Audioengine 2 Desktop Speaker System Conclusion

Audio Performance

To test the audio performance of these speakers I simply played my music through them and listened to see if I enjoyed it. I did, however I found that for me personally that the speakers were missing some mid range and the bass was a bit too light. I pitted the A2 speakers against my Creative P7800 7.1 system and to be fair I only played through the front stereo speakers of the P7800. The Creative speakers had better mid range and equal high end as the A2Ws but without the sub woofer there was virtually no bass. Adding the subwoofer made all the difference and the Creative speakers sounded much better with the sub than without.

The A2 speakers are quite good for listening to music at work or anywhere that requires less volume and less thump. I prefer to hear the music without the speakers "spitting" and these are very clean and clear as long as you don’t crank them up loud. At lower volumes the speakers sound very good especially if you are sitting within two feet of the speakers. However, back away a couple feet and the volume drops a bit and the sound quality diminishes somewhat as well. As for bass response, I can only say that some people hear bass differently than others. I mix music for my band and I have an incredibly good ear for tonal quality. The current set speakers that I use to mix music on the computer are the Creative P7800 and they are a little short on bass as well, but they do deliver much more than the A2s for the simple reason that they have a separate sub woofer capable of handling much lower frequencies. The A2s deliver a decent amount of bass for the average home user, but people who live for music (like me) will find that they are a bit on the short end for volume and bass.

I found that the volume control on the back of the left speaker can only be turned up to half before serious distortion sets in. I could rectify this by turning down the PC volume so I could boost the volume on the speakers but it doesn’t make the music any louder and in fact doing that would make the speakers distort at a lower overall volume.

The angle of the speakers have a lot to do with the overall sound quality as well. The speakers are very directional so if you are in between the speakers with the speakers pointing in towards you, they sound really great but if you are to the side or have them placed over your head (like on the top of a large desk) they don’t sound quite as good.

	Image courtesy of Audioengine

Additional Thoughts

The speakers are mounted in nice looking and smooth finished cabinets made of wood and painted a shiny high-gloss white but this poses a possible issue; they don’t scratch very easily but if they should become scratched it would be very obvious. Personally, on my desk it would be less than a year before I have some serious gouges and nicks in these speakers making them not look so nice afterwards.

Although the woofer is made of Kevlar and the tweeter is made of a silk polymer, without any speaker grills the drivers are left unprotected. There are no speaker covers or protective mesh over the speakers. The speaker cones are exposed and this can be detrimental to the life of the speaker. It is easy to accidentally push in the tweeter, which can severely impact the sound quality from the speakers. The only thing that has kept my previous speakers from meeting an early demise is the mesh cover --- and for my current speakers, the mesh covering shows signs of severe wear after only a year of kittyclasmic action. If left unattended, I have no doubt that my cat could cause serious damage to the cones in the A2s. I believe that speaker coverings would add more protection for the cones. If you have kids or cats, you will want to keep the speakers as far out of reach as possible.

Audioengine A2W (White) Desktop Speakers

The A2 speakers pump enough clear sound volume for the casual home user, office user or for any other use in relatively quiet setting. Hard core PC gamers and audiophiles will most likely want something more powerful and with better bass response (most likely with a separate subwoofer and with surround sound speakers). For stereo listening these speakers do deliver the goods - they provide excellent sound quality with good clarity, and you could do much worse for the same amount of money. However, if you are willing to spend more money you can also find alternative sets of speakers with a dedicated subwoofer that will pound out more volume and bass.

Pros: Accurate and clear sound, high-quality construction and design, all needed accessories included.

Cons: Relatively limited power, directional sound.

Rating: 4 out of 5

www.audioengineusa.com