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Audioengine A5+ Powered Speaker Review

laurelkurt

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I have these as desktop speakers. They sound full and punchy up close and close to the wall and get plenty loud in nearfield. They sounded terrible on stands out 2 feet from the wall when used as TV speakers, even with 2 subs.

If I turn up the volume on the active speaker too high I get a good amount of noise from my PC. (little ticks, hiss, and a slight buzz)

I'd like to see kef LS50w tested, but I'm not volunteering mine!
 

wwenze

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Vs the 305P, the preference score is higher for all circumstances. However, I would still EQ that mid-bass dip up.

This is going to be awkward to the current common belief. :oops:

That said, I'm a believer that many of the well-known speakers would probably get a good rating and FR here, seeing they already get good FR elsewhere. Differences exist but they are minor by measurement standards. Yet these differences cause big swings in subjective preferences.

Also it would get reeeeeeeeeally awkward if there are many $400 and below speakers that end up measuring better than the average of more expensive speakers in general, tho I won't be surprised if that happens. LS50's preference score of 4.5 vs this's 4.9, does it match people's experience? I think so.
 
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MZKM

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What about if both speakers were EQed to flat listening window?
Depends how well you can EQ each and how well it takes to the EQ. In these cases, and assuming a subwoofer with a true crossover, O would then suggest looking at the directivity index of the speakers, seeing which is most smooth and has either wider or narrower directivity (depends what you like), as well as looking at the normalized horizontal and vertical directivity graphs, so you can see how well they image as well as how well they retain their tonal balance when you aren’t on-axis in the vertical plane.
 

restorer-john

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@amirm The right speaker is clearly driven passively by the internal amplifier in the left speaker.

Has Audioengine filled the right speaker with an appropriate "dummy" volume/spacer so the two speakers have the same internal volume and same acoustic characteristics? Did you test the passively driven speaker? I say this as some such implementations do not take this into account or have empty plastic dummy amps that vibrate and resonate in the passive speaker. In other words, the two speakers in a pair do not perform exactly the same.

Rear pic of 5+:

1591316958942.png
 
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amirm

amirm

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I only have the unit with amps in it so can't test the other. It would be a pin anyway as the wire connection to it from the other speaker would tangle all around the robotic fixture.

Good point though about volume differences.
 

Xyrium

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Good to know this is still a good speaker despite its hyped up subjective reviews ;)
Agreed. I was almost hoping for horrendous results. At the price...I suppose the distortion isn't too horrible.
 

pozz

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@amirm Can you please post the vertical directivity plot?
 

Music1969

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Yes. It is there by default and you can change its level if you want.

The feature is there but it isn't "on" by default - you always need to enable this manually, for any DSP you enable.
 

Wes

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I have Monitor Audio BX8's on my desktop nos, so my question is whether these are better...
 

ernestcarl

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I owned these speakers for a few years. Turns out they're not as bad as I thought... But, I never really liked it with vocals and classical music. Then again, my point of comparison was the KH120s which ultimately replaced them in my office desk.

*I might have owned the older version -- can't quite remember.
 

ShiZo

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lol no matter how hard i try I cant read measurements on speakers
 
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ernestcarl

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I guess Zeos is much more sensitive to that bass dip, he just reviewed them yesterday and said:
"These are some of the most boring speakers ever."

Well, I certainly agree with Zeos' opinion that these sound boring -- but, IME, even moreso in the high frequencies -- but I compared them with the KH120s -- whose own treble 'some' people complain about as being overly harsh as well.
 

Xyrium

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Well, I certainly agree with Zeos' opinion that these sound boring -- but, IME, even moreso in the high frequencies -- but I compared them with the KH120s -- whose own treble 'some' people complain about as being overly harsh as well.

To each their own, but I've stumbled upon that wreck of a channel before, and it's not something worth revisiting; imvho of course. If a musical instrument fell on that "reviewer", he wouldn't know what it sounded like when it hit him, and reverbated within the room. :)

Edit: Timbre kinda escapes the grasp of those who listen to electronica, full time.
 

wwenze

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I can agree with "boring". Also "not epic enough", which may be attributed to the broad dip at 300Hz

But I also couldn't find any other major fault with the speaker. It is boring in both good and bad ways. Although I felt the treble sounded a bit weird (Not too bright or too hot, just weird.)

Audioengine is like the Apple of speakers - Somewhat expensive, but has enough performance to not make people complain. Good at marketing. Looks stylish, which can make people feel money is spent on looks. And after a few years the woofer surround turns white, the tweeter starts collecting dust, volumn knob gets stick, and the electronics die.
 

wwenze

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https://www.techspot.com/review/1595-audioengine-a5-plus-wireless-speakers/

[ For the A5+ Wireless, I measured this point to be right around 2KHz. The two separate outputs then drive the woofer and tweeter. Splitting up the audio this way allows for a better playback than a single speaker solution since each driver is tuned to a specific frequency. Considering how solid the external speaker wire was, I was a bit surprised at the thinness of the internal wiring. These aren't made to be ultra-powerful loudspeakers so it's probably not a big deal. What is good to see though is the ample acoustic padding to prevent echoing and internal vibrations. ]

2018-03-21-thumb.jpg


[ Moving to the left speaker, we find all of the interesting components. Immediately noticeable is the massive toroidal power transformer that gives the A5+ Wireless a peak output of 150W. This style of transformer is more expensive than traditional "E" and "I" transformers, but they radiate less magnetic interference which can help cut down on noise... ]

2018-03-21-thumb-2.jpg

Interestingly, techspot also has measurements of A5+, but they put it in the Airpulse A300 review

2018-12-17-image-3.png
 
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