by Noah Kravitz, Reviews Editor

28 November 2007

Little Brother's Got Big Sound: Audioengine 2 Desktop Speakers Reviewed

Pros:Excellent Sound, Small Size, No Subwoofer to Deal With, Quality Craftsmanship
Cons:Expensive Relative to Other Desktop Speakers
In Sum:AE2s aren't cheap in any sense of the word, and they pack huge, clean sound
Pricing: $199 (use coupon code PBC10 to take 10% off that price)
More Info: audioengineusa.com

Just over a year ago I had the pleasure of reviewing Audioengine's superlative A5 powered speaker system. At the time I said they bested Apple's iPod HiFi, Bose's SoundDock, and JBL's Radial for pure quality of sound and gave them a 4.5 out of 5 rating. My only real gripe with the A5s was their prohibitive size - while certainly not huge by powered speaker standards, the 5s are the size of your average mixing monitors, and thus too big for most desktop use. Lo and behold, Audioengine has solved the problem with their new A2 desktop speakers. At one third the size - and half the cost - of the A5s, the kid brother of the Audioengine family delivers great big sound in a little package.

The A2s didn't immediately blow me away like the 5s did last year. But my officemate, who makes his living designing audio for video games, was impressed right away. "Those don't sound like four inch speakers," he said, and that's the point. At just 6" (h) x 4" (w) x 5.25" (d) and weighing about three and a half pounds each, the A5s are right at home on a desktop, bookshelf, kitchen counter, or bedroom dresser. Audioengine sent me the black A2s (white is also available) and the glossy finish MDF cabinets look good in a subtle sort of way that will appeal to nerds and design mavens alike. As you can see from the photo below, they won't take up much room at all on your work surface. Also, there's no subwoofer to deal with - an external brick power supply is the only thing you'll have to stash under (or on) your desk, and you won't have to crawl around on the floor to adjust bass settings like you have to with 2.1 systems. The A2s are also video shielded in case you want to pair them up with your flat screen TV.

Can you spot the A2s on my desk? They're so nice and small...

As nice as the A2s are to set up and look at, though, it's the sound that really matters. The A2s I tested sound wonderful. I'm not one for overly pumped up, hyper-throbbing bass that rattles windows and shakes floorboards loose, mind you, but I do like my music clean, strong, and fairly loud - closer to what you'd call a "flat" responsive curve than one that's artifically jacked up at the low end. Audioengine used the A5's tweeter in the A2 and they designed a new Kevlar woofer and amplifier for the system, as well. They also employed "some very clever acoustic and electrical design" to elicit strong, clear Bass from the system "without using any DSP or fake bass boost circuits." A few weeks of daily use later, I can vouch for the marketing speak - the A2s are pretty awesome. Connected to my MacBook via the included gold-plated 1/8" stereo cable and turned up to about 30% or so, the 2s filled my office with sweet, sweet music. Rock, electronic, acoustic, jazz - so long as the source was good, the A2s sounded good. Cranking the speakers up resulted in no discernable distortion, just more volume - enough to make the floor buzz underfoot and cause me to wince a little. With 60 watts of power coming from amps built into the left speaker cabinet, the A2s have plenty of punch to be used as sound system in any small-sized room. In other words, if the A5s are too big to put where you want to put 'em, odds are the A2s will do the job quite nicely.

You're not going to get much in the way of bells and whistles with the A2s. While Audioengine does include a lovely accessory kit with the A2s - all necessary cables and three drawstring bags (one for each speaker and one for the cables) - there's no remote control, alarm clock, or other "dock style" accoutrements to be found here. Power and volume are controled with a single metal knob mounted on the back of the left speaker, which makes for a clean look but also a minor inconvienience as compared with speaker systems controlled by desktop pods. Then again, a clever auto-sleep circuit built into the speakers saves power if the speakers are left on but no audio signal is detected (i.e. You've put the iPod or MacBook to sleep). Two inputs, RCA and 1/8" stereo minijack are also housed on the back of the left speaker, and all connections are made via quality connectors - none of the low-grade proprietary stuff all too commonly found on "multimedia speakers."

My only reservation in recommending the A2s is that for the same $200 price you could get yourself a Tivoli Model Two stereo "table radio," which also produces clean, high-quality sound and adds a stellar AM/FM tuner and dedicated subwoofer output to the mix. In my opinion the A2s have a slight edge over the Model Two in terms of sound quality, especially at louder volumes and with bass-heavy music, but the Tivolis are definitely worth a listen (and a look - their furniture-grade wood finishes are beautiful). For less money you could get one of several quite good desktop systems (the Logitech Z-10 comes immediately to mind) or remote controllable iPod docking systems, as well, but while some of them sound really good, none sounds quite as good as the A2s.

At any rate, Audioengine's A5 powered speakers are amongst the best sounding bookshelf size powered speakers you'll find anywhere, and the A2s deserve similar accolades in the desktop class. Mac and iPod owners know there are a ton of options available when it comes to desktop-friendly sound systems, and at $199 the A2s live at the upper end of the price spectrum. But for that price you get a top-quality pair of speakers more than capable of filling a small room with clean, accurate sound with plenty of low end and volume for anyone who appreciates the full sonic spectrum (and not just tooth-rattling bass). The A2s look good, too, and the lack of a subwoofer means there's no unslightly cabinet to hide in a corner or behind the dresser, either. And, hey, Audioengine's 30-day home audition policy means you can order a pair, try 'em out where you'll actually be using them, and send 'em back if you're not happy. Can't beat that.

The Audioengine A2 speakers sell for $199 direct from audioengineusa.com and are available in black or white. Use coupon code PBC10 to take 10% off your order!

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