From my experience, the Yokohama AE50 is moderately quiet only when new. The quietness doesn't last very long as it gets noisier rather quickly, in my case about 15,000 km to 20,000 km mileage with moderate or normal driving (no aggressive driving). The tyres also don't last very long as the tread on the front tyres wear out rather quickly with minor chipping on the tyres after about 20,000 km.

Performance or handling, it is acceptable though the steering is just slightly less sharp than the previous tyres it replaced (Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax). I think it's mainly due to the softer rubber or sidewalls. The only good thing about the AE50 as reported by a review carried out by some Taiwanese motor show on Youtube is the performance in the wet whereby it achieved the best result in shortest braking distance on wet roads and good aquaplanning when pitted against similar class of tyres.

In summary, if you want quiet tyres I think you can get better elsewhere. The new Yokohama Advan dB V552 should be a much better choice than the AE50 and it comes in your 215/55 R17 size. The only thing is it may be much costlier than the AE50. Otherwise I would consider those 2 cheaper options that you listed above. The Goodyear Assurance Triplemax is also another option.