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

I have been mostly a front of house sound engineer for 25 years, I also appreciate the audiophile world and have been living there for a long time. Currently I enjoy professionally mixing on d&b audiotechnik speakers which are about as audiophile as you can get in the live sound world. My journey started with the Parts Express C-Note speakers that need to be assembled. It was fun and they do sound great. After several years I wanted to get something that sounded more precise but I don't want to break the bank. I have been a Klipsch fan for a long time so I went with the Klipsch R-51PM. While they sounded "good", they severely lack in mid-range/low-end presence and have an annoying hiss at low levels. They are very quirky as well. So after some more research I came across these Audioengine A5+'s. I have heard of Audioengine for a while now and I always felt they were a tad small to reproduce solid mid range. I took a swing after reading some glowing reviews and I can honestly say, these speakers do not disappoint. I am very impressed with the tight clarity, unreal mid-range, and an extremely solid low end that put the Klipsch speaker to shame. If you wanted to run these without a subwoofer, they can hold their own. However, if you want a full range stage, you will need a subwoofer. I have paired these speakers with an iFi Zen DAC V2 which allows you to remove the additional volume control from Windows and you only need the volume control on the speakers themselves while also having a separate volume control for your headphones that doesn't affect the speakers. Very ideal set up. There is no audible hiss at low levels. They look great. The terminals on the back of the speakers are top notch! One of the things I hated about the Klipsch is their terminals are cheap and plasticky which makes connections very difficult to set up. There is nothing about these speakers that say cheap or flimsy at all. The exact opposite actually. I got the basic matte black finish which will leave fingerprints but after setting them up, that's not a concern. The power light is a tad bright since the speaker sits at near arms reach, but I was able to use a "light dim" and now it is tolerable. The remote solid milled aluminum and feels premium, however, when pulling the tab the first time to activate the battery, I thought I broke it, but that was part of the design and after popping the control unit back in, it is flawless. Other than that, I honestly can' think of anything I don't love about these speakers.

After months of research, I decided to go with Audioengine. The A2's looked like all I would need, but after reading the great reviews of the A5's, I chose the A5+ Bamboo. I ordered them on Friday late AM, and received them on Saturday morning (overnite FEDEX, $3.99). I've been breaking them in all day (not that I noticed a problem out of the box), as the mftr suggests. I'm feeding them the signal from a Fiio E-10 DAC, plugged into the USB on my iMac. They are mounted on a pair of dense foam blocks, to raise them slightly. I'm not sure I see the advantages of using the optional stands since they tilt the speaker back and change the plane of the tweeter and woofer. I had to re-arrange some items on my office shelves to prevent resonance during some of the lower bass passages.The packaging was stellar, with cables and speakers covered by some nice soft, cloth bags. The bags will come in handy to put over the speakers while I'm away, and help prevent dust settling on the speaker cones. Anyway, the setup is straightforward, and AE even provides some good speaker wire to connect the two units. They look fantastic. The manual says the sugar compounds in the bamboo are 'carbonized' and 'caramelized' to bring out the darker wood tones. It also provides a sweeter sound (ahem). Whatever. They look great, and seem to be finely finished. Worth the extra money for this option, I think.Okay, now for the sound. An audiophile of sorts, I have a history of buying the best-value components based on my readings of Stereophile, Absolute Sound, and high end audio blogs. My tunes are all Flac, Apple Lossless, or AIFF-C files. Of course, my iTunes purchases are 256Kb conversions...can't help that. I train my ears by going to many pop and classical concerts and listening for the qualities that make live music so enjoyable. So, I don't take my speakers lightly...I have some expectations. How do I rate the A5+'s? I couldn't be happier considering what I paid. The speakers never seem to strain, even at very high volumes. The only thing I notice is some compression of the midrange at VERY high volumes. The bass hangs in there, albeit cutoff below 50hz. I do miss that very bottom octave, however. Kettledrums just don't have that extra punch you expect. This is not a criticism; maybe it's just a reason to get a subwooofer. I rarely listen at very high levels since I'm usually working while listening. Female vocalists sound very natural, with no boxiness in the lower ranges. Sibilants sound very natural, and maybe a tad soft. Acoustic instruments have some body to them attesting to the good midrange. Imaging is excellent, and I find the placement is not super-critical. Equidistant spacing, lightly angled in seems to be just fine. (Note that AE suggests having at least 6" of space behind the speakers, and they should be at least 6" away from a side wall.) When I move, I don't notice shifting of frequencies, which means the dispersion of the tweeters seems to be very good. The soundstage is wide, very wide on some tunes. No problem with that. The sound is so darned neutral, that I can listen for hours and not get weary.As much as I enjoy listening to music through my IEM's (Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 Pro's), it is really nice to be 'sitting in the audience' and listening to these speakers. With the lights down, they disappear, and you get that great experience of being there in the studio or concert hall. I'm sure there are better speakers out there that probably cost more, however I just can't fault the A5+'s. An audio bargain in my humble opinion.Update 10/30/2013I'm still loving these speakers. I missed the lower octave however, so I took a subwoofer I bought at Radio Shack several years ago, and plugged it in to the speakers. Now, I have a fuller experience of my music. I really love this system, and I have had no problems with it. No hum, pops, clicks, and the cases look as beautiful as the day I bought them.Update 10/12/2014After adding the subwoofer, I became aware of some mid-bass boominess, and found it hard to balance the sound using the cutoff on the subwoofer. I looked in to the DS2 foam speaker stands as a possible solution. These stands will raise not only the speaker, but the angle of the woofer. When the speakers sit flat on a desk, the woofers double some of the bass frequencies causing some imbalance. Tilting them back seems to resolve this problem. The stands are expensive, so maybe you can find a makeshift way of testing this theory to see if its worth pursuing. I have recently taken the Radio Shack subwoofer out of the office and into the living room. I'm thinking of upgrading the A5+'s with the Audioengine subwoofer. I really have fallen in love with these speakers over the years. I've had NO issues with them.