Audioengine 5 – PC multimedia speakers for iPod – 45 Watt (total) – 2-way – white
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Small Speakers, Big Bass. You won’t hear any enhanced super-mega-hyper-monster boomy bass from these speakers. The low end from the Audioengine 5 is real bass, very near to the originally recorded music. From rap to classical to movies, you’ll get tight, punchy bass with an awesome growl that will make you smile – regardless of the volume level. Kevlar woofers for powerful bass, silk dome tweeters for smooth highs, built-in power amplifiers, truly useful connections, and a clean industrial design all allow the Audioengine 5 to integrate perfectly in your living room, bedroom, or desktop. Custom-designed and handcrafted wood cabinets with high-gloss professional piano finish make the Audioengine 5 a true work of art. All these (and more) have been carefully considered to create an authentic soundstage for your valuable multimedia components – the sound as it was originally mixed in the studio. Vocals are clearly placed and each instrument occupies its own space. BR> It works with: Flat panel TV Mobile phones and PDAs CD and DVD players Videogame players Digital radio and satellite receivers All other products with 1/8 mini-jack or RCA outputs! The 2-way speaker system employs a 5 Kevlar Woofer coupled with a 20mm silk soft-dome Tweeter to deliver a wide frequency response range from 50 Hz up to 22,000Hz. The 1 thick MDF cabinet offers excellent audio support to deliver an authentic, rich soundstage that rivals much larger speaker systems. ipod power charger port 2 audio inputs Built-in power amplifiers, no receiver needed – 45 Watts RMS per channel Wireless-ready! Power outlet for Airport Express Front panel volume control Custom Kevlar woofers for super low end / Silk dome tweeters for smooth highs Subwoofer output for adding an optional powered subwoofer High-quality speaker connectors Auto-sleep power saving mode Hand-built and finished cabinets Video shielded Au
Features
- iPod power charging port (Combo Port)
- 2 audio inputs
- Built-in power amplifier, no receiver/amp needed
- Power outlet for Airport Express
- Front panel volume control
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 7 x 10 x 8 inches
- Weight: 28 pounds
Very impressive speakers for the price!
I owned Thiel speakers, NAD monitor series preamp and an Acurus amp but needed to consolidate due to new living situation. Sold my previous gear and bought these based on the glowing reviews. Literally every review said BUY THESE! LOL. So I did and am very pleased. For a tenth of the price, I am listening to alot more music and loving it!
I do recommend an outboard digital audio converter ( DAC ) rather than the headphone output of your computer. These are good enough that it might be worth if for you.
I hear the Apple airport express does a decent job with this and is better than the headphone jack.
Lots of other details in the other reviews so I won’t go into it.
They of course are in a different class than the high end audiophile systems, but that’s the beauty of these speakers. They are VERY good and not just for the price, which is ridiculously cheap. They are just a fine piece of stereo equipment. I hear detail I haven’t heard before.
Get them. They can be returned for free refund.
Great speakers
I am using the Wadia 170i connected with Audioquest copperhead rca cable to Audioengine A5, the sound of the mp3 at 320 Kbps, is really good, and the Wadia add a real plus to the sound of the mp3, the sound is clear, transparent and vivid, also you can use the Ipod as a music server.
Comparing the sound of the Ipod touch 2G and the Wadia with a really cheap Sony DC/DVD player both connected to the Audioenginee A5 speakers, I will said that the sound is simmilar in both cases, both have great bass, perfect to listen to Iron Maiden, Metallica and Judas Priest.
If you want to connect the IPod to other sources, use the Wadia makes the difference.
Note: I also have Audioquest Sidewinder rca cable which cost almost 1/3 of the Audioquest Copperhead cables, comparing the sound using both cables, I would said I do not notice any difference at all.
Cant’ go wrong…
Clear all the way through, lows to highs. I would really recommend looking into the subwoofer as well if you really want thumping bass but these speakers will give you more than you’d expect from a 2.0 system. I traded up from my Bose Companion 3 system and I am more than satisfied with their performance and would recommend these to anyone looking for good sound at a reasonable price.
Surprisingly disappointing high tech speakers
After reading many positive reviews from people such as Chris Breen and in particular learning about the features for wireless configurations, I started out with a positive disposition toward the Audioengine A5. The design and technical functionality immediately give one the impression that this company knows what its doing.
Thus, the shock is even greater when one has the first listen. Sound is certainly subjective, but the A5’s interpretation is flat overall and sometimes distorted. Although the A5’s provide a healthy low bass, the high range isn’t crisp and the mid range is sometimes distorted. It could well depend on the type of music. Whereas Led Zeppelin sounds pretty good, other types of music such as Jazz or Classical leave much to be desired. In short, my opinion is that the A5’s aren’t a viable selection for anyone with an ear for a broad range of music. If you are considering the A5’s, please give them a thorough testing first.
Best Low Cost Speakers
They look good. They seem very solid (and heavy). They work great with Apple AirTunes. They sound good. We will buy more of them for other rooms in the house.
BUY THESE. DON’T THINK TWICE
These are the most amazing speakers I’ve ever heard. My family is getting sick of me bragging about them. I live in a 4 bedroom colonial and these fill the entire first floor with crystal clear sound. Upstairs, I can hear the music as well, and though it’s not as loud, the full spectrum of sound is still well represented. Moreover, these give you excellent sound at low, mid, and high volumes.
Check out what audiophiles are saying about these. (I’m not an audiophile) One common comment seems to be that the sound is so good that you’ll actually notice the difference between mp3 and CD quality, something I’ve never heard before listening to these.
One point: Don’t let the size fool you. These will fill a house. If you’re looking to musicify a bedroom or small apartment, go with the cheaper but still excellent A2 audioengines. Those are smaller and also incredible.
Unbelievable sound !
These speakers are truly a work of art – the sound is unbelievable for their size. I am a music lover and enjoy hearing all the complexities of the music without distortions. We use them with the Squeezebox set-up. Hats off to the folks at AudioEngine !! – they went beyond expectations. We just purchased the smaller versions for a PC set-up…again, we are very pleased.
Budget audiophile level sound. Really.
These speakers represent a mindblowing, inconceivable price-performance proposition for the true music lover. The clarity, neutrality, musicality, staging and transparency is simply unreal for a < $400 speaker. If someone had told me these speakers were 5 times their price as I listened to them, I would have believed it.
2 caveats for potential buyers: if you are looking for asocial amounts of raw power and over the top bass, this was not designed for you. This is for music lovers that appreciate a crystal clear, musical and neutral delivery of material. Considering their size, their ability to deliver very satisfying bass umph and play at levels that will overwhelm your ability to discern detail is pretty amazing, though.
For those who utterly need more bass, AudioEngine was thoughtful enough to provide a subwoofer port, and I can tell you it works, but if I had to do it all over again I’d save myself the subwoofer expense. It has to be turned way down in volume and truly kept under 60Hz to not spoil the Audioengine’s balance delivery.
And I don’t praise the AudioEngine speakers too easily: I regard myself as a bit of an audiophile snob, listening to my music at home through a $25k stereo consisting of Accuphase CD and amplifier and B&W speakers.
I got a transfer that has me living in a one bedroom apartment for the next year or two. No way the big stereo, speakers (and over 2,000 CDs) could come with me. After doing some research and asking some people whose opinion I respect on less snobbish audiophile forums, I decided to buy the AudioEngine speakers. The setup is remarkably easy: my entire collection resides on a redundant network drive. I stream it wirelessly to a small box (the Slim Devices SqueezeBox) that does the DA conversion at very high quality, and it gets fed into the active AudioEngine speakers. The total cost of this minimalist and clean setup (perfect for a one bedroom apartment that I like neat and open) is of less than $700 for electronics, plus a few additional hundred for stuff that filters and cleans power, plus good quality cabling (but nothing esoterically expensive). The result? Pretty amazing. Do I still miss my home stereo? Yes. But it’s amazing how close this gets, and how satifying this is, at a fraction of the cost.
This is a great time to be an audiophile.
Thank you, AudioEngine!
The speakers Apple should have designed.
Bottom line: if you use an Airport Express and want to deliver astonishing quality wireless music throughout your house, then get these. They are thoughtfully designed to accommodate the Airport Express in a port on the back. Their industrial design is reminiscent of the iPod Hi-Fi, but delivers a more robust, fuller spectrum sound, in my opinion. Also, being separate speakers, you can place them some distance apart for much better stereo separation. Given that they are roughly the price of the iPod Hi-Fi, deliver better quality sound, and have a nice Apple-esque/Braun design aesthetic, I highly recommend these as probably the best powered speaker solution available for Airport Express / iTunes users. Couldn’t be happier.