No i'm not talking about sports matchups (this is ASR after all) but two speaker companies-one hailing from Vancouver and the other, Austin. The similarities start there as both are desirable cities of similar sizes and the similarities continue with their products, pricing, specs and looks. Both companies were even founded the same year-2007
If you haven't figured it out yet i'm talking about Kanto and Audioengine. For me it all started with buying Kanto's desktop speaker stands as I own myriad desktop speakers but of course Audioengine also sell desktop speaker stands but as Kanto's were cheaper I went with theirs. Later on I found a great deal on a used set of Audioengine A5+ speakers so I grabbed them followed by a new Audioengine sub which I wanted so badly I paid full price for and still feel like I easily got my money's worth, finally culminating in a new pair of Kanto Tuk's. Even at a significant discount the Tuk's are the most expensive speakers i've ever owned and the most expensive speakers made by either company. As much as I like the Tuk's, they are so feature filled they're actually annoying, the owner's manual is 16 pages long! For a pair of speakers! The only other speakers I can imagine that are more complicated are the KEF LS50's. Comparatively the A5+ owner's manual is 9 pages long. In terms of sound and looks the Tuk's win but in terms of reliability Audioengine wins as i've never had any problems with either the A5+ speakers (even though I got them used) or the sub. The Tuk's on the other hand have already been replaced with a new set as the first set would occasionally power surge. Being Canadian myself i'd love to root for the home team but overall I'd have to give the victory to Audioengine even though the Tuk's look and sound better
Thoughts? Experiences?
