Audioengine A2 Desktop Speaker Review

Audioengine A2 First Impression

The Audioengine team creates powered speakers for use in home and in office to work with all types of music but are specifically made for digital audio.  Audioengine has been in business since 2002 and released their first product, the A5, in the fall of 2005.  It is still a young company, so I am not too ashamed for never having heard about them until I was presented with the A2 speaker system.  The A2 is their attempt to provide a superior choice and sonic experience for digital music listeners and video gamers.

The Audioengine A2 speaker system can be found well secured within a box about half the size of a carry-on piece of luggage.  The contents are held in place by semi-flexible, shock absorbing foam and will not shift, or move for that matter, during transport.  It is almost safe enough for Ace Ventura to deliver it (watch the beginning of that movie). The “Audioengine-ers” went further and encased each speaker in its own protective reusable sock.  They did the same for the power supply and the bundle of included cables and speaker wire.  If you do not plan on moving the speakers around a whole lot, those protective socks can be good for storing a portable digital music device, jewelry, jacks, marbles, or the loose pieces of a board game.  But seriously, at least use the socks to transport the speakers.  As pretty as they are, they do not deserve to be scratched.  And just like toys should always come with the required batteries, the A2 system is supplied with a 2’ and 6.5’ mini-jack audio cable as well as 6.5’ of 16 AWG pre-stripped speaker wire to get them ready for use right away.

Design Overview

The A2 is a bass reflex (ported) design featuring a 2.75” Kevlar woofer and 0.75” silk dome tweeter.  The drivers are recessed perfectly flush into the front baffle which is  slot-ported in the front just under the woofer.  I must report, for a pair of multimedia speakers, these are the prettiest I have ever seen.  The cabinets are made of MDF, rather than plastic. You would not know it unless you were told because the finish is a smooth, glossy type that surrounds the entire box design (except for the back plate) and makes it look like a one-piece enclosure.  The small dimensions make it very sturdy as not to vibrate during use.  They are also magnetically shielded and are available in white or black and have a slip resistant pad adhered to the bottom of each.  It would have bee nice to have a thin, soft cloth grille to complete the speakers’ look.  Ideally the grilles would be the same height and width and color as the cabinets.  

The Drivers

As mentioned before, the woofer is 2.75” with a Kevlar cone and is supported by a butyl rubber surround.  Can you really believe that?  Yes.  That little driver is called a woofer.  I remember a time when any speaker less than 4 inches in diameter was a tweeter.  Well, based on how these perform, they honestly deserve the name.

The tweeter is a 0.75” silk dome with neodymium magnet.  Most likely used for its low profile design to save precious space.  While capable of reaching high frequencies, it seemed that these tended to have a very mild case of laryngitis.

The Rear

The right side speaker is very simple.  A metal backplate held in place by six screws.  There are two knurled knobs (the + and – connectors) that stick out a half-inch.

The left side speaker has the same as the right speaker with some more.  There is the keyed (one-way only) connection for the power, RCA left and right (Input A) and “ mini-jack (Input B), and the volume control knob.  The connections for the audio source can both be used at the same time if needed.  The volume control also acts as the power on/off switch.  The switch seems to be of a high quality.  It starts in the 7 o’clock position and turning it clockwise, it’s range of motion ends in the 5 o’clock position.  It offers a snug, even resistance through the entire range of motion.  The placement of it, however, is not ideal.  If being used as computer speakers, one would have to reach over or around to adjust it.  If you have a small desk up against a wall, this becomes a nuisance.  On the other hand, keeping it in the back allows the speaker to keep a classic appearance.

Audioengine A2 Setup

Listening Tests

MP3 Player

Also used were various songs by AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, The Outfield, Doobie Brothers, Hall & Oates, Prince, John Cougar Mellencamp, Eric Hansen, John Williams Conducts The Boston Pops, Billy Joel, and some techno.

The music sounded exactly the same no matter which connection type was used.  There was a lot of strong bass emanating from the A2s for each song played.  The highs were there, however, it was not enough to perfectly complement the amount of low frequency.  To remedy this, I kept the 50Hz setting at +6db and the 200Hz setting at +3db while I raised 1kHz and 3kHz to +10db and the 14kHz to +12db.  This improved the output a lot.  I was able to max the speakers’ volume, too, for most songs played without much distortion.

The songs that sounded best were anything by Sade, I Keep Forgetting, Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe, anything by Hall & Oates, Come Undone sounded great, and believe it or not, Head to Toe.  Everything else sounded very well.  Even though these speakers seem to be bass biased, they were not able to pump out all of the low notes to "You Can Do It" by Ice Cube at high volume.  After all, the woofers are just 2.75 inches.  Still, I was impressed and pleased.  If you like pop and hair band music from the 80s and 90s, light jazz, and easy listening, the A2 system will provide a nice listening experience in a convenient and portable package.

Television Connection

This was pretty simple. It was nothing more than turning on both units and changing channels.  Again, no matter what connection was used, it sounded the same.  This time, though, I was able to get a better response from the tweeters.  The woofers were still loud and I noticed the volume could not be maxed on every channel as some were louder than others.  The ability to achieve maximum loudness was highly source dependent upon what was on TV.  The sound quality from the Audioengine A2s was much better than using the built-in television speakers.  I wasn't hearing that vibration distortion TV speakers make at high volume.  The only issue I had was my TV lacked variable audio outputs so I couldn’t use the TV remote to control to adjust volume.    This was a problem for me since I wasn't sitting near the TV or the speakers and had to get up each time to adjust volume level. 

The Playstation 2

Yes, a Playstation 2.  I love video games.  I am just not eager to spend top dollar on the newest creations when I know they will be available in the near future at a lower price.  Anyways, to complete this test, I used Ultimate Spiderman, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Star Wars Battlefront, and Guitar Hero 3.  This is where the speakers really showed off what they can do.  Like before, they were still heavy on the bass.  But, that can be attributable to the nature of video games and even movies.  Punches, kicks, gunshots, and explosions tend to have a lot more bass impact in the virtual world than in real life.  Like the TV connection, the treble was better than that of the portable music player.  This was most noticeable in Battlefront and GH3.  In GH3, it sounded like a “quiet” concert was in the room.  In Battlefront, the Hoth battle sounded great!  The A2s were able to reproduce the sound of the AT-AT chin mounted cannons perfectly (Pa-pear! Pa-pear!)  I love that sound. 

One thing I did notice right away was this time I had to use the volume sparingly.  This was a direct connection to the game console, which does not have its own sound amplification ability.  With the mp3 player I could move the volume to maximum.  This was not the case this time, as I did not dare move it past the 2 o’clock position.  The Playstation 2 obviously had a much higher driver level than my mp3 player allowing the A2s to hit maximum output at a much lower volume setting.

Computer Connection

This was also an easy test.  Like the previous tests, there was no difference in sound with either connection.  I must say it was nice to hear much better fidelity than what the built-in computer speakers can produce.  I listened to the same music as I did in the first test and I played two games.  They were 007: Nightfire and Diablo II.  Because the computer is a powered source, it gave results similar to the mp3 player and of course, the games were full of bass as was expected.  The great aspect of the A2s in this application is without sacrificing much desk space you can hear a much wider range of sound than you can with the usual computer speakers.

Audioengine A2 Recommendations

The A2 speaker system is meant to be a portable multimedia system.  And, I feel comfortable enough to agree with that.  Even though they sound very good for such a compact design, I would recommend they be used with software or a device that allows the user to adjust frequencies to increase the treble and decrease the bass if desired.  It would be nice if Audioengine could at least increase the power to the tweeters.

Conclusion

Audioengine has hit a solid triple with the A2s.  The next version of these will most likely be the home run for this category of speaker.  I am happy with the product especially when I use them with my Playstation 2.  The 3-year warranty is automatic, and transferable, which means there is no need to register.  Just remember to keep the receipt and packaging.  You are even given a risk-free 30-day audition period.

Small dimensions, a pretty finish, power to spare, and two accommodating inputs, you can be sure Audioengine’s A2 speaker system will augment your CD player, DVD player, computer, game console, portable music player, or any other product with a mini-jack or RCA output.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Performance
Value