The AE1 ACTIVE has been awarded a BEST BUY award by AVFORUMS.
Here is what they said: ”Conclusion. Viewed from an industry standpoint, there really hasn’t been a better time for a manufacturer to release a ‘conventional’ (by which I mean non self-contained) active speaker. The sheer range of source equipment that has preamp functionality – and good preamp functionality at that – on the market is huge and continues to grow. The Acoustic Energy AE1 Active completes a system quickly and efficiently and in a way that makes total sense for modern setups where the boundaries between source and control are increasingly blurred. Active speakers have been around for years and yet, it finally feels like the supporting hardware has caught up.’
https://www.avforums.com/review/acoustic-energy-ae1-active-speaker-review.13767