (with my 1980's Yamaha Natural Sound set up) which look similar and sound great. I can't see the speakers reviewed above anywhere except listed as model Acoustic Energy AE100². It has an 'E' in model number though. Is that the same model or has anyone seen the above listed anywhere?

[@The_Jimrod]

It's the same model, AE100 has been around in various guises since the 90's, the more recent version was launched around 2016 and this with the "²" suffix is the update to that. The ² is the main identifier of the version as none of the others had that, many people just write it as 2 though because it's easier!

[@stephenfurley1025]

Thanks. They do look neat. Always fancied their original budget Aegis One speakers.

[@jeromemurphy2572]

Hi Kelvin, Jerome from Michigan. Are Coral speakers any good? I got them for free last week. I don't know if you have heard of them at all. Thanks.

[@stereoreviewx]

not very familiar

[@amok281]

Like your videos Kelvin. Regarding amplifier/speaker interactions - it's not just power output especially as when listening at the same level you're using the same power. Output impedance has quite a lot to do with it the lower the output impedance the higher the damping factor, a higher damping factor gives the amp a better 'grip' of the cone movements generally leading to tighter bass. There are other factors such as the power supply and general characteristics of the circuit design, component quality etc. Still like the review though.

[@stereoreviewx]

fair points my friend

[@Synthematix]

Unfortunately this also have a 5db dip in the upper midbass area

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah I mean speakers this small and be perfect a lot are awful

[@SpyGuyUK]

Is it Acoustic Energy A100 2 or Acoustic Energy AE100 Mk2 or are they both the same thing? There's an E missing, it made me wonder?

[@stereoreviewx]

Oh yeah, I’ve gotta fix that. It’s AE.

[@acousticenergyloudspeakers]

its actually AE100² ;-)

[@jeffcline7689]

Again you touch another good point. If you notice they really started recording with a lot of bass heavy synthesizers and so forth. I recently bought some Polk XT 15 small speakers. When I bought them they were sold to me as being 4 ohm 150 watt. I called Polk and they said they compatible from 4-8 ohm. They even changed the website to that verbiage. But these newer speakers are like 86 sensitivity. 45 years ago I got good results with a Pioneer SX 450 (15 watts ?) and 30 pound Altec Lansing Model 3 fairly large speakers.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes 15 watts can actually do the trick

[@richardsinger01]

Genuine question: Why do they need a 60 W amp if as you say they play well at low volume? Can someone explain?

[@stereoreviewx]

Well, the 60 Watts controls the cone more firmly

[@Evolved_ue7]

I have these brand new in a box, not really got around to listening to them . I will give them a longer demo .

[@stereoreviewx]

let us know yeah

[@bobclarke5913]

Sound good, not expensive and look good. Don't see that often.

[@stereoreviewx]

My thoughts exactly

[@ΠιερΕξαρχακος]

Beautiful review ! Thanks !

[@stereoreviewx]

No problem 👍

[@joeyjustin6895]

6:30 DEFINITELY When ANY SPEAKERS are missing a midrange They ALL SUFFER

[@earthlinksmedia]

Kelvin, would you choose these new AE A100 2 or rather vintage BW DM4s, if they were just the only pair of speakers you could have in your room?

[@stereoreviewx]

no dm4s better voices and right

[@earthlinksmedia]

@@stereoreviewx thank you for your answer

[@haycrossaudio5474]

Great review as always. Sounds like a cracking little speaker. Id love to measure them and look inside

[@SamFirthDesigner]

5:42 👀

[@andrew.l.5493]

I ran a set of Rogers LS3/5a with a Creek 5050. Nice sound but like you mentioned, they were short on the bottom end. Switched out the Rogers for a pair of Epos ES11's, what a difference.

[@petergreen-gh2hm]

Good to see you happy Calvin , what are the big speakers you refer to in the video , the one you touched ( that makes a big sound)

[@stereoreviewx]

monitor audio ma4 s 1975

[@petergreen-gh2hm]

🙏🏻

[@joeyjustin6895]

1:34. A Hard wood resonates a high frequency like 1k. I build using medium density and completely coat the inside of box with Alex plus caulk and that rubber toe kick that goes on the bottom of walls In houses. And that takes the resonate of the wood to 5hz. I have seen a thin mdf box wrapped in same black covering that produced 40hz really well. I was just saying you can get even better dampening the walls on the inside

[@jozefserf2024]

Untreated MDF even with bracing is known to kill the midrange.

[@stereoreviewx]

great to hear your experimenting that's how you really understand the effects . I still persuading myself to build concrete speakers . best K

[@philwalker2265]

Nice one Kelvin, when you do a video it is always nice to do a cup of fresh coffee, sit down, and have a watch. Very enjoyable as always.

[@matanavgust8404]

Tnx kelv i am enjoy from your video , and want to hear from you ( if you can) what you think about small active pa speakers Tnx again 🙏

[@wykehammato2784]

The fact that it can be mentioned in the same sentence as the GOAT LS35a makes it a tremendous deal at these prices

[@kymvalleygardensdesign5350]

I am guessing no before you make a start, I was wrong I might ask to listen to these.

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

I used to have a pair of them , there a great wee speaker well tonality ballenced

[@gerrit-janslettenhaar4252]

Very nice video. Thanks!

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

Great review kelvin , your the best 😊

[@gordthor5351]

Kelvin, good rhythm with those drum sticks. In my experience little speakers (especially if they are high wattage and rather low efficiency) tend to perform much better on bigger amps, because more powerful amps tend to have much better grip on the bass. Which keeps those little drivers in control, so they don't get all loose and sloppy, causing them to over extend their limit of excursion. Obviously, you can't go much past the wattage limit of the speakers, but that is what volume control is for. The maximum output of an amplifier is irrelevant to the size of speakers, unless too much volume is used on an overpowered or underpowered (relative to the speakers max wattage) amp. More speakers are destroyed by the latter, because when an amp sh!ts the bed (power supply is getting sucked dry), it will not only spew out DC current (which only heats up the voice coil), but also loses control of the drivers, thus bottoming out the voice coil. MDF is better than solid wood, because wood causes more resonance in the cabinet. Wood is used in instruments to resonate musically, but only by precisely milling the perfect wood at the perfect thickness, for the exact sound for a district instrument. Wooden boxes certainly will ring (resonate) , but not in tune with any single instrument, let alone all of them. Than is why it is ideal to have inert speaker boxes. Let the drivers make all of the sound, because it results in a much cleaner (non-muddy) sound. Especially, the louder you turn it up. The reason most speakers don't have inert boxes, is because of the extra cost. Not just in material and production time, but the cost of shipping much heavier speakers. MDF is the best for the price, but aluminum, granite and concrete are considerably better, but they weigh a ton and are very expensive to make and ship.

[@stereoreviewx]

thanks for the info I largely agree apart from concrete speakers which I have been meaning to try for decades . I mean reboxing in concrete

[@cremersalex]

Isn't it AE100 mk2?

[@Allu16]

"Make a deadness" is now a thing

[@xcvbxcvb2179]

He said "rigid wood" - huhuhuhuhuhuhu

[@joeyjustin6895]

11:44 I've Asked a couple times. Take your Roger's and play them with a set of bassier speakers and it will blow you away. Look at a concert. It's never one set of speakers it's 5 sets all going at the same time. So 2 sets is nothing

[@richardjohnston4682]

How about two pairs of identical speakers, would they work together?

[@jedi-mic]

Actually less than 120 because you don't really count the surround you should count from the inside the surround not the outside

[@stereoreviewx]

agreed they call it five inch its more like 4 inch

[@eddiebaby22]

50 year old speakers are still the best out there 😊

[@stereoreviewx]

certainly can be I saw spender bc3 going for 700 quid the other day they are like £8000 speaker nowadays

[@earlfenwick]

Rigid Wood. 😅

[@Kalikrates_the_witch_1]

I find cinzia from lady of the library fits that comment 😅

[@dbert5963111]

kelvin, could you do a comparison with the acoustic energy A100 2 and the wharfedale diamond 10.1??

[@nigeltoh9945]

Hi Sir, I “watch” your KZbin video while I am on bicycle ride, therefore it is very difficult to follow when you just to one of the three speakers and said “this” or “that”. Would be nice if you could mention the speaker’s name of model, just a short one would help. Thanks.

[@stereoreviewx]

your right I forgot to mention . details in description btw