Audioengine N22 Amplifier Review

[lordhumungous]

What garbage.

 

[GWolfman]

If the external surface is like their older black coating, the emulsifier [?] oozes out after a few years and gets all sticky to the touch...

This has happened to me before with other brands’ products. I had to remove the coating with orange oil or Goo Gone and rubbing alcohol, but it was never the same afterwards (for obvious reasons).

 

[prerich]

Ayyy, built-in Harman curve at no extra cost! What a bargain!

It does look like the Harman curve!!!

 

[sofrep811]

I’ve always wondered how well this desktop amp worked going at least ten years back. Almost bought it a couple times but only review I read was “sounds good” or whatever. I assumed better data than what you pulled from it.

 

[RandomEar]

Up until today, I mostly plotted the best of the best to see who came out ahead. But this one was so bad, that it called for its own little comparison:

And honestly: It's still better than what a certain mainstream manufacturer deemed "good enough" to sell in large quantities (looking at you, NAD). The N22 isn't a good amp, but for desktop use and as long as you stay below 10 W, I'd say this was acceptable 10 years ago.

Sources:

• Marantz PM-90
• NAD D3020
• Audioengine N22 -> This thread
• NAD 7050
• Aiyima A07
• Allo Volt+D

 

[warpdrive]

13 years ago I looked for amps that were small enough to place on a desk, and there were very few. There were lots of 5W Tripath units, expensive ones like the Parasound Z series (about $300), and some more expensive ones based around ICEPower 25W modules. This was kind of unique amongst the amps in that it was vertical, and promised better than average power (22W), two inputs, variable line out, and auto standby. It's too bad it doesn't meet the power spec, because if it did, it might be still be ok to buy. The FR bump is a bit unfortunate but pared with the typical small bookshelf, it might actually work out.

but for desktop use and as long as you stay below 10 W, I'd say this was acceptable 10 years ago.

 

[Fosi Audio]

We can be pretty sure this was done on purpose.

Which speaks badly of the trust we can give to this company.
Exclusion factor, in my view.

Many people love punch bass, so ~

 

[twistedin]

@amirm This is listed as "recommended" on the Master Audio Review Index FYI this should probably be fixed.

 

[NyquistRate]

13 years ago I looked for amps that were small enough to place on a desk, and there were very few. There were lots of 5W Tripath units, expensive ones like the Parasound Z series (about $300), and some more expensive ones based around ICEPower 25W modules. This was kind of unique amongst the amps in that it was vertical, and promised better than average power (22W), two inputs, variable line out, and auto standby. It's too bad it doesn't meet the power spec, because if it did, it might be still be ok to buy. The FR bump is a bit unfortunate but pared with the typical small bookshelf, it might actually work out.

Ditto. There wasn’t much available in the form factor, features (dual inputs, pass through output, 5VDC supply and decent posts along with other build quality) and price range. I opted for another headphone amp vs this use one but it was a nice step up from the Lepai. That 1dB of bass noise isn’t flat, of course, but I think there’s a lot of overreaction in this thread based on the intended usage.

 

[pablolie]

It seems the entire Audioengine product line is basically stuck in a time machine 10 years ago? I still have a pair of A5 (not in use currently) and just recently replaced a D1 with a JDS Labs Atom3. But it doesn't seem like they feel they need to come up with any major updates.

 

[raindance]

US standard in Audio quality is still lower than EU. That’s why I always prefer to buy EU speakers, such as UK.

Also, if you've heard of Brexit, UK isn't EU any longer .

 

[Namesbuck]

I actually still have this amp from over 8 years ago. Still works too. It's only ever been hooked up to the P4s and those speakers also have their issues to put it kindly. All of that said, this setup is what got me back into the hobby. Nowadays, the combo serves basement duty as part of my racing simulator rig which includes buttkickers for haptic feedback. Not disputing the measurements in anyway but I never hated the sound. This amp was designed to drive the P4s and clearly the P4s only. It was never dynamic or flat but it didn't sound terrible like the Tripath amps of the era. Those were truly awful.

 

[Namesbuck]

I actually still have this amp from over 8 years ago. Still works too. It's only ever been hooked up to the P4s and those speakers also have their issues to put it kindly. All of that said, this setup is what got me back into the hobby. Nowadays, the combo serves basement duty as part of my racing simulator rig which includes buttkickers for haptic feedback. Not disputing the measurements in anyway but I never hated the sound. This amp was designed to drive the P4s and clearly the P4s only. It was never dynamic or flat but it didn't sound terrible like the Tripath amps of the era. Those were truly awful.

I found this measurement for the P4s. I wonder what the combined measurement looks like.

 

[NyquistRate]

I found this measurement for the P4s. I wonder what the combined measurement looks like.View attachment 297996

Just add a dB on the low end.

 

[Namesbuck]

Just add a dB on the low end.

Yea so the combo makes for an arguably passable listening experience but the amp or speaker alone, are both failing.

 

[antoine2405]

It seems the entire Audioengine product line is basically stuck in a time machine 10 years ago? I still have a pair of A5 (not in use currently) and just recently replaced a D1 with a JDS Labs Atom3. But it doesn't seem like they feel they need to come up with any major updates.

Well, your day as come

AudioEngine just release N22 second generation

N22 (2nd Gen) Premium Desktop Audio Amplifier with Bluetooth — Audioengine

audioengine.com

Curious to know about the major update ??

 

[Namesbuck]

Well, your day as come

AudioEngine just release N22 second generation

N22 (2nd Gen) Premium Desktop Audio Amplifier with Bluetooth — Audioengine

audioengine.com

Curious to know about the major update ??

Class D now. RIP to the warmth lol.

 

[GWolfman]

@amirm I just saw this thread mentioned in Audio Judgement’s YouTube video (though without due credit) ~@5:56:

Glad to see your content is making an impact!

 

[jooc]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audioengine N22 desktop stereo amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $199.
View attachment 274528
Fit and finish seems quite high for the class. The volume control is analog but a reviewer said it has poor balance at low volumes.

The quality extends to the back of the unit with large binding posts and such:
View attachment 274530
Unusual in this day and age is the fact that the N22 is a class AB amplifier. It was released back in 2011 which explains the reasoning.

Audioengine N22 Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard of 5 watts into 4 ohms:
View attachment 274531

That is a lot of distortion, forcing the N22 to land in pretty poor category of our ratings:
View attachment 274532

FYI the amp took a long time to stabilize on power up:
View attachment 274533

As you see, we lost 4 dB as the unit warmed up! Pretty backward.

SNR is not bad and is typical of the desktop class:
View attachment 274535

Here is the really bad news:
View attachment 274536

Instead of a flat response, we have a bass boost! It is not documented either. Maybe they thought this would distinguish the amp in a crowded feel.

Crosstalk is decent:
View attachment 274541

Multitone performance is poor as you would expect:
View attachment 274537

And power is quite low:
View attachment 274538
View attachment 274539
View attachment 274540


Finally, we expect good transfer function from class AB amp and we get it:
View attachment 274542

But you also get elevated noise and very little power (just 12 watts at 20 Hz).

Conclusions
I guess we can cut audioengine some slack for N22 performance because it was produce many years before the crop of performant class D amplifiers. Still, I don't see why we couldn't have gotten flat frequency response. Or lower distortion.

Given the many better choices today, I can't recommend the audioengine N22.

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

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Just a heads-up, the overall listing sorted by manufacturer shows a "Yes" in the recommendation, when this is clearly a 'No'.

.