Agree. I auditioned these in Europe and they are VERY good, in the same class as the Revel Gems or the Sonus Faber monitors (guarneri excepted, though only becasuse of its sueprb midrange). The AE1 threw a huge soundstage and had incredibel dynamics. Definitely NOT a bookshelf speaker! If you own them, get some good stands (AE makes excellent stands for this speaker). If you do not own them, and need bookshelf speakers, suggest you look into other desings e.g., some of the smaller Linn speakers work very well in this context)
