Always enjoy your videos and reviews, thanks also for sharing your great choice of music. I bought the Rega Elex Mk4 after seeing your review and use it with my AE300 speakers. I am now looking to updgrade my speakers to either the AE309 or AE500 as they are roughly in the same price segment. Not sure if you ever listened to the AE500s but if you have which one would you recommend? I listen to everything from rock, pop and electronica to classical works and film music. The room is quite large but the AE300s work nicely today. After your review I am leaning towards the AE309s but feel like I would be missing out on some refinement and sound quality by not getting the AE500s. I am not able to audition any of the speakers but I have owned several AEs and have always enjoyed their speakers. Sadly the AE509s are out of reach at this moment.

@analogholic_reviews

4 ай бұрын

Thank you for the kind words. I am yet to try the AE500. I have heard the 509 and was blown away by the transparency and dynamics. If I were to guess, the 500 probably offers similar signature performance minus the lower frequency extension and dynamics. I hope to review the 500 as well in the near future.

@AndyCubik-zq7qt

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for replying. Sounds good, and I will keep my eyes open for your future reviews of the 500 series.

@1jhnpennington

4 ай бұрын

Interestingly, I have a pair of AE309s in a 27 x 12 ft room that sound great driven by a Topping PA7 Plus (many A/B class amplifiers struggled to really drive them properly). I also have that nagging doubt about the AE500, because I could pretty much sell mine and buy a pair of used AE500s for the same price.

@AndyCubik-zq7qt

4 ай бұрын

After a lot of thinking I am actually moving closer to the AE500s. I started with the AE100 mk2 and loved them, the value is exceptional! Then after I upgraded to AE300s the sound got much... bigger and impressive. Yet I find myself missing something that I think is the crisp, clear and just plain old fun I had listening to the AE100 mk2s. The 300s seem more laid back, more bass and just warmer I suppose. So my thoughts are the 309s might be more of the same and the AE500 could possibly bring me the best of those two. I´ve been through some floor standers recently in my search, including ProAcs and Polk Audios, but there is just something about a great perfoming stand-mount... this hobby is fun, but can also be a curse :)

@1jhnpennington

4 ай бұрын

@@AndyCubik-zq7qt exactly! I thought the AE309 were far too warm/dull until I toed them in so that the tweeters were more directly pointed at me - huge difference. Still that nagging doubt regarding clarity, though. Very frustrating! In my room (27 x 12 x 8ft) I’m afraid the AE500s will lack dynamics. I could add a sub but that doesn’t solve lack of midrange dynamics.

I have these speakers. It's great that you agree with my thoughts about them. I'm always tempted to swap and change, but these will be here for the long term.

Another great review! Some time back, Ian White, (of eCoustics) reviewed the AE SE 320 driven by the Rega Aethos. He was blown away by the value proposition on offer. Apparently, AE and Rega have some pretty great synergy. Added bonus, the Ali Farke Toure recommendation. I'm going to be checking that one out for sure!

@analogholic_reviews

5 ай бұрын

Definitely a synergy there. I heard the AE520 with the Aethos and that combo sounded amazing! Ali Farka Touré's Talking Timbuktu is fantastic in its entirely!

Awesome review! I'm not sure that I'm going to rush out and replace my Dalis, but between your description and that piano black finish, I'm tempted.

@analogholic_reviews

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Friendly note for the next time: The "M" in MDF stands for "Medium," so what you meant to say isn't "High-density MDF," but rather just "HDF."

I have a room size of 14ft by 13ft with a high ceiling, do you think these would work well in my room and are the speakers easy to drive many thanks for the review

@analogholic_reviews

2 ай бұрын

I had them in my 32’x 33’ x10’ and they fared well being driven by my audio research vsi60, and that’s a high bandwidth, high current 50w/ch tube amp. If you are going to be using a high current amp, you should be ok.

Which is better for you... the Rega Aya or the AE 309?

@analogholic_reviews

4 ай бұрын

Tough call as I say in the comparison section of the video. Could go either way depending on what you are looking for…