Audioengine A5+ Powered Bookshelf Speakers - Premium 150W Stereo Speakers for Music, Gaming, Turntables, Home Theater Systems - Powerful Studio Monitors

Although I have purchased many products on amazon, I feel compelled to review this product so this is my first product review:I consider myself a budding (and budget) audiophile. I am still in college and do not have the budget for a $2,000+ pair of speakers yet. When I fist started looking for new speakers, I went to my local hi end audio store and listened to Paradigm, Magnepan, and Bower and Wilkins speakers. While they were all pretty good quality (especially the Magnepans), they were all out of my budget. They were also pretty big and are not the best for computer/desktop/nearfield music listening.I decided for my next pair of speakers, I would prefer active desktop/bookshelf speakers because the only amp I have right now is powering a pair of Mission 733 floorstanding speakers and I would not have enough money for a quality amp and speakers. After doing a lot of online research, I narrowed my search down to Audioengine A5's, Swan M200MkII, Yamaha HS50M, Krk rokit 6's, as well as a few others.I found a local store that carried the Audioengine A5s and decided to go listen to them. When I plugged in my iPhone and played "I hope I didn't Just Give Away the Ending" by the New Radicals (16 bit, 44.1kHz, apple lossless m4a), the speakers had an amazing sound quality and soundstage to them. The mids and highs were a lot more defined than my Mission 733s although the Missions had a lower bass extension. I was immediately very impressed with them. They also had a pair of Audioengine A2s to try so I played "Alone With You" by deadmau5 (a great song to test the bass extension of speakers). They played the highs and mids very well but the bass extension was very lacking. I imagine the A2s would be fine if you were mainly listening to acoustic, jazz, and classical music; but they aren't a great all-around speaker.Immediately after listening to these, I drove over to my local Guitar Center to listen to some studio monitors. I listened to speakers ranging from Yamaha, Krk, M audio, and Mackie (The Adam studio monitors with the ribbon tweeters weren't working). None of them gave me the same "Wow" factor that the audioengines did. The most impressive studio monitors in my price range were the Yamaha HS50Ms. They put out quite an impressive volume and clarity for their size. I have to admit that Guitar Center does not have the best listening environment for nearfield listening and probably didn't give the studio monitors a fair chance. They're just placed randomly on shelves around 8' apart. The Yamaha's were the only speakers placed properly and this may have resulted in me thinking they sounded better than the rest; although they were still not as impressive as the audioengines.After this I went home and decided to just go with the Audioengines. I purchased them with Audioengine DS2 Desktop Speaker Stands (Pair) on amazon and could not be more happy with my purchase. They make for the perfect desktop listening experience. They do very well at reproducing the sound and feel of the music and live instruments, such as an upright bass (in my opinion, one of the hardest instruments for speakers to emulate).These speakers have as much bass output as you can expect from a 5" driver, but if you listen to a lot of hip-hop, reggae, dubstep, movies, etc, you may want to consider getting a subwoofer. I am currently considering getting the Outlaw Audio M8 Subwoofer, but I hear that the Audioengine S8 Premium Powered Subwoofer (White) integrates perfectly with these speakers.Pros: The sound quality is amazing, especially for the money. If you're thinking about getting a pair of desktop speakers in this price range, don't look any further; these will more than satisfy your needs. They sound great out of the box but be sure to give them around 30 hrs of medium volume playing time to properly break in. Once they do, they sound even sweeter. The setup is very easy and I like all of the input and charging options that come with them. The packaging is great.Cons: I have had these speakers overheat on me once. This was after about 6 hours of blasting music through the speakers (they will just auto shut-off). I plan to fix this by placing aluminum tape on the back of the left speaker for better heat radiation. If you have the money, go for the A5+s and you won't have to worry about this problem. They also make a popping noise when the auto shutoff kicks in after about 10-15 min without sound input.Credentials: I have been playing instruments since a very young age. These include guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, and even the didgeridoo. I am a DJ that plays many local shows (mainly edm such as electro house and trance). As a hobby, I produce music; mainly electronic music and rock.Speakers/Headphones I own: A5 Premium Powered Bookshelf Speakers (White), Mission 733 speakers, Sennheiser HD555 Professional Headphones with Sound Channeling, Sony MDR-V700DJ DJ-Style Monitor Series Headphones, Sony MHCEC909iP Mini Hi-Fi Shelf System.

Solid, heavy and full range speakers. 150 Watts of pure, unadultered power. The low frequencies are so loud that they move objects on my desk, including my mouse. The sound is very clear and defined. Remote control included. This bad boys are highly recommended.

I purchased a set of Audioengine A5+ powered speakers on October 15th. They arrived two days later sitting on my front porch in a big box. Thank God no one ripped them off the porch while I was out having lunch. UPS just leaves stuff on your porch now. In the inner city that is very dangerous. They just shouldn't do that with a $469.00 dollar item, but that aside, I have my speakers. The speakers are packaged as described with layer after layer of cardboard, foam, fabric and plastic. The fabric is overkill if you ask me. I just don't need a tote bag for every item. What can I do with them now. It's a shame to just throw that away, but what use is it. I would have been satisfied with plastic only and a lower price. I can report the AudioEngine 5+ speakers do sound great. They can get loud and still sound clean and crisp. As reported in other reviews, the build quality is superb. I purchased the bamboo versions, and they are very nice. Not a flaw in the assembly or finish of the $70.00 dollar wood option. They are substantial and well constructed. I like the internal power supply and detachable power cord. My new speakers replaced an older Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 setup, which I was forced to retire after the subwoofer amp died. Klipsch doesn't service the amp, and the third party repair place wanted $75.00 to repair it, plus shipping and handling. To ship the woofer to them would have cost money too, so servicing a unit that was $150.00 dollars new, just didn't make sense. I thought of just replacing the unit with a new Promedia 2.1, but they are now discontinued, and I found many reports of other dead sub-woofer amps. Another promedia 2.1 was nixed! The Audioengine 2+ is closest in spec to the promedia 2.1, but I chose to step it up a bit and got the 5+. It is a bigger set of speakers, but the bigger power amplifier is worth it. My desktop is a bit crowded now, but I like the sound. The 5+ has better bass than the speakers I had (without a functioning sub-woofer), but I miss the deep bass of a sub. The 5+ has good flat response down to about 200Hz. That's where it falls off. There is nothing below 100hz to impress your friends, so a sub-woofer must be in your plans, down the road. I plan to save up for the audioengine S8 or Cerwin Vega, or maybe a Klipsch sub. I haven't decided. I wish audio engine packaged the amp portion of the 5+ in a box like the N22 product. I realized after setting up my new 5+ set that I no longer have a headphone jack as I did with the Klipsch Promedia 2.1. So what is one to do? I could buy the audio engine D-1 D.A.C., but that is so expensive for just a headphone jack. Besides, then I will have three volume controls. One in the computer software, one on the DAC and one on the left speaker. How confusing! If Audioengine would just build an N55 (hint, hint) with the 50 watt power capacity and an internal power supply, I hate the big brick power supply concept of the N22, I could have purchased a set of passive P4N speakers, and a subwoofer, had my headphone jack, and been able to mount the speakers up on the bookshelf. Audioengine should sell the right passive speaker of the 5+ as a set of passive 5" speakers. The enclosure without the power supply, as it is in the right speaker, must make for a better speaker. There is more space to resonate. I would buy that once they design the N55 amp! That would have freed up space on my desk. The 5+ speakers are not small. But they sure sound good. One thing I wonder about, why does the 5+ speaker system have the port on the rear, where the same basic designed P4N speakers have the port on the front? Is the port better on the front or rear? The endless rotation of the volume control of the 5+ is a problem. I realize this concept is common for digital volume controls as you find in cars and other modern equipment. It is necessary with the use of a remote control. However, you never know where the volume is set. I would prefer a digital readout of level instead of a power light. The power lamp could just relate to volume. Bright is loud, dim is low. Off could be dim / blinking. One last comment. Why is there no bamboo option for the S8 subwoofer? I wish I could buy a matching sub-woofer for my fabulous 5+'s. Bottom line, you will be happy with a set of audioengine 5+ speakers.

These speakers sound terrific. And the bamboo speaker cabinets (if you pay for them) are lovely. The bluetooth "wireless" option is waste of money, however. Why? Because even with bluetooth, you still have to wire the two speakers together with a long audio cable. So, this is not like a Sonos system, where you just plug the speaker into a wall outlet and connect to your computer via WiFi. This is a wired system, where Bluetooth eliminates exactly one wire: the audio cable from your computer to your speakers. Not a big convenience. Also, having experimented with both the Bluetooth and the audio cable, I will also say that Bluetooth sounds worse -- the audio quality is slightly degraded. So, **definitely buy the speakers.** But don't waste your money on the Bluetooth "wireless" model.