Audioengine A5+ Powered Speaker Review

[oneils]

Thanks for sharing the experience. I've got them on my nightstands so space is at a premium. I actually have found them to have decent bass for being so small. Trying to see if I can milk more without distortion. No real room for a sub. They look great given the color palette too.

What is that next to the clock? Reminds me of my old Creative Zen MP3 player from way back in 2003/2004.

 

[Druvicious]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audioengine A5+ powered bookshelf speaker. It is the one without the bluetooth which seems to have slightly different design (centered tweeter versus not). It was kindly loaned to me by a member and costs US $399 including Prime shipping from Amazon.

The A5+ is a hefty little speaker with very nice gloss finish:

View attachment 67174

A remote control is included for simple functions (volume, mute, etc.). The business end is in the back:

View attachment 67175

Unlike many budget powered monitors, the A5+ uses a linear power supply internally (as opposed to a laptop sized external power supply) which I appreciated it. It also eschews class D amps for traditional class AB amplification, hence the large heat sink in the back.

The crossover is passive by the way. This may be responsible for total lack of noise/hiss from the tweeter even when I put my ear next to it. A great benefit compared to a number of monitors which have annoying (but usually low level) hiss.

The slotted port is something I like as otherwise it can be annoying to have air pumped at your face when playing loud.

I should end this intro by saying that I have hardly had a good experience listening to these speakers at shows. They usually put them on a table chest high and play tracks on them which don't sound good to me.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

Spinorama Audio Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 67176

Most important curve here is the on-axis (or listening window) which shows pretty flat (for speakers) response sans a wide valley around upper bass. Whether that is on purpose and part of the amplification EQ or design of the speaker, I don't know. But I take higher bass output when I can have it as I can always turn that down.

We see some peaks in on-axis which survive when measured all around the speaker as indicated in blue and red curves, indicating resonances.

I can't find the crossover spec but would guess around 2.5 to 3 kHz. Around that region we find that off and on-axis responses don't quite match as well as they do elsewhere. There is a waveguide but perhaps is not fully optimized.

Early reflections in a room that are loudest and hence most influential in tonality we hear is not bad:

View attachment 67177

Putting it all together, we get a pretty good response in a hypothetical average listening room:

View attachment 67178

The only issue is that recessed upper bass making for an interesting test case of how important that region is.

Distortion tests show that we have a problem around 800 to 900 Hz region:

View attachment 67179

Problem is there even at 86 dB (left side). We can see the issue in the context of overall response:

View attachment 67180

I accept distortion/noise in low frequencies but like to see none in the above calibrated graph above that region.

As an aside, as indicated on the graph, these are "in-room" measurements that are then corrected to remove the effect of the room. As such, the graph is free of room modes which corrupts distortion measurements.

The CSD/Waterfall is created thee same way and seems to show the same problematic frequencies:

View attachment 67181

Horizontal directivity plot shows reasonable response in that axis with rather smooth and broad response off-axis:

View attachment 67182

Here is a new way to look at the same but just with equal level contours:

View attachment 67183

The red line is the frequency at which we drop -6 dB. We see that we have better than +-55 degrees before that happens. That gives more freedom to move left and right without the tonality to shift. Given the near-field application of these speakers, this is good to see.

Response is reasonable until -12/+12 dB (pink line). But when we go past that to -18/+18 we see that the shape changes so we lose our off-axis similarity around crossover region but regain it at higher frequencies.

Finally, here is the vertical directivity:
View attachment 67540

Speaker Listening Tests
I tested the A5+ speaker on my test in the usual left position. It is on a 5 inch or so stand pointing up a few degrees. I have a "2-second" rule with speaker tests where I listen for the immediate reaction to the first track I play. It quickly sets in the impression for tonality. Here, the experience was good! No hand came out of the speaker and slap me to say, "I am too bright!"

That peak in bass was a good idea, providing clean impactful low bass hits. SPL (loudness) capability was also excellent. Yes, I could get it to distort but despite playing only one speaker, it could get surprisingly loud while maintaining that bass response. Gradually though, scratching sound would appear, telling you to back off.

I listened on and a lot of my reference tracks translated reasonably well but perfection was not there. The sound was a bit dull. So I went into Roon player EQ and started to add filters one by one. I wound up with three:

View attachment 67184

I added that broad increase centered around 300 Hz to make up for lack of energy there. I usually don't like increasing levels in EQ as that can push the speaker and lead to distortion. Not here. The subjective experience was definitely positive resulting in useful low frequency ambiance with almost no impact on how loud the A5+ could play.

Now the sound was a bit bright on some tracks. So I went after the high frequency resonance around 4.4 kHz. Knocked that down by 2 dB and that took care of most of that and cleaned up the highs a bit.

With that experience behind me, I figured I knock out the resonance around 900 Hz which happened to also coincide with peak distortion. Wow, that cleaned up the distortion very nicely without hardly any impact on tonality. You could so easily hear it in vocals and even higher frequency notes. Transient notes because much cleaner and less grungy for lack of a better word. I need to record this effect some day so you all know what I am hearing.

The combination of three filters transformed the A5+ from "OK and good" to "really good!" I sat there listening to track after track, enjoying each one of them. That nice bass was there now together with smooth, balanced response.

Conclusions
You can buy $100 powered monitors these days. So $400 seems quite a reach in the age of commoditization. Fortunately if you care about fidelity, the Audioengine A5+ delivers. It has higher than normal power and bass capability. And with a bit of equalization, produces truly high fidelity experience on your desktop.

As such, the Audioengine A5+ gets my recommendation and changes my opinion of the company/brand.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Since Sir @Thomas savage did not show up for his weed pulling duty during spring here in our yard, I had to buy a truckload of compost to put in our garden to keep the weeds down. The bill? A cool $1000! Needless to say, I feel quite poor now and badly need cash infusion. So reach deep in your pocket and donate what you can using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

I have had these speakers for years, and initially utilized them with a TV, replacing the soundbar I had. Over the years I got more into traditional home theater, so these were relegated to the closet as my AVR didn’t have pre-outs. Fast-forward to a few weeks ago, I figured out how to deactivate the internal amp and added them back to my 5.1.2 setup . My question for you is, now powered via an external amp, do you think the CEA 2034 graph would show reduced DB overall? I’ve never seen a bookshelf speaker with such high DB’s on that graph, and not sure if that’s because of the internal amp or the speaker itself?

 

[thewas]

I’ve never seen a bookshelf speaker with such high DB’s on that graph, and not sure if that’s because of the internal amp or the speaker itself?

The SPL level doesn't mean much there, for passive loudspeakers it is usually shown for 1 W or 2,83 V and 1 m distance, at this active it was just shown for an arbitrary amplification level.

 

[Construct]

I have had these speakers for years, and initially utilized them with a TV, replacing the soundbar I had. Over the years I got more into traditional home theater, so these were relegated to the closet as my AVR didn’t have pre-outs. Fast-forward to a few weeks ago, I figured out how to deactivate the internal amp and added them back to my 5.1.2 setup . My question for you is, now powered via an external amp, do you think the CEA 2034 graph would show reduced DB overall? I’ve never seen a bookshelf speaker with such high DB’s on that graph, and not sure if that’s because of the internal amp or the speaker itself?

According to an earlier post in this thread, the A5 amplifier has a heavily equalized output designed specifically for these speakers: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-a5-powered-speaker-review.13803/post-421430

For that reason, I wouldn't want to run these with an external amplifier. The sound profile would be completely wrong unless you duplicated the EQ of the A5+ amplifier.

 

[Scrappy]

"Less bad than expected", I guess. Passive speakers with builtin amplifiers are dumb, though.

But convienent. Wonder if there’s filters on the module’s front end?

 

[Construct]

But convienent. Wonder if there’s filters on the module’s front end?

The amplifier does appear to have some EQ built-in, as you suspected: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-a5-powered-speaker-review.13803/post-421430


I actually don't understand some of the animosity toward these speakers. They're in a great spot for price/performance on the charts. They're not perfect, but some of the imperfections respond very well to minor EQ changes as Amir noted in the review. The built-in amplifier is very convenient for desktop use and it has a good noise floor.

I wonder if people dislike them because they feel too mass-market? Regardless, I've been happy with mine as desktop PC speakers for a very long time. Every time I explore upgrade options from the A5+ it feels like my options are:

1) Lateral move to similarly-performing speaker (JBL 305P MkII maybe?)

2) Spending a lot more money (Genelec 8010A or Neumann KH 80 DSP would sound lightly better, but at twice the price or more)

3) Taking up a lot more space on my desk (The A5+ are at the limit of what I feel comfortable putting on my desk)

 

[Old Listener]

The amplifier does appear to have some EQ built-in, as you suspected: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-a5-powered-speaker-review.13803/post-421430


I actually don't understand some of the animosity toward these speakers. They're in a great spot for price/performance on the charts. They're not perfect, but some of the imperfections respond very well to minor EQ changes as Amir noted in the review. The built-in amplifier is very convenient for desktop use and it has a good noise floor.

I wonder if people dislike them because they feel too mass-market? Regardless, I've been happy with mine as desktop PC speakers for a very long time. Every time I explore upgrade options from the A5+ it feels like my options are:

1) Lateral move to similarly-performing speaker (JBL 305P MkII maybe?)

2) Spending a lot more money (Genelec 8010A or Neumann KH 80 DSP would sound lightly better, but at twice the price or more)

3) Taking up a lot more space on my desk (The A5+ are at the limit of what I feel comfortable putting on my desk)

Yes, too mass market for some fetishists here. Being merely powered rather than active is a much bigger fault.

Another upgrade option: Get a calibrated measurement microphone, install REW s/w on your computer and see how your speakers are performing in your room. Then get some means to use DSP based room correction in your system and make appropriate corrections.

After these steps you may still want to upgrade your speakers. You will know more about what to look for in more expensive speakers.

 

[warpdrive]

Yeah, these are surprisingly competent for "mainstream" brand sold in every computer and electronics store. I had some Audioengine A2 and they were junk, but these look like something I could be happy with. It's offered in a bamboo finish which is quite unique looking.

 

[Druvicious]

According to an earlier post in this thread, the A5 amplifier has a heavily equalized output designed specifically for these speakers: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...e-a5-powered-speaker-review.13803/post-421430

For that reason, I wouldn't want to run these with an external amplifier. The sound profile would be completely wrong unless you duplicated the EQ of the A5+ amplifier.

I bypassed the amp, not the crossover.

 

[Construct]

I bypassed the amp, not the crossover.

That linked chart is titled "output of the amplifier". Unless I'm misreading it, they didn't measure the crossover.

I wouldn't assume 100% of the EQ and shaping happens in the passive crossover network. It's much cheaper to do EQ with small passives on the amplifier side than it is to do it with high-power passives after the amplifier.

 

[Druvicious]

That linked chart is titled "output of the amplifier". Unless I'm misreading it, they didn't measure the crossover.

I wouldn't assume 100% of the EQ and shaping happens in the passive crossover network. It's much cheaper to do EQ with small passives on the amplifier side than it is to do it with high-power passives after the amplifier.

Well, I guess I need to do some measurements and equalize accordingly (if needed). Appreciate the response.

 

[Construct]

Would be interesting to get your measurements. I could be misreading that old post.

But if the systems needs EQ (not just crossover filtering frequencies to each driver) then the engineer inside of me would much prefer doing it with cheap SMT passives on the amp board.

 

[Druvicious]

Would be interesting to get your measurements. I could be misreading that old post.

But if the systems needs EQ (not just crossover filtering frequencies to each driver) then the engineer inside of me would much prefer doing it with cheap SMT passives on the amp board.

Here is a combined left/right graph on-axis SPL @ 1M. It's honestly the first time every taking speaker measurements, but I did follow the instructions laid-out here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-spinoramas-with-rew-and-vituixcad.21860/

I conducted a gated test, and from what I've read in the link above, the 1m test isn't accurate for bass less than 200hz. I'm not sure if I really care that much about measuring this speaker under 200hz, as most EQ'ing seems to be higher than that (plus I have two subs).

 

[Druvicious]

Here is a combined left/right graph on-axis SPL @ 1M. It's honestly the first time every taking speaker measurements, but I did follow the instructions laid-out here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-spinoramas-with-rew-and-vituixcad.21860/

I conducted a gated test, and from what I've read in the link above, the 1m test isn't accurate for bass less than 200hz. I'm not sure if I really care that much about measuring this speaker under 200hz, as most EQ'ing seems to be higher than that (plus I have two subs).

BTW, I don’t trust the frequency response above 80-10k hz. I have 8 ft ceilings & carpet. I tried to get the speakers to at least 4 feet off the ground, but that meant the tweeters were 4’8” off the ground, but only 3’2” from the ceiling. I’m guessing the upward trend from 8k-20k was ceiling reflection.

 

[King3567]

I've been using my main 2.0 system in the living room for a number of years.

I am adding some square footage to my house, which means I can take my 2.0 system elsewhere. However, I will still need some sort of speaker setup in the living room to connect directly to the TV. I use my smart TV with Spotify a lot when I'm with the family. My wife uses it is as well. One of my objectives is to simplify everything. Ideally, we would be able to connect to the speakers via BT. Of course, you can buy an external dongle and attach that to a pair of powered monitors (Kali LP-6 or such, for example), but I really like the Audioengine A5+ having built in BT. This would allow my wife to easily connect to the speakers from her phone, and play Spotify directly from the phone over BT. It also will double as a reasonably decent set of speakers for me on the occasions that I am hanging out in the living room with my family and listening to music.

Does anybody have any comments on my proposed setup there, or other products which offer a similar value proposition of ease-of-use and OK sound quality? Many times I also am in my kitchen cooking dinner (directly adjacent to the living room), so its not exactly a critical listening environment. I feel like these actually are a nice combination of quality and livability for the family. Comments?

Thanks!

 

[Killingbeans]

Does anybody have any comments on my proposed setup there, or other products which offer a similar value proposition of ease-of-use and OK sound quality?

I can only think of Kef LS50 Wireless II. Definitely good sound quality, but quite a lot more expensive. Probably overkill.

 

[Ellebob]

The Kef mentioned above or their smaller LSX II but won't play as loud. Add a sub. I have the LSX II in my family room with a Kali WS-6.2 sub. Kali sub definitely nicer than Kef KC-62 and less expensive. Although, not as aesthetic, but still small enough not to be obtrusive.

I think the Kefs work great for this application especially with HDMI ARC input. They have Spotify built in their app and you can prioritize TV so it automatically switches back to TV when the TV gets turned on. You can also turn that feature off if you want to watch TV and still listen to Spotify.

I hope more manufacturers come out with wireless speakers with HDMI ARC.

 

[King3567]

Thanks both - have heard of both of those options and looked at them, but didn’t realize the lsx 2 was such a well optioned solution. Of course price is a big factor, the AE5 is a really good price for the package I feel, and with the little kiddos running around I’m not sure about a sub. Definitely would love to have that setup though. Will take a look. Any other suggestions much appreciated. Thanks again

 

[warpdrive]

I've been using my main 2.0 system in the living room for a number of years.

I am adding some square footage to my house, which means I can take my 2.0 system elsewhere. However, I will still need some sort of speaker setup in the living room to connect directly to the TV. I

I would go with a Wiim Pro amplifier, and choose some good passive speakers. In terms of ease of use, this is excellent because

1) It has a HDMI ARC port. That means the TV's audio can be routed to the Amp/Speakers. The power and volume of the Amp is controlled by the TV's remote (using HDMI CEC), so it's seamless to use as TV speaker replacement.
2) It handles all the streaming services....and supports casting via Airplay and Chromecast.
3) Supports multiroom audio....just add more units.

Pick a good passive speaker like a Wharfedale 12.1 and you have yourself a great hub for all your music needs and the system acts as a 2.0 or 2.1 music centric system.

Also it has a proper subwoofer output with a user adjustable crossover (a real crossover is missing from most consumer amps until very recently). This is a biggy if you ever want to expand to 2.1. Previously you would have to spend a lot more for either a AVR or something like a Bluesound Powernode for an amp that properly supports a subwoofer.

If you don't want passive speakers, the alterantive would be the ELAC Connex powered speaker. This also has HDMI ARC connection so it is also seamless and your TV will control the speaker's volume and power and can route its audio to the speaker. The Connex has other inputs so you can hook up other audio sources as well if you have a streaming box.

But overall the Wiim Pro is a game changer and seems like the best solution for a one-and-done audio system.

 

[King3567]

I would go with a Wiim Pro amplifier, and choose some good passive speakers. In terms of ease of use, this is excellent because

1) It has a HDMI ARC port. That means the TV's audio can be routed to the Amp/Speakers. The power and volume of the Amp is controlled by the TV's remote (using HDMI CEC), so it's seamless to use as TV speaker replacement.
2) It handles all the streaming services....and supports casting via Airplay and Chromecast.
3) Supports multiroom audio....just add more units.

Pick a good passive speaker like a Wharfedale 12.1 and you have yourself a great hub for all your music needs and the system acts as a 2.0 or 2.1 music centric system.

Also it has a proper subwoofer output with a user adjustable crossover (a real crossover is missing from most consumer amps until very recently). This is a biggy if you ever want to expand to 2.1. Previously you would have to spend a lot more for either a AVR or something like a Bluesound Powernode for an amp that properly supports a subwoofer.

If you don't want passive speakers, the alterantive would be the ELAC Connex powered speaker. This also has HDMI ARC connection so it is also seamless and your TV will control the speaker's volume and power and can route its audio to the speaker. The Connex has other inputs so you can hook up other audio sources as well if you have a streaming box.

But overall the Wiim Pro is a game changer and seems like the best solution for a one-and-done audio system.

Thank you - a very interesting product

Actually, I'm almost seeing the WiiM as something that could go with the LS50 Meta - basically making your own LS50W (I'm sure there are some compromises) but keeping the complex electronics packaging separated from your expensive passives. I really like the look of this kind of product, will take a closer look at it - thanks.