Audioengine A5+ Powered Desktop Speakers
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,255 words · ~6 min read
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We have finally arrived. The Audio Engine A5 Plus is the last in my
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five-part series of speaker reviews that marks my entry into the category from a
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review perspective. They're not perfect, and there are still some compromises
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that are being made here, but there is a lot to love about this pair of classic
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looking powered desktop speakers.
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The CM Storm SF17 uses a massive 18cm
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fan to cool your gaming notebook, and it adds a four- port USB hub. Click now to
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learn more. Because it's a shorter list than the things I liked, I'm going to
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start with the things I didn't like about them. Number one is the size. The
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A5 Plus's by a wide margin, like literally they're wider than anything
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else, took up more space on my desk when I was doing my listening testing than
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any of the other solutions they were up against, including the Simple Audio Listen, Bowers and Wilkins MM1s, Bose
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Companion Fives, and Audio Engine A2 Pluses. Whether or not you are able to
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consider buying these speakers may simply come down to whether you have
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enough physical space next to your monitor to fit them. Number two is the
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features or lack thereof. Compared to other speakers in this roundup, the A5
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Pluses do not feature Bluetooth wireless music playback or an integrated DAC if
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you want to use them with a computer that has crummy analog output. The
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redeeming quality here is that at $100 cheaper than some of the lesser sounding
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sets on the roundup, you can pick up a DACK or an Airport Express for wireless
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speaker action or whatever else if you really wanted to to make up for at least
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one of these shortcomings with that money you saved. The third thing I
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didn't like about them was the fact that this short list of dislikes makes my
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video a lot shorter than it otherwise would be. And the way I evaluate my own
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self-worth is by seeing how long I can get you guys to listen to me while I talk about a pair of speakers. That's
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it. Everything else fell into the liked it or was neutral about it because I
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felt like it was a fair trade-off category. The build quality is up to the
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audio engine standard, so great. And while it's right on their site that they
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don't claim that the AX Plus series are studio monitors, they do borrow design
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elements and build quality cues from these professional-grade products. So
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that's where we get the custom 5-in Kevlar woofers and silk dome tweeters
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with neodymium magnets that are mounted in the handbuilt MDF cabinets, the
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customuilt internal electronics, and the satisfying near field listening
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experience from. In terms of included accessories, the retailer I bought mine
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from threw in some nice thick gauge speaker wire, but Audio Engine normally
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includes a 12T 16 gauge wire to connect your right speaker to the left one that
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contains the amplifier for both as well as the rest of the I/O. And I guess
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since we're on the subject, here's all the stuff you'll find back there. A base
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port that you should keep at least 6 in from anything behind the speaker. A
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massive heat sink that you should also keep away from any airflow impeding
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obstructions. a three and a half millimeter input jack next to a USB
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power output for convenient use with an MP3 player or phone. A standard RCA
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input for convenient use with almost anything else. An RCA output for an
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optional subwoofer or audio engine's own wireless music sharing dongle. The
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standard speaker wire outputs to the right speaker, an on-off switch, a
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voltage select toggle, a fuse access cover, and finally an AC power input. On
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the front of the left speaker, you'll find a thankfully front mounted volume
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knob. I mean, seriously, what were they thinking on the A2 Plus with that
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rear-mounted volume control as well as an IR sensor that can be used with the
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included fairly basic remote? I guess I forgot to mention that was included. Or
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with a learning universal remote, or with an Android app called Zap IR or
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Zapper if you have a phone with an integrated IR blaster. Very cool. On to
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listening tests. The A5 Pluses get loud.
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House party loud. Even before these puppies were burned in, they were ears
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shatteringly loud without audible distortion at max volume or even I
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didn't even turn them up to max volume for near field listening. Although
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arguably since my ears were shattered by that point, it would have been hard to pick out any subtle problems with my
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favorite songs. After turning them down to more reasonable levels, I used my
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usual mix of top 40 Titanfall game streams on Twitch and the bass alla
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action sequence from Captain America to do my evaluation of these speakers. And
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I came away really, really impressed. The fact that they're on a desk in front
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of you does give the bass a bit of a sort of weird blowing into your chest
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quality compared to having a subwoofer sitting on the floor. So, you can like
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really feel it in your gut. But aside from that, it just sounds really, really
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good. I mean, explosions, rumble, and action sequences. Mid-range vocals come
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through with fantastic clarity. And aside from like every other set of
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speakers in this roundup, losing to the BMW MM1s when it came to stereo imaging
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and clarity in the highs, they're just the best allround option that I've used
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so far out of the box. They feel like the A2 Plus without compromises. As much
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as I can appreciate the way Audio Engine steadfastly holds to the belief that
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software tricks to improve bass performance are unnatural and inherently
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worse, the A2 Plus could have benefited from some trickery. While the A5 Plus
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with its larger cabinets just sounds
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fantastic. So, there you have it, a recommended buy. If you want a great
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listening experience and for some reason you don't like headphones, which will
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invariably give you better bang for your buck, the A5 Plus is available in a
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variety of different colors, black, white, and a sexy bamboo finish that was
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too expensive for me to bother buying it just for to do a review. But there you
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go. You might want to check it out. And just like with all of my videos, you can
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find a link with pricing and availability that includes my affiliate code in the video description under the
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like, share, and dislike buttons, which I would love for you to use accordingly.
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Also in the video description is a support link where you can give us a monthly contribution. Buy a t-shirt or
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change your Amazon bookmarks to ones that include our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy
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underwear or whatever. Thanks for watching guys. I hope you enjoyed this
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video as much as we enjoyed making it. Don't forget to mash that subscribe button if you haven't already. And I
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think that is pretty much it. I will see you next
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time. Well, I won't see you. You'll see me because that's how YouTube works.