Acoustic Energy Bookshelves. 301 vs Reference

[confusedmachine]

Hi!

In the market for another pair of bookshelves. I can often find AE speakers at a comparitively competetive price, but not able to demo prior.

How much more speaker is the AE Reference 1 over the AE 301? There's a huge price difference, and they're clearly in a different league, but subjectively, where are they most different? How does deep bass fare in either?

And how does the 301 go against the older Aelite or Radiance models? I've got a pair of Aelite 1 which are great, and can produce respectable low end for their size, but I would struggle to say it's low end with any impact. Any thoughts welcomed!

 

[drummerman]

I don't know any of their speakers but the gent running AE used to sporadically pop in here and contribute.

Perhaps he sees this ...

 

[nopiano]

I was thinking the same as drummerman re the company contributor.

I'd say that the references will need pretty decent gear, by which I mean components typically costing each as much as the speakers, i.e. Well in excess of £1,000. If you have more modest gear, the 301 will be a better bet.