Acoustic Energy cooks up a batch of limited edition AE1 speakers

In today's rush to crank out new models, it's refreshing to see some steady benchmark pieces of gear. The speaker world has its share of stalwarts — in no small part due to its high-end audio roots — and Acoustic Energy's AE1 qualifies as one of those long-time references. We remember reading about the AE1 back in the late 80's, and the model is still in existence today (albeit in a Mk III iteration). To celebrate this continued success, Acoustic Energy has made up a special edition batch of 100 pairs of the speaker, appropriately dubbed the AE1 Mk III SE. It features a laundry list of audiophile features, like a steel-lined 18-mm thick cabinet, 110-mm aluminum mid-woofer, 38-mm ring-radiator tweeter and a crossover constructed with top-shelf parts. Available in a variety of finishes for a no-kidding, audiophiles-only price of $5,000 per pair.