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Audioengine A2 Computer Speakers
Introduction
Audiophilic equipment is a sucker's lot. There are more Monsters in the market than Shures, and the money they don't spend on audio they spend on marketing. There are companies that just want your money and then there's Audioengine. Granted, Audioengine doesn't sell anything for less than a Benjamin. It's just... they could charge so much more. When I reviewed their luscious A5s, my own music, music that I leave playing all the time, music that I can play in my head sans stereo, I... it mesmerized me. There was so much I didn't know I was missing, so much that I didn't expect to be able to hear without some studio phones. I will test these smaller, "desktop" speakers against a high standard. I will test them on an Audioengine standard. First Looks Just like the larger "bookshelf" speakers, you wouldn't notice the A2s by sight alone. They're small, oblique, and plain. They are, perhaps fortunately, the polar opposite of Bose anythings. (I'd want to disassociate with Bose.) Each hand-gloss-finished square (6"H x 4"W x 5.25"D) comes in a cloth sack, with the accessory cables in a third draw-string bag, and the power supply in a fourth. I have to admit, now that I've lived with the A5s, I've come to appreciate the minimalism. Although these do look a little sharper, with all the gloss. But looks are a distant second compared to how they sound.     Each speaker houses two drivers, a 20mm silk dome tweeter identical to the A5's, and a 2.5" Kevlar woofer. The cabinets are 18mm thick MDF. The amped speaker weighs about four pounds, the other three. Along with the amp, there's a 3.5mm input jack, output posts for the left speaker, a power input (DC from a separate power supply), the power switch, and volume control knob. The left speaker is all speaker, connected to the first by good ol' speaker wire (16AWG, or about 18 gauge) and gold-plated binding posts. The DC-to-AC power supply has a DIN connector, and is slightly larger than an average laptop PSU. The complete list of accessories is:
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1 User Comment 1 - Posted by
Max Slowik
on May 28, 2008 - 7:39 pm A couple of readers have emailed me about not being able to find these speakers for less than $200--a shame, but they're still a decent deal. If you've got a little more audio cash, many etailers are selling the A5s, which sound the same but get a lot louder, and fill up larger rooms--and they're commonly below MSRP. Add Comment To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields. |
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