Audioengine A2 White (Pr) 2-way Powered Speaker System
by Audioengine
Our Price: $199.00
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: Personal Computer
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: AudioengineBrand: Audioengine
Edition: Personal Computers
Release Date: 2010-10-20
Model: A2 White
Color: White
Publisher: Audioengine
Studio: Audioengine
Music Label: Audioengine
Product features:
- 2 audio inputs (RCA and mini-jack)
- Built-in power amps (left speaker)
- Kevlar woofers for super low end, Silk tweeters for smooth highs
- Auto-sleep power-saving mode
- Hand-built cabinets with high-gloss finish
- Audioengine A2 Black (Pr) 2-way Powered Speaker System
- Audioengine W1 Wireless Audio Adapter
- Audioengine AW2 Premium Wireless Adapter for iPod
- Audioengine A5 White (Pr) 2-way Powered Speaker System
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Audioengine A2 White (Pr) 2-way Powered Speaker System
Customer Review: Sound disappointing for price + not shipped as pictured (new design ugly)
Summary: 1 Stars
The speakers being shipped by AudioEngine (and sold through Amazon and other outlets) are not as pictured on the AudioEngine website or in Amazon's official photos. They now have a large, hideously ugly name and logo printed across the front of the speaker, completely ruining their formerly clean and attractive design. They will no longer be usable in my living room where I intended to put them. These are very expensive speakers for what they are and their visual appearance is critically important to their appeal. Not even the cheap and decent-sounding alternatives have such a grotesque corporate logo on them. I am not paying these people large sums of money to turn my living room into a billboard. The old design had AudioEngine's name clearly printed on the back for anyone who wanted to identify the speakers. Now it's just a crass advertisement at your expense.
I am extraordinarily disappointed. Check the user photos here on Amazon to see for yourself.
UPDATE: My second pair arrived without the ugly logo on the front. It looks like they were clearing out some stock from last month, so I got lucky with that pair. However, my rating still stands since the newer production runs appear to have the hideous logo. They need to end this and return to the original, attractive design.
SOUND: So what about the sound quality? Well, it's good, but not that good. It is not a 159 dollar improvement over my 40 dollar JBL Duet speakers. I have a very good audiophile system for reference (American, hand-made components), and I'm listening to the A2s through a USB DAC (burr-brown chip) with it's own regulated power supply; my source files are uncompressed audio.
The A2s are not anything like audiophile speakers as some have excitedly claimed. The A2s have an exaggerated bass response (even after elevating the front off of the desk) and this produces a recessed and thin midrange compared to a neutral and balanced speaker design. In short, they are made to appeal to someone who wants to listen to pop music with bass boost turned on. With that said, the bass is much more detailed than typically found in consumer audio. And the bass is better than the JBL duet speakers. But for such an expensive speaker (for its purpose), the A2 gets it wrong and is disappointing. [N.B. The mid-range improves greatly with the substitution of decent speaker wire. The supplied lamp cord speaker connector is horrendous. The bass is still over-emphasized, however, and the listening fatigue is still there.]
The speakers are also fatiguing to listen to. This seems primarily to be due to the outdated amplifier in the speakers. AudioEngine has chosen not to use a digital amp, and this is a big mistake. Older, analogue amps (like the class A/B amp in the A2s) sound far inferior to digital amps in this price range. A modern digital amp like the Tripath would have sounded much better, and much less fatiguing for the price.
The internal amp cannot be bypassed, so there is no option use these as normal, passive loudspeakers. You are stuck with the limitations of whatever amp they decided to put in there.
The speakers also have a number of other significant design limitations. Firstly, they must be angled off of the desktop and preferably elevated to sound halfway acceptable. If you just set them on the desktop you get thumpy thumpy mud sound. AudioEngine doesn't provide (even as an extra option) a small stand to do this, however, so you'll have to jerry rig something.
The A2s also have the volume adjustment located on the back, which is highly inconvenient. This is the place where you want to adjust the volume, NOT in the computer. The sound quality is degraded if you turn down the source signal (the computer output to the DAC in this case). The DAC needs to see a good, full signal to do its best. So the decision to move the volume knob to the back of the A2 is a pain since it needs to be accessible.
Overall I would give these 3 stars for sound alone, considering their price, the overemphasized bass, the mid-range weakness, the mediocre amp that causes listening fatigue and can't be bypassed, the finicky sensitivity to positioning on the desktop, and the bad design making the volume knob hard to access. I am on the fence about keeping these or returning them and getting another pair of the JBL's (which get me 80-90% of what the A2s do). The 159 dollars savings is a big tempation.
Description of Audioengine A2 White (Pr) 2-way Powered Speaker System
Creating powered multimedia speakers to follow the Audioengine 5 was a challenge, but we feel we've managed to duplicate the signature sound of the Audioengine 5's in a much smaller package perfectly suited for your desktop or a smaller space in your home or office. The Audioengine 2 is a great introduction to high-quality audio and the perfect upgrade for your computer or iPod.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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