Audioengine A2+ Wireless 60W Powered Desktop Speakers | Built-in 24Bit DAC & Amplifier | Bluetooth aptX Codec, Direct USB Connection, 3.5mm and RCA Phono inputs (Bluetooth – Wireless, Black)
AUDIOENGINE IS AN INDEPENDENT SPEAKER COMPANY BASED IN AUSTIN, TX.
In 2005 Audioengine was founded with a simple goal: Build a speaker that sounds great, is easy to set up and use, and that makes people want to listen to music every day.
Audioengine’s core products are powered speakers; all-in-one music systems which allow you to connect all your devices wirelessly (or wired) for great stereo sound. They started with just one powered speaker, the A5; simple and beautiful, yet versatile enough to be used in your workspace as computer speakers, on stands in your living room, or in a home theater setup.
But the Audioengine team wanted to offer even more for their customers. After years of hard work, the versatility of their products was pushed even further by offering a number of add-on audio products that can be used with existing music systems.
Their passion is to help people hear all their favorite songs as they were meant to be heard and to discover new music and appreciate it with the highest sound quality. And they’re doing exactly what they had planned, which is to change the way people listen to music. Audioengine is now proud to offer a complete line of products that bring the sound quality of professional studio monitors right into your living room, without the inconvenience of multi-device stereo receivers or big clunky passive speakers.
So now we’ve highlighted WHAT Audioengine does, but that hardly defines what a company is all about; so now let’s dive into the WHO and WHY of Audioengine.
WHO?
Audioengine founders, Brady and Dave, have been in the tech industry a long time.
They’ve worked separately and together for companies such as Harman, Apple, Gibson Guitars, Alesis, and others. Both are experts in their field and, after realizing a common dream of introducing new audio products and holding them to the highest possible standards, they decided to launch Audioengine.
Brady and Dave both loved technology and more specifically music.
Audioengine strives to design products that stand the test of time, and not become obsolete after a few short years. We don’t make “copy-cat†or “me too†products, instead we focus on giving customers a completely unique listening experience by making gradual and necessary updates to our already successful products. Product development is the heart of Audioengine, and we gauge our success by the number of customers that literally smile when they hear the difference between our systems and everything else
The ultimate mini music system with wireless that works.
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FEATURES
| TECH SPECS
| BENEFITS
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Premium Bluetooth computer speakers that work with all your favorite devices and apps. No network setup, passwords to enter, or buttons to push.
A2+ Wireless Speakers provide clear, full stereo sound and can easily connect to all your music in seconds. Great for your desktop or smaller rooms.
Don’t let their size fool you as these little speakers are packed with much more sound than you would expect. Clear, full and powerful audio ideal for your computer and smaller rooms. The A2+ Wireless Computer Speakers are constructed with custom Audioengine components: aramid fiber woofers, silk tweeters, Premium Bluetooth aptX-HD, and built-in power amps wrapped in precision-tuned, hand-crafted cabinets. Clear, full and powerful audio that fills almost any room.
“The Audioengine A2+ have been a favorite in compact speakers and we anticipated these delivering the same promise, with more convenience…and we were right…â€
– AudioAdvice
WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT
EVERY APP EVERY DEVICE
Tidal, Spotify, Pandora… all your favorite music and apps play instantly.
Our most-versatile wireless Bluetooth speakers. A2+ Wireless Computer Speakers work with all your apps, music, and devices so no matter how you listen, A2+ has you covered.
SET UP IN SECONDS – SIMPLE. NO HASSLE. EASY TO USE.
The A2+ Wireless Computer Speakers can easily be connected to your computer, tablet, phone, or turntable.
No network setup, passwords to enter, or buttons to push. Setting them up is so easy you’ll be rocking in no time.
Keep your music fun, easy, and sounding great
SMALL SPEAKERS BIG SOUND – SURPRISINGLY LOUD
Don’t let their size fool you as these little speakers are packed with much more sound than you would expect.
Clear, full and powerful audio ideal for your computer and smaller rooms. The A2+ Wireless Computer Speakers are constructed with custom Audioengine components: aramid fiber woofers, silk tweeters, Premium Bluetooth aptX-HD, and built-in power amps wrapped in precision-tuned, hand-crafted cabinets.
Clear, full and powerful audio that fills almost any room.
EPIC DESKTOP SETUP – THE MUST-HAVE DESKTOP EXPERIENCE
Everyone knows the difference between custom-built, small batch products and the general disappointment of mass-produced products. The A2+ was designed and is hand-built with the goal of exceeding expectations of both value and performance.
The bass was teased from the A2+ with some clever acoustic and electrical design without using any digital signal processing. To say the bass on the Audioengine 2+ is substantial for their size may be an understatement, but you be the judge.
These small computer speakers really pack a punch, making them the go-to system for desktop setups and smaller-room audio.
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| Built-in Power Amp | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Power Output | 60W Peak Total | 150W Peak Total | 150W Peak Total | 60W Peak Total | 60W Peak Total | 150W Peak Total |
| Built-in DAC | PMC2704C | AKM AK4396 | PMC5102A | PMC 5102 | AKM AK4396 | |
| Optical Input | 24-bit up to 192kHz | |||||
| USB Input | 16-bit up to 48kHz | 24-bit (Upsampled) up to 48kHz | ||||
| Mini Stereo Input | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| RCA Input | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Subwoofer Output | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bluetooth | AAC, aptx | AAC, aptX, aptX HD | AAC, aptx | AAC, aptX, aptX HD | AAC, aptX, aptX HD | |
| Remote Control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dimensions: | 13.34 x 10.16 x 15.24 cm; 1.63 Kilograms |
| Model: | A2+BT-BLK |
| Batteries Included: | 2 Lithium Polymer batteries required. |
| Manufacture: | Audioengine |
Really good speakers I was very surprised at the sound quality for such a small speake
I connected the speakers to my Mac mini using USB connection so I can use the Mac’s built in DAC and also so I can control the speaker’s volume via my keyboard and mouse. This model isn’t bluetooth capable but that’s fine because I bought it to be use solely as desktop speakers.
The sound from the speakers are excellent and what you would expect from speakers this size. The sound is rich, balanced and packs some bass even without a sub. It is recommended that you put the speakers on stands which are angled for better listening experience. I personally don’t like the Audioengine A2 speaker stands so I got the Kanto Yu2 speaker stands which actually fit very well. I am not an audiophile so I cant say the speakers being at an angle made a drastic change to my listening experience but I did notice a difference, and if nothing at all then the speakers look nicer on the stands.
The speakers can connect to your computer via USB so you can control the volume via the computer controls (keyboard, on screen, mouse etc), otherwise you’d have to use the volume knob (also used as the on/off button) on the back of the left speaker. I am sure many would prefer for this to be at the front for convenience and ease of use. For those who aren’t completely satisfied with the bass you have the option to add a sub woofer.
The build quality is excellent with a nice premium look and finish. Although I would’ve preferred a matte white finish, the black and gloss white design is still very stylish. Not only do they sound great, they look nice and complement a contemporary desk set up.
Even though the speakers are great there are a few things I don’t love and many others wont either. These speakers are powered and add quite a bit of wires to your desk set up, it isn’t bluetooth enabled, the speakers are very pricey, especially for the average listener.
If you can afford it and are looking to upgrade your desk top/PC speaker sound then you should give these Audioengines a go. Hope this was helpful.
Use this product at my work space. The sound is unbelievable considering the size. Warm, clear, live, great dynamics. The bluetooth connectivity is sometimes a tad “loose” (for lack of a better term). But overall: amazing experience. Worth it.
I use these to connect to my computer. It would be useful to have a small light at the front to indicate that the speakers are turned on. The volume and on/off switch at the back are a little awkward. It would be good if there was a remote for these speakers. However, these are really minor niggles. These speakers have sound, look good and do exactly what I want them for.
These sound great with my pc setup. The white gloss goes perfect with my setup. Very happy.
I bought these speakers for my desk. I listen to all sorts of music but I especially wanted some good speakers for classical and acoustic music. After using them for a few months now, I’m still really very impressed with them. They sound good both at high and low volume. They have great treble and I’m happy enough with the bass. I specifically got them for the USB sound and I’m really happy with my choice as there is a considerable difference between the sound quality via USB and via the aux. They also look very good on the desk 🙂
For the small size these are great sounding and powerful little speakers. I got rid of some bookshelf speakers that were easily 4x this size and these are at least as good as those ones.
Surprisingly good sound, nice weight and a great size for a computer setup. Recommend a sub woofer to go with these.
If you want great quality computer speakers, look no further, I spent ages looking for a pair and these tick every box, built in DAC, headphone jack in if required, (cable supplied in the box), sounds amazing, bass is amazing, for 200 quid I am super dupa happy
I’d always assumed that a PC just couldn’t deliver a quality of sound approaching what I expect from proper hi-fi, but finally decided to give these a try after suffering from various moderately priced PC speakers. The result was just amazing – very nearly as good as the big, beautiful Missions we have in the lounge.
Please note though that the speakers are slightly larger than stated. Very frustrating as they wouldn’t quite fit where I’d planned.
WOWWW!! I was really impress by the sound you can get from those tiny speakers. Sure the bass is not deep as a system with a sub, but for speakers connect to a computer, the sound is perfect. Highly recommended. A+++++++++++++
Amazing speakers for the price. I had a really old 5.1 set of Logitech Z5500’s that finally bit the dust on me. I was tired of running wires all over my office now that I am no longer a 20 something, so wanted to go with a 2.0 or 2.1 setup.
The sound coming out of these things is amazing! Hard to believe how cheap they were to get such a great sound. I have a 34″ ultrawide monitor and these tuck under it nicely.
After 5h listening it I’m impressed with the quality. I have a massive hi-fi on the living room and it’s easy to compare. The size is perfect.
The bottom line: I’ve opted to buy some Kanto stands over the Audioengine due to the price and the visual. I think the Audioengine stands aren’t the best presentation. I was wondering why they send some (useless I think) velvet pouches instead the rubber angled stands.
The result is – so far so good! They do what I wanted them to do, which is give a wider range of frequency and stereo sound for things like movies and concert videos/broadcasts. I’ve not so far had the sound issues reported in other reviews. Be aware that being only small, you’re not going to get serious bass woof out of them, and being designed for computers, the connecting cable between them won’t stretch across a room, but they’re good enough for what I wanted them for.
Great speakers that were very much designed for use with a desktop computer, easy setup pretty much plug and play, good sound quality for your music even movies or gaming. A really good choice for a bedroom or office where space is a bit tight.
If you like high base adding a subwoofer would make your setup complete.
Good sound but it clicks every once in a while. On Windows 10, through USB connection, even though the little speaker icon shows that Windows has turned it off, sound still plays. I have to un-mute and then mute for it to work properly. But, that’s just a driver thing and those bugs will get worked out in time.
Very decent pair of speakers which introduces you into the PC HIFI. Very good quality sound as well as the loud volume. Not as flat as the monitor speakers but can be used in many different genres. I am using USB connection to my desktop and the only downside of the speaker is that the volume knob is located at the back. It’s quite annoying and you don’t get to know if the speaker is on or not, which results in leaving the speaker on while turning the computer on- BOOM!
Love the aesthetic of these speakers paired with my black and white Mac setup, I would’ve liked a dedicated software to configure the EQ and other parameters, bit pricey, especially if you buy the stands too. Dimensions are excellent for standing on a desk, much smaller than my old M-Audio AV42. Sound quality is ok, a bit too much bass for my taste, but good to listen to music, watching movies and playing games
I work from home and I’ve been using these on my desk for about 6 weeks now, so they’re well and truly broken in and I’m really happy with the sound (and volume) they produce. I have them plugged into the USB port on a MacBook Pro, and they’re sitting on Audioengine Ds1 speaker stands.
I was pleased to discover that the computer’s volume control still works, as I’d previously been using some old Creative desktop speakers plugged into the headphone port on my Dell monitor (which apparently has a built-in DAC) and with this setup I couldn’t adjust the volume from the computer. These speakers are pretty small compared to my old ones, and I was a bit skeptical about their power, but they’re able to cope with music loud enough to annoy the neighbours without a hint of distortion. They struggle a bit with really deep bass, but this is understandable given their size and there’s always the option of adding a subwoofer.
All in all, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these speakers. They may be a bit on the expensive side but they’re well built and will probably last you a lifetime 🙂
Great speakers, look great, speakers sound great, would be great with subwoofer.
These really give out a great sound, full of base. Nice.
Super quick delivery. Speakers are great, easy to connect to my turntable, great playing vynil agai
They sit either side of my computer monitor, they sit on the Oak work top upon Oak mini stands I put together to to get them at the correct height/angle.
I’m sitting very close to the speakers <1 metre from either.
The sound stage is very impressive. OK no great thumping base, but I could add a sub for that should I want it - which I don't.
They can go louder than I find comfortable - (Though I'm right on top of them - Not trying to fill a large room)
They were bought to replace my previous set-up because re-arranging my office meant there was no longer room for my old NAD 3020 amp and monitor speakers. This system had produced a sound superior to almost every friend's computer for many years and seen off about 10 upgraded computer towers... I thought they'd be sorely missed... but 5 days in with the Audioengines and I'm beginning to hear why they get rave reviews - I really like them !
OK - Gripes that the volume control is behind the left speaker, which for my set-up isn't the best of access...
(Memo to self that next keyboard will have a mechanical rotary volume control - the one thing I still miss from the NAD amp)
I use the A2+ in my office desk. Tried them at larger distances but the magic vanish. Perfect for the purpose but would never recommend them for an average quality main system. Maybe with a good subwoofer, but then price will more than duplicate and there are better choices. During work I only listen to classical music in solos and small orchestra formations. No idea about other kinds of music but would say not adequate for most symphonic, jazz or music that makes little sense without the low freqs IMO.
The quality of the included DAC is on par with the boxes. I tried with a better DAC and better USB cable without noticeable improvement.
These are worth every penny. Was concerned about spending this much but im glad I bit the bullet and got them because they’ve showed me what ive been missing using cheap logitech speakers for the past 10 years.
Great speakers. Although they are pricey they produce a crisp and full sound, even compared to my much bigger Kanto YU5. They are also beautiful and solidly built. The volume button in the back is slightly awkward but gives the front a sleek, clean look.
I rigged them up to a T1 MK2 TUBE USB DAC and using a Russian Gold Valve to drive the sound.
I prefer them to the Genelec 8010 because the sound is much bigger even if on some range the Genelec might give you more detail in some frequencies, the soundstage of the Audioengines are so much better overall.
I own these and I can confirm these are nothing short of amazing. They deliver a huge sound for such a small set of speakers and they are delightfully small.
I did buy the M Audio AV32s first but I sent them back as the bass distorted even at relatively low volumes. These Audioengines deliver rich and clear bass with no distortion
I use these for djaying in my front room. I DJ drum and bass as well as house music but didnt have much space for speakers so needed something small. These fit the bill. You will not find better speakers at this price point and at this size
I did a lot of research before buying these speakers, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The speakers are reassuingly heavy, well built and with quality connections. Connecting them via USB to my computer they were recognised instantly and ready to go.
The sound is incredibly clear, with fantastic range and rich bass even without a dedicated sub. The sound remains clear and detailed even when turned up to levels you’d never entertain when sat at your desk. Importantly, the speakers also look fantastic, with a clean, simple design that looks stylish and premium.
The speakers are just as comfortable with pumping out music while you work, or for gaming, where the bass and volume can really help with immersion.
I also purchased the stands, which position the speakers perfectly on the desk, but are possibly a bit expensive for what you get.
Overall, I can’t recommend these highly enough for anyone that is looking for a stylish desktop speaker setup with amaing sound. and who doesn’t want to have to resort to the usual plasticky and garish computer speaker options.
These sound fantastic, they’re not the best speakers for the price but they’re the best speakers of this size and look for the price. Unless you absolutely require nothing but the best these are the speakers to choose for sitting on a desk.
They do have an optional out for a subwoofer but they hardly need it.
In my sitting room I have an ancient pair of Spendor BC1 speakers with high quality amplification, tuner and CD. That system would cost 5000 to replace with new kit of the same standard.
Not to my surprise the quality is intermediate between the two.
I tend to listen to classical music at moderate levels – except when playing Wagner! These speakers are definitely good enough for me to listen to when at the computer or sitting elsewhere in the spare bedroom. I have the volume turned down quite low (12 o’clock on the control knob and 25% output from the computer). That’s plenty loud enough when sitting two feet in front of them, and I think that you could sit anywhere in a small room and never run out of power.
The bass is slightly boomy and you definitely would not want an external subwoofer. I am using the USB input. This does mean no tone control. I could use the headphone jack (also supplied) and use the PC soundcard which does have tone controls. On the other hand the soundcard within the computer probably has higher distortion anyway. I will experiment.
The main point is that I now have something worth listening to, and the freedom to listen to anything available over the internet. I bought the red ones and they are quite pretty.
Since writing this I have moved them from my desktop to a shelf above it, and found that the bass quality is less boomy and the stereo imaging a bit better. Even at this price level, care with speaker placement makes a difference. For your room and your ears, you may find the best place is not where I would put them.
Awesome speakers for their size, excellent sound quality.Very pleased with purchase,would recommend.
They are not cheap at all but look stunning, and sound good despite its size.
Bought these for my IMAC to replace some venerable Sennheiser speakers. Am using the USB connector but note this needs to be set up in preferences when using a MAC.
The quality of the sound is phenomenal and the speakers have turned my study into a concert hall!
I bought the horribly over priced but smart speaker stands and I would recommend them as they angle the speakers most effectively.
Overall, a very satisfying purchase.
Sound great. Amazing sound stage and power from something so tiny.
1. Noise floor is rather high for the purpose (you will hear hiss in a quiet studio).
2. Port makes quite a bit of wind noise. I plugged ports on mine (using them with a sub anyway) and the noise is completely gone.
Wow! Whatever desktop media speakers you’re using right now would have a real struggle competing with these for sound quality! They may not be the loudest on the block but what you get is pure gold…………Many manufacturers would charge you a lot more for this quality so get them before the folks at Audioengine realise they’ve underpriced!!!!
I have paired these with the Yamaha NSW – NS 300 sub woofer which as a pair completely blow my mind. They work amazingly well together with my PC. I’m using my onboard audio over 3.5mm headphone jack to my ASUS MAXIMUS HERO VII.
The combination of these speakers really does walk all over my old Corsair SP2500 which sadly died after 3 years. The Corsair speakers were good speakers in their own right but this combination is a night and day difference, very pleased indeed.
Sound is great, solid speakers, quality build, go up way louder than I could handle, top marks!
Amazing speakers. Ideal wireless sound solution with Raspberry Pi, thanks embedded USB DAC.
Good looking, powered desktop speakers. Very impressive sound for their size. I can compare them to similarly priced Bose Companion speakers, and they’re much better (better separation, more transparent, clean sound). The USB connection makes them sound even better. These are audiophile desktop speakers, not for gamers or drum n bass fans, i.e. clean, sound, decent bass, but as others have pointed out, not thud thud whopping bass. There is the option of a subwoofer if you are using them to power a room rather than simply desk use.
Of course, they’re small desktop speakers. Compared to my living room high end, large speakers, they don’t compare. If you’re looking for a powered speaker to compete with proper audio components, then this is not the right choice (though other Audioengine product may be, I don’t know).
Small size and bright enamel means they probably look a lot cleaner and better than the speakers they are replacing.
I was surprised by how nicely these speakers sound when you really turn it up. At first I wasn’t impressed, but that was because I had the volume turned down low, then I really decided to crank up the volume and they came alive. The sound was nice and filled the room nicely. There was a nice range of depth in the sound. My basis for comparison is that before these I have the Bose Companion 20 Desktop speakers and those are great and provide clear mids and highs with a deep low. These A2+ provide a deep sound. If the expectation is heavy bass, these alone won’t take on that task. While they do sound rich, if you really want bass that knocks pictures off the wall, you’ll want to add the subwoofer (sold separately). Otherwise, for a nice clean desktop setup, they’re incredible. The fact that power/volume knob is on the back doesn’t bother me as much as other people are saying. I think it’s great that the fronts are clean and minimalistic. I’d also highly recommend the DS1 speaker risers, as the incline makes the speaker point right at my ears/face for a truly emersive experience.
I think the Sennheisers were what set me on the path to really appreciating clean, neutral, flat acoustics without all kinds of crazy bass-boosting nonsense – and that was what drew my attention towards the Audioengine A2s. Suffice to say I’m not disappointed. I felt kind of bad or wondered if I was judging the previous speakers I tried too harshly, but these give me the exact sound I want so that’s kind of reassuring. Furthermore as someone who had really got used to listening to music solely through headphones, these are an original experience to me – I have to say I like it a lot, even the most expensive headphones just don’t give you the same kind of stereo / bass / imaging experience as (these) speakers.
The sound itself is hyper accurate, clean, the imaging is beautiful – with the speakers angled correctly you get an incredible sensation of the music almost being played in front of you. I can single out the individual instruments and listen more deeply into the tracks I’m hearing, hearing details I’ve never heard on songs I’ve heard hundreds of times. The bass is ultra controlled, snappy, punchy, and just exactly ‘where’ it needs to be acoustically, it’s almost kind of like having a separate subwoofer. I certainly don’t feel the need for a sub in this case. Vocals, mids, trebles are even better, they’re exceptional. I don’t know if there’s any genre of music that wouldn’t sound great on these, perhaps if you’re a hardcore drumnbass kind of guy these won’t blow the roof off in terms of the low end, but come on, these are PC multimedia speakers, if you wanted that you wouldn’t be looking at these in the first place. Ultimately they just make you want to listen to your whole music collection again.
I have the volume set to about 3 o’clock and Windows volume at about 5%… I live in an apartment so I really didn’t need some monster speakers like the A5s, and loudness-wise even these speakers have ten times as much power as I could ever need. Perfect for a small party with friends.
I haven’t purchased the (overpriced, but nice) angled stands you can buy yet but I’ll consider it given how good these are. This is the most amount of money I’ve personally spent on an audio product, from what I’ve researched and from listening to a mixture of systems I’d hazard a guess that these speakers probably give you 95% of what any set of speakers out there is going to give you for the price – and at probably a tenth of the outlay you could potentially invest in a sound system. What I mean to say I would actually look at it the other way and say this: spending much less than what Audioengine is asking for the A2s just doesn’t make sense, unless you really don’t care about sound quality you will ultimately end up buying something better at some point anyway, probably these very speakers for that matter.
In terms of the media you actually end up playing on them, I would emphasise the fact that with these speakers you’re lifting the ceiling in terms of the quality of the physical media i.e bitrate etc that you play on them. What that means is that these speakers love to be fed high quality media, cheap old mp3s might not fare so well on them, but that’s not their fault.
Also, weirdly one of the bags my speakers came in had a weird black stain on them, looked like spilled ink or something, no idea what it was.
No regrets having purchased this, expensive but totally worth it.
EDIT: A week after purchasing it I just noticed a tiny scuff mark on the Left speaker. Hopefully it’s not going to drive me crazy after spending all this money. Seems there may be some small QA issues going on here. Reduced 1 star.
Pro’s:
+Clear, quality, punchy sound in games( RTS/MMO) & music is equally so, picks up all the little backing lyrics/sounds really well.
+Nice stylish appearance, with 3 colour options available.
+Good quality feel, sturdy, solid weight wooden cabinets.
+That something extra packaging, everything comes in microfiber cloth bags.
+No sub, so takes up less room.
+A breeze to unbox & setup.
+No hassle, goes into power saving idle mode if no input for a period of time.
Con’s:
-Pricey.
-Volume control is somewhat awkwardly placed on the back of the power speaker.
-No sub, so less bass.
In conclusion, these Audioengine A2+W’s are a great replacement for our Corsair SP2500’s, very pleased with them. Having always had speakers with a sub, the lack of a sub made us hesitant initially, but actually it hasn’t been much of a miss at all in terms of our audio enjoyment, and the extra space is great to have. Highly recommended.
HOWEVER, the left hand speaker has now developed a fault, it emits a soft quiet buzzing. Worse this is an intermittent fault. Contacted AudioVisual Online & was instructed to return for examination (20 including insurance). Within ONE day I received an e-mail saying there was nothing wrong with them & to contact AudioVisual Online to arrange o pay for their return. What’s the point, they can’t be used
Having re-read several other reviews it is clear that there is a consensus, great speakers if nothing goes wrong with them, hard luck if it does,
The above review was given some weeks ago & I feel it only fair to update it.
After what I considered was an unsatisfactory initial response to my reporting that the speakers had developed a fault, my speakers were
replaced & I have had no further problems with them. One cannot really ask for more & they really are excellent speakers, clear, transparent
& detailed. No overwhelming thud thud thud bass, but if its on the recording one hears it.
I feel I have to raise my initial rating to fou
he speakers themselves are great. The only issue I had was the packaging. Once I opened the external box, there was quite a bit of sand in the box, and some of it had infiltrated the inner box. Made a bit of a mess in my living room as well. No effect on the appearance or performance of the speakers, though.
These are the best sounding mini bookshelf speakers I’ve ever owned. The sound quality is amazing. Add a subwoofer to improve the sound even more. Highly recommended.
Excellent, excellent sound quality – and set-up was a doddle.
Would highly recommend USB connectivity.
Minor complaint however. I know many audiophiles find speaker grills to be a little “naff” – and true they may well affect the sound quality. The problem with desktop speakers is that they are very close to moving hands, pens, objects etc etc and are therefore more vulnerable than normal. Personally I’d like to have the option of a removable grill so I can be allowed to prioritise protecting the drivers.
These just sound awesome on the desktop. They provide a really well defined sound stage and crisp clear audio. I like the clean silk black finish, which is elegant and unobtrusive; they go very nicely with a black monitor and keyboard. I've been listening to these for a couple of months now, mostly for classical and acoustic music, along with films and video. They do a great job with all of it.
I'm really glad of the upgrade from the totally adequate sounding Bose Companion 2 Series III Multimedia Speaker System – Black – worth every bit. I guess that I prefer the sound from my Monitor Audio Bronze 2 Walnut in the living room, but that is not really a fair comparison (they are much larger speakers together with a good quality separate amp).
I had a specific need for a pair of small powered monitors to sit on top of a Yamaha Silent B1 piano, to facilitate early morning practice without disturbing the neighbours while not using headphones. It took ages to find the right speakers but these are perfect. They sound superb, without the excessive boomy bass that the Yamaha can produce. They play well at low volumes and there is no distortion until the volume is well in excess of that of the actual piano.
(For a bit of a laugh, playing in non-silent mode with the speakers turned up produces an absolute beast of a sound – the closest I’ll get to owning a 9 foot Bsendorfer.)
I have also had them hooked them up to (extreme quality) Spotify and can vouch for their musical performance: good punchy sound and plenty of detail.
Highly recommended.
Great sound. Sturdy construction. Best desktop speakers I have owned. Very happy.
Excellent pair of speakers. If you don’t already own the A2s go for the A2+. The reason I mention that is because the A2+s have twice as much background noise as the original A2s. I placed them both side-by-side after making my purchase and the A2+s have a very distracting whooshing sound. Just a warning to those who are a little pickier than usual, like myself. Otherwise superb as always from audio engine.
Superb sound for the size.
Vocal clarity, good separation.
Surprisingly good bass.
Easy to set up! They are small but deliver absolutely great sound. When I opened them, my audio life has changed! 🙂 I can now hear sounds that I’ve never heard before. The sound is clear, crisp and the bass is great. I don’t know why people comment about the bass not being perfect… I found it really really good. I use an equalizer on my MacMini… but it’s at 5% since the speakers have already great frequency balance. They are not cheap but I recommend them 100%!
They get two thumbs up from me.Oh and I put rubber door stops under them to tilt them up in my direction towards my ears.Door stops are cheap,under $5.00 at a hardware store for a pack of 2.These speakers are a good buy.
My old speakers were much too bass heavy, these have a far more neutral sound; helps me to not make enemies of my neighbours!
If you are looking for a definitive speakers for you PC, are these.
Powerful bass and mindrage and treble area razor sharp for a very contained dimensions.
Whorth the money.
You will be surprised what they can do.
I already own the A5+ (See review) and was keen to get these for my stepson as an xmas present. Very impressed with the sound and when outside of the room from where they are played you would think that the speakers were four times the size. Perfect for a PC and also very portable for when he goes to Uni. No doubt he will be the one holding the parties!
The only slight niggle is that the power/volume switch is on the rear and therefore isn’t as handy as one would like. This does not justify taking away a star however and it’s a small price to pay for the aesthetics.
Highly recommended as a genuine upgrade for serious PC sounds.
I have had a pair of Audioengine 2 speakers for the past year , bought 2nd hand for under 100 on ebay, and thought they were great. Then last week disaster …first a loud humming , then nothing ……. They have a reputation for burn outs , but they were over 3 years old at least and probably more , so in a choice between Hamon Kardon Sticks or these , I decided to keep the faith ( helped by my wifes aversion to a sub woofer over the wooden living room ceiling) and ordered a new set of the Audioengine 2+ . I am blown away by the difference between the old 2’s and the new 2+’s …… the clarity and precision of the new speakers through the built in Dac , instead of using my pc’s sound card , is amazing …..lets hope they give me many years of happy listening !
Would have had 5 stars but the first set didn’t work. Second set came but with the wrong cables (no smartphone jack) however, once set up, all good. These speakers bang. Get some.
These little speakers are really great sounding additions to a small room or desk. Sound is clear and punchy, and while lacking in bass the lower frequencies seem tight and controlled.
Might be pricey but they sound a lot better than my previous Creative Gigaworks T20s. Well worth the extra cost.
For the use I had in mind – decent sound quality for playing music while I work at the desk in my study – these are superb. I managed to get them when Amazon was selling them at 131, plus an extra 10 off due to a one-day offer from Amazon. At that price, they are a steal. Having now tried them, I’d buy them even at a higher price.
I love how small they are (about the height of a paperback book). And how classy they look, with the polished white surface.
I’m not an audiophile, but to my ordinary ears these sound very good indeed. I have an Macbook Pro Retina, which has a very good digital converter, so I couldn’t hear any difference in sound quality between Aux cable and USB. (Went for Aux, as I only get 2 USB ports on my Macbook.)
For there size they are brilliant just what I needed.
Exceptional sound from these small form speakers. Have it connected directly to a Sony LP Turntable, perfect for an easy LP setup (no amp needed!). Un-boxing these speakers re-assures the quality all the cables and even the speakers are pouched independently.
These are fantastic little speakers, I have them hooked up to my TEAC TN-300 turntable and they sound superb.
So far the sound is great and they are the perfect size to blend into a room without taking over. I have ordered a sub to complement them though.
Very High quality speakers. Great mids and highs, good punchy bass for the size of speakers. Overall perfect for a desktop setup or something similar. Worth spending that extra bit more money!
Straight off the bat these are NOT high end speakers, nor are they designed to be or claimed to be.
These are premium speakers for your desk, and for what they are, they are very very good.
these are designed for close range listening and if you’re buying them for your tv or any other multimedia purposes where you wont be sitting fairly close to them you will find that while the mids and highs sound fantastic the bass falls away at distance.
I read a lot of reviews that said they got better sound out of the usb connection, in my experience I got better sound from 3.5mm jack, this is because my 2014 macbook has a 24bit/96000hz DAC inbuilt as opposed to the 16bit/48000hz of the speakers DAC, however the bass response was barely noticeably better over USB.
I came from a 2.1 speaker system and I thought I would miss the bass but for such a tiny little unit they pack plenty punch and if you are on the fence think of it this way, you either have one bass box with one speaker responsible for the bass or you have 2 separate speakers in each cabinet producing it’s own bass.
I have to say I miss having a remote and the rear mounted volume makes me miss a remote even more however if you plug these in and set the volume about half way you can get very good volume control through the PC/Mac/Phone/Tablet.
I would wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone wanting an upgrade for their desk without consuming a lot of desk space, or wanting speakers without a big bulky bass box.
My son is a very happy lad, speakers are just great, good sound quality.
– About as good and balanced as you will hear in this size and price of speaker.
– Very good mids and highs
– Adequate bass response if left as a 2.0 setup
– RCA outputs for any additional powered sub (2.1 setup) or speaker
– Regular speaker wire connections make it easy to cut the exact length you’ll need, whether it be across a desk or entire room.
– Both inputs work simultaneously
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
– Mounting hole is on bottom of speaker. This won’t be an issue for those who want to keep them on a desk, bookshelf, or use the audioengine stands. However, you will find that most wall mounts will connect to the back of a speaker, and those that connect to the bottom, usually have a shelf-like platform which is likely larger than the footprint of these tiny speakers.
– Volume control is on back. This also isn’t necessarily an issue; I’ve found it nice to set the source volume (PC, phone, etc.) to maximum, then the speaker volume to as loud as I would comfortably listen, and then I adjust the source volume from my couch depending on situation and media. (If you set the speaker volume to the maximum and just rely on adjusting your source volume, you’ll likely hear hissing/noise at lower source volumes from boosting a weak signal)
– These speakers will stand on their own, but while bass response is better than might be expected in this size of speaker, it is NOT great. If you want to hear BIG bass from an even smaller speaker, check out the Bose Soundlink Mini, which, while bassy, is also a bit warm sounding and small enough to be considered mono sound. These A2+’s have cleaner sound, and, as two separate units, allow for more depth as you widen the distance between them. I have connected my powered sub to these, which is VERY complimentary, and highly recommended.
Unboxing these speakers is a pleasure. Each speaker has its own bag as does the power pack, power lead and speaker cable. Unlike other reviews I have read of this product, mine was supplied with a UK plug already fitted.
Setup the speakers on my desk, connected up the USB cable, power pack and supplied speaker wire. Connected the USB cable from the speakers to my PC. Windows 7 recognised the new device but refused to install the driver. Tried to detect the driver from the windows update site and failed. Searched the web for a driver installation an no driver pack is available. Not even from the AudioEngine website. Upon checking device manager the device was detected as the AudioEngine A2+, under the properties the device said it was working. But looking at the driver it was not signed by Microsoft and had an error saying it could not load the software for install. I tested the USB auto install feature using a Digital camera plugged in to the same port. This installed fine and tried a USB printer on the same cable as the speakers and no issues.
After a quick google some suggestions were to remove the USB drivers from the PC, reboot and try again. Others suggested removing DLL’s from the windows folder. The last suggestion was one I was hoping I did not have to do and that was to reinstall windows. Sadly this was my last and final option. Luckily I had a backup of a base Windows 7 image. I restored this and plugged in the speakers. They detected and installed and were set as the default speakers under control panel.
I tested the music quality from Spotify using the high quality. The playback was beautiful, very clear and nice tones from the speakers. I did notice the bass was not as punchy as I was expecting but it’s not lacking. I am planning to add a separate subwoofer on the output of these speakers to complete the setup. I tried the input on the RCA from my turntable with built in preamp. Sound was clear and crisp and the cracks and pops from the Vinyl were more noticeable compared to my last pair of speakers.
I would recommend these speakers to prospective buyers. However I wanted to make people aware of the installation issues I experienced. Could just be my OS at fault but resulted in a wiping of the OS to get a set of speakers to work. A driver available on the website would be helpful and from an IT point of view would assist with fault finding.
Pros:
1. Great sound quality. Very solid bass (again, considering their size) but great bass regardless.
2. The have the potential to be loud – Loud enough to fill a fair sized room if you had a party.
3. They’re small, and easy to transport.
4. Brilliant support from AudioEngine.
Cons:
1. Minor issue here – They are susceptible to interference. I had them placed next to my sky hub (router) and they started making an occasional squeaking noise. Support from AudioEngine was great and the suggested that was the problem. I put a metal DVD case between them and problem solved.
Pro’s
– Crisp clear quality and you couldn’t ask for better sound from the size
– Small and compact and will look great anywhere (don’t be put off by their small size)
– Colour choices
– Great packaging and all come in nice bags
– Aux or plug it straight into your PC
– simple and easy to set up
– If you are looking for speakers that produce lots of bass then these could still fit in your category by buying a separate sub-woofer
– In your audio mixer or when changing sound devices on your pc its actually named “Audioengine 2+” which is great instead of “speakers” so if you have a lot of devices you are able to locate it easily
– No cons…
In my picture the monitor is 27inch for size compariso
Amazing speakers. Can’t speak highly enough of them. The sound is great but lacking in the bass which could be improved with a sub-woofer if needed.
These are far the best sounding speakers I have ever owned for my PC and I’ve tried a lot of different types and Setups
Great range and they get surprisingly loud for being as small as they are.
* Now I just need to get the Audioengine S8 Subwoofer to go with these 🙂
I highly recommend these speakers… they are grea
I needed a new pair of speakers for my office setup and didn’t want to break the bank but also wanted something solid and decent. After careful consideration I settled on a pair of the A2+ in white and have to say I’m very impressed.
Beautifully packed with all components supplied in their own cloth bags, the design is clean and they’re very solidly put together. The supplied cables are of a decent quality & length (for a desk based setup).
These speakers are pretty tiny and sit, unobtrusively, on my desk unnoticed by anyone until I start to play some music. Then they transform into room filling little beasts easily loud enough to sit at 30% volume for general day to day listening. I haven’t dared push them to 100% for more than a few seconds but a quick blast showed little degradation in sound quality.
If mega bass is your thing you’re going to be disappointed. Instead the A2s provide well balanced sound with clear mids, a decent amount of bass and clean crisp trebles. If you want more bass Audio engine do provide a companion sub woofer. The speakers fairly directional with bass dropping off to the rear of the units but if you’re in the sweet spot you’ll have plenty of lower end to keep you happy. Stereo separation is nothing short of amazing with whole new nuances presenting themselves in some tracks – equivalent to, and in some cases batter than, headphone listening.
I’ve run music through both the on-board DAC via USB from my MacBook Air (literally plug and play with no drivers needed), through the 3.5mm headphone jack from my mobile and AirStream devices and through the phono from my mixer. There’s very little to differentiate between the sound from the different inputs. USB was marginally cleaned with an uncompressed FLAC file but unless you’re playing insanely high quality music and have a perfect ear you’re unlikely to notice much of a difference in either quality or volume.
For the price I’d say you get a but more than you pay for! The sound is 5*, the units are attractive and the features, while straightforward, are perfectly implemented.
Blimey! It’s difficult to comprehend the quality of the sound that emanates from these tiny speakers. The bass doesn’t go really deep, but what could you expect from such small cabinets? The bass is astonishingly punchy and is accurate enough though. There is clarity to the midrange and a nice smooth sparkle at the high frequencies. I use them on a TV together with a DVD player. The input from the TV is via the 3.5mm jack and I use the rca phono input for the DVD player for best quality sound. The only downside of connecting this way, is that when playing a DVD, the sound is transfered through the TV via the HDMI connection, so both the sound from the TV AND that from the DVD (being directly connected to the speakers via rca phono) is played at the same time. You get an echo effect, but this is easily remedied by reducing the volume of the TV to zero. The sound from TV, DVD and CD is excellent. As a bonus, the TV is gloss white also, so a great match!
Unfortunately, one of the speakers (active left) of the first pair I purchased had a buzzy distortion, which showed itself when I played a sweep tone from 20Hz to 20KHz. so I had to make a return for a replacement pair. The replacement pair arrived before I’d despatched the first pair back to Amazon. This turned out to be very fortunate. One of the speakers (passive right) of the replacement pair also had the same buzzy distortion when the test tone was played. So I was in a position to be able to choose the good right speaker of the first pair, and the good left speaker of the replacement pair! A bit naughty perhaps but it saved hassle all round. The speakers are working superbly and I highly recommend them.
Maybe there are some quality control issues but I hope this doesn’t put anyone off. You’re covered by Amazon’s superb no quibble returns system.
Fantastic speakers – i bought them for my dorm room at uni and they are perfect – they can go so loud my whole floor can hear them if i wanted them to, the bass in my opinion is perfect but i don’t listen to heavy bass reliant music such as drum and bass. They are very clear – I’ve started to hear parts of songs i never knew existed, i would highly recommend them to anyone who wants great quality music to fill their room.
Note i’m not an audiophile, i just love the sound of these speakers in my personal opinion.
Came with a European plug so be warned, however CS knocked some money off so I was happy. They fit nicely next to my 27″ Thunderbolt Display.
I don’t know that much about music but from the music I’ve played through them it sounds superb to me however at 200 they were a bit on the expensive side.
If you don’t care about looks you will find equally good sound elsewhere for cheaper.
Awesome sound quality, meticulously well designed and well constructed. Each speaker fits snugly beneath my Iiyama 28 inch 4K monitor, one at each end of the screen.
This has truly transformed my desk top computing experience.
These speakers were ordered to sit next to my PC to listen to my iTunes music whilst working. Compared to my old 75 speakers and sub-woofer these things are in a different class. Brilliant soundstage, wonderful detail and a nice tone to the sound. I can listen to these all day long.
I’m really happy I bought these. A good buy and worth every penny spent.
The speakers are very nice. Small size and very powerfull. To achieve the best sound quality that they can provide, it’s necessary to set the equalizer of your music player. I was surprised by the power of the internal subwoofer, I thought it was weaker. Good choice.
1. The power cord supplied is a Euro two prong job. I didn’t think you were allowed to sell equipment without an adapter in the UK?
2. It would be much better if all the connections were also white, but I did know they were black when I ordered them.
Bought these on the strength of owning a pair of the previous model. So, happy with my purchase, but to be delighted I’d need the above 2 points addressed.
I can highly recommend these very powerful little speakers, they are absolutely amazing for playing music and video games at my desk. If you are looking for a set of compact powered desktop speakers with suberb sound at a great price then pick up a pair of Audioengine A2+ speakers today.
I’m very satisfied with this product. At first I wasn’t sure whether these speakers were the right purchase but once they were delivered and I started using them, I was very pleased. Great sound quality for good price.
UPDATE: 13 June 2014
As my experience with the speakers was far worst than what most people claimed in other reviews I decided to return them and get a new set.
The replacement arrived a few days ago (after a long delay because they were out of stock) and they perform significantly better.
Had I received the properly performing speakers in the first place then I would have given them 5 stars. However I will raise my rating from 3 to just 4, since there seems to be some quality control issues, at least in my case.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW 17 April 2014
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I bought these speakers based on the very good reviews but I have to say I am a bit disappointed.
These speakers look really nice and solid, exactly what I would expect for 180. Their size is good for my desk, anything bigger and it would look a ridiculous, which is the reason I avoided buying some bigger, uglier speakers.
Unfortunately I don’t feel I got my money’s worth in terms of sound. I didn’t expect them to be as good as my Hi-Fi system, but I expected them to sound better than my old Altec Lansing 2100 (2.1) and to blow out of the water the cheapo Logitech Z120 which I had been using as a temporary solution for the last few months. I remember my Altec Lansing system, which was less than half the price, sounding at least as good if not better than the A2s, and it was able to fill the room with music, while for the A2s you need to be very close to them in order to get good results.
And I had to do A/B testing to ensure that the A2s sound significantly better than the Logitech Z120!! Obviously the conclusion is that they do sound better, but the difference is not so great to justify the 15x price difference, especially when you consider the fact that the A2s are 4 times bigger and use a lot more watts than the USB driven Z120.
Pros:
– They look great
– Solid Build
– Flexible placement
– Good sound (but not good enough for the price)
Cons:
– Not a great value for money (unless looks is the most important factor)
– Volume knob at the back of the left speaker (It helps the looks of the speakers but it is not practical)
Conclusion:
These would be 5 star speakers for 80-90. If you don’t mind paying twice as much for the good looks and you absolutely need to have a 2.0 instead of a 2.1 speaker system then go for it.
Otherwise, you would probably be better off with bigger speakers (which might look ugly and not fit nicely on your desk) or, the best alternative in my opinion, a good 2.1 speaker system for the same price or less, which would give better sound, would have smaller satellite speakers which would fit even nicer on a desk and could also offer a remote with volume control, headphone out etc.
Amazing sound!! Big bass, compact set, impressive sound for its small size. USB or mini-jack bcable system. It’s better with rubber dedicated support.
I have had these 6 months now…
They are amazing, love the volume knob at back of speakers, the clarity is beautiful and punches well rounded bass.
The build quality is fantastic too and overall the sound is just fantastic, any song sounds good through these bad boys 🙂
Quick tip – use your equalizer on itunes to adjust the speaker sound to your taste…whether you want treble boosted or bass boosted etc.
It’s best that I explain at once that I am a composer (classical) and recordist of natural soundscapes, so the term ‘audiophile’ does not describe me precisely enough; I’m used to listening into the nature of sounds in a very analytical way as well as aesthetically, and wanting them reproduced accurately rather than necessarily pleasingly.
I wanted the A2+ speakers to replace my old Creative I-Trigue computer speakers. Really I wanted the Audioengine A5+ model, but simply hadn’t got the space for those on my computer desk.
Actually I got off to a bad start with this model. The first pair that I received were remarkably lacking in bass (which is widely claimed to be ‘deep, rich and tightly focused’ in this model, but certainly wasn’t like that at all for me), and were brash and aggressive in their upper range – this sounding like much more than their just needing breaking in. They sounded like the rather boxy and aggressive sound, lacking in real bass, that I associate with the majority of modern TVs. Very disappointing and indeed baffling after all the hype and glowing reviews for this model!
I contacted Ecodigital about this, and they immediately said this had to be a fault, and actually wanted me to return the pair (I was impressed!). At my request they very willingly extended the period in which I’d be entitled to a full refund upon return, as I wanted to check out the odd other alternatives before choosing finally whether to accept a refund or a replacement pair. In the event I didn’t find anything else that looked like being what I wanted, so, rather dubiously, I chose for a replacement, and this was actioned at once, so that the following day the new unit was delivered and the original one collected.
I was mighty glad in the event not to have been put off by that first pair. The replacement was immediately better. Its bass still wasn’t what I would call ‘deep and rich’, but at least it was miles better than from the original pair, and still pretty good for speakers of this diminutive size. Also the upper range sounded only a little aggressive initially, and that wore off very quickly over just a little test playing, so that then the overall sound was remarkably clear, neutral and ‘natural’ compared with most ‘hi-fi’ speakers that I’ve heard. By that time I’d also had a reply from Audioengine Support, as I had contacted them as well as Ecodigital, and they told me that the breaking-in period was important and would make a big difference, and about 40-50 hours of reasonably hard work for the speakers was required for that, so my initial impressions would not mean very much.
I note what another reviewer says about getting more bass using the USB connection. Unfortunately I could not do that, and had to use the line out jack socket from my computer, because I often use headphones for critical listening while editing my recordings, and plugging in my headphones mutes the line out connection but not the USB one.
I made an early significant improvement in the sound by purchasing a pair of the Audioengine DS1 wedge stands for speakers the size of the A2 models, and also by having a new plinth made for my computer monitor, to raise it a little more and present absolutely minimal desktop footprint. I was then able to bring the speakers forward so that their fronts were directly under the monitor and they had less (but still far from no) obstruction to their radiated soundwaves. The wedge stands were very effective in reducing sound transmission to the desk, but they did not altogether eliminate that, so that in very loud passages (e.g. the Tuba Mirum in Berlioz’ Requiem) I could feel with a hand that my desk was vibrating somewhat, including down the legs, with the potential to disturb my neighbour downstairs despite a concrete floor with soundproofing below the concrete.
There was no way I would have more or less continuously played music and my own natural soundscape recordings at quite a loud volume while I was wanting to get on with work at the computer, so necessarily the breaking-in has had to be a slow process, with only periodic bits of playing things that sufficiently challenged the speakers. Nonetheless, the change so far has been considerable – particularly as regards the bass. It’s still true that for genuine full range listening a subwoofer would be required (the manufacturers’ claims that a subwoofer isn’t required seem to me a bit nonsensical or dishonest unless they specify for what category of users a subwoofer wouldn’t be required!). Yes, the speaker cones do vibrate at very low frequencies, but they are too small to project much volume once you get below about 60Hz, which latter is the figure given for the bottom of this model’s official frequency range. However, even the small amount of very low frequencies coming through was very soon giving much more feeling of depth to the sound, and overall the sound was soon awesomely clear and lifelike, and indeed, ‘big’-sounding for such little speakers. My musical tests have all been with classical music, and have been extremely impressive, with Havergal Brian’s Gothic Symphony, Berlioz Requiem (in St Paul’s Cathedral), Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, Xenakis Nomos Gamma (with much heavy drumming and an enormous tapestry of fine details) and Messiaen’s organ work Messe de la Pentecte all coming out a treat. In all these works, not only were the very loud sections clear and distortion free, but the quieter parts were beautifully clear and neutral sounding, and at no time apart from the very beginning have I experienced over-brightness – just a beautifully precise clarity of sound, as though I were really listening to the original performances.
However, although for the most part the speakers’ sound seemed very neutral, there was and is a fly in the ointment, for I am noticing a resonance in the upper bass or lower midrange, depending on where one considers the demarcation to be. This made particularly drums of a certain pitch range too prominent and rather fatiguing to listen to if they were being used a lot in a particular work. In organ music, passages that used that ‘resonance’ frequency band tended to sound too penetrating and have, for example, any fluty sounds rather drowned out. Also, rumbles of thunder tended to suffer from this (some more than others), and sound too penetrating, with an unnatural rather vague ‘note’ to the sound. For the same reason, some sea and wind sound is rather blighted by this resonance, and my 41-minute spectacular close-up recording of the Shag Rock blowhole (near Perranporth, Cornwall), sounds really unpleasant, each intense heavy ‘whoooomph’ having a nasty penetrating quality that isn’t in the recording at all (as heard on my Castle Harlech floor-stander speakers and my Sony MDR-V6 headphones, and of course by my own ears during the recording session).
I have now conducted some tests using sinewave recordings, at -6dB amplitude, which is quite loud. Remarkably, I could just hear 30Hz. Indeed, I could just hear a trace even of 25Hz, though I can only just hear that frequency anyway at that playback level, and it would pass unnoticed in actual ‘real’ recordings. 35Hz was a little more distinct, and 40Hz much more so. It was when I ran a downloaded sinewave sweep from 20 to 200Hz that I found where the unwanted resonance was. There were actually two peaks, one around 150Hz and another around 175Hz, and quite marked. That represented the pitch region of about D3 to F3. However, I have no way of telling to what extent this is an issue of the speakers or simply of their decidedly non-ideal placement among all my computer stuff, so other users may or may not experience that, or indeed may get other resonances, which again would not necessarily reflect upon the speakers themselves.
I did get harmonic distortion giving spurious gentle higher tones when playing most of the very low frequency tones, BUT I found that some of this was showing up on the Musical Spectrum display in my music player, Foobar2000, which meant that it was coming from my computer system, not the speakers, so it looks as though overall any harmonic distortion produced actually by the speakers or their amp was, at most, much less than what I actually heard.
At the time of writing this I am still hearing improvements in the volume of very low frequencies – the bass increasingly justifying the description of ‘deep and rich’ despite all the initial appearances. Sorabji’s gargantuan First Organ Symphony now sounds quite apocalyptic at times, and even in its very quiet passages I can actually just hear frequencies around 30Hz, very frequently (sic) – the sound having quite breathtaking depth and ‘welly’ no matter whether quiet or loud. However, all that is for me sitting at the computer. When I get back from the computer, into the room at large, much less is heard of all those very low frequencies, though I can just hear them. So, I would say that these speakers are a long way from filling a room with what I would describe as a genuine ‘deep rich’ bass. I’ll not be ditching my (non-computer-connected) Castle Harlech floor-standers anytime soon in favour of anything smaller!
In summary, then, despite the fact that I wouldn’t describe these speakers quite as ‘full range’, at least for anything other than close-range listening, and I’m currently giving them the benefit of the doubt about that rather troublesome resonance that I’m getting, I award them 5 out of 5, taking into account their phenomenal overall sound quality for their small size and especially as used as computer speakers. But if you want to properly hear the ‘earthquake’ frequencies in the bass (and I’m referring to achieving a fully natural sound and not to the exaggerated bass that many pop / rock music devotees love), then you would still need to add a subwoofer.
Update, July 2015:
Quite soon after writing and more or less forgetting about this review I improved the A2+ sound by using the Audioengine D1 DAC and S8 subwoofer, and actually did a reasonable job of using graphic EQ to take out those upper bass peaks and make the lower midrange / upper bass quite reasonably neutral. After trying various EQ utilities I settled on Equalizer APO parametric equalizer, using the PEQGUI utility as a very serviceable front end for it, and that has done a very satisfactory job of applying the EQ to sound coming from anything in the computer, rather than just working with specific music players / editors as almost all others do.
However, that was not the end of the story, because the A2+ speakers had whetted my appetite for more of a genuine ‘monitor quality’ sound from my hi-fi system than I was getting from my old Castle Harlech floor-standing speakers. After a long and very expensive saga with trial and rejection of Audioengine A5+, Aktimate Mini and then Aktimate Blue, I finally gave up in exasperation with regard to active speakers for my main room ‘hi-fi’ and settled for B&W 685 S2 with Cyrus 8 DAC amplifier, with a DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core unit to fairly precisely EQ out all the room / speaker resonances affecting the speaker sound, together with a pair of BK XLS200-DF subwoofers, carefully adjusted before the Anti-Mode calibration. With that (relatively) monitor-quality setup and a wide stereo separation I get a much more three-dimensional, detailed and indeed more accurate soundstage, which makes the Audioengine A2+ sound small and altogether a bit crude, even though still very impressive for their diminutive size. Generally now when I’m editing new recordings of natural soundscapes that I’ve made I much prefer to have the sound routed from my computer to the hi-fi setup to get that bigger and much more lifelike soundstage.