Audioengine A5+ Wireless Review: Big, loud, and incredibly fun to listen to

[Julio Franco]

Today we're taking a look Audioengine's latest studio speakers, the A5+ Wireless. The original A5+ speakers were one of our picks in last year's Best Of feature and now they're in for a repeat with the added support for Bluetooth playback.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1595-audioengine-a5-plus-wireless-speakers/

 

[Burty117]

I have the smaller HD3's and I've been very impressed with Audioengine so far. I've heard these A5+'s as well (I wanted them but didn't have the space and got the HD3's on a really good deal) and you're right about the bass. Audioengine do offer the S8 Powered Subwoofer but it's another $350.

Really impressed with their offerings though, Some of the best near-field listening speakers for the price.

 

[regiq]

I'm more into traditional hi-fi and it's ever growing prices :/ but it's always nice to read some audio equipment review. Bring more

 

[yRaz]

I'm more into traditional hi-fi and it's ever growing prices :/ but it's always nice to read some audio equipment review. Bring more

I have 8 JBLs paired with two Marantz amplifiers. 2 JBL L100s, 2 JBL 4311s and 4 JCL decade L16s.

 

[regiq]

I have 8 JBLs paired with two Marantz amplifiers. 2 JBL L100s, 2 JBL 4311s and 4 JCL decade L16s.

Nice vintage stuff
Though I prefer pure stereo setups (small space)
Naim rulez

 

[bas416]

So simple xover for a kevlar and a 3/4 tweeter, too good to be true...

 

[Boilerhog146]

The wireless ,option is very attractive for a surround gaming setup, just that many less wire to have strung about. and that kind of sound .to be able to hear the enemy breathing down your neck,or stepping out behind you . .lol.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

"The speakers are made out of 1/2" thick MDF..."

Lost it right there. Cheaply made garbage.

 

[Shadowboxer]

Ive used the wired versions of these speakers. Didn’t they they were very good for the money at all. Massively preferred a pair of Rokit 5’s which can usually be found cheaper although you would need an interface of some form to connect then to a PC or whatever.

 

[ddferrari]

"The speakers are made out of 1/2" thick MDF..."

Lost it right there. Cheaply made garbage.

Uhh, MDF is the best material out there for speaker enclosures, and you will find it in speakers costing 10 times the price of these. It's much denser and therefore resonates way less that other materials (which is a good thing) such as solid wood, plastic or aluminum.

Almost all larger or high quality speakers have MDF enclosures, covered with a veneer of one of the above mentioned materials. 1/2" thick is generous for an enclosure of this small size and you'd have a hard time breaking it on purpose, let alone accidentally.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

"The speakers are made out of 1/2" thick MDF..."

Lost it right there. Cheaply made garbage.

Uhh, MDF is the best material out there for speaker enclosures, and you will find it in speakers costing 10 times the price of these. It's much denser and therefore resonates way less that other materials (which is a good thing) such as solid wood, plastic or aluminum.

Almost all larger or high quality speakers have MDF enclosures, covered with a veneer of one of the above mentioned materials. 1/2" thick is generous for an enclosure of this small size and you'd have a hard time breaking it on purpose, let alone accidentally.

Yeah, in garbage throwaway crappy speakers. Good speakers aren't made of compressed cardboard. It sounds muddier, dirtier, and more muffled than real wood. Plastic sounds about as good as MDF. Cheap floor trim is made from MDF, for crying out loud.

For the same reasons you don't make real instruments out of compressed cardboard.

http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/

 

[Evernessince]

"The speakers are made out of 1/2" thick MDF..."

Lost it right there. Cheaply made garbage.

Uhh, MDF is the best material out there for speaker enclosures, and you will find it in speakers costing 10 times the price of these. It's much denser and therefore resonates way less that other materials (which is a good thing) such as solid wood, plastic or aluminum.

Almost all larger or high quality speakers have MDF enclosures, covered with a veneer of one of the above mentioned materials. 1/2" thick is generous for an enclosure of this small size and you'd have a hard time breaking it on purpose, let alone accidentally.

Yeah, in garbage throwaway crappy speakers. Good speakers aren't made of compressed cardboard. It sounds muddier, dirtier, and more muffled than real wood. Plastic sounds about as good as MDF. Cheap floor trim is made from MDF, for crying out loud.

For the same reasons you don't make real instruments out of compressed cardboard.

http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/

From all the reviews I've seen of these speakers and other Audioengine products, apparently you can make good speakers out of that material.

 

[ddferrari]

Yeah, in garbage throwaway crappy speakers. Good speakers aren't made of compressed cardboard. It sounds muddier, dirtier, and more muffled than real wood. Plastic sounds about as good as MDF. Cheap floor trim is made from MDF, for crying out loud.

For the same reasons you don't make real instruments out of compressed cardboard.

http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/

Yeah... the reason instruments aren't made from MDF is because they are supposed to resonate- that's how they produce volume. You've probably noticed that instruments don't have woofers and tweeters (sigh). For speakers, however, you only want the drivers to produce the sound, not the cabinet. Real wood isn't nearly as dense as MDF, that's why even speakers like the B&W 801's from the 1980's- which were $6000/pair -used MDF covered by a thin veneer.

By the way, here's another Vienna Acoustics link regarding their cabinet construction. The word "Veneer" should be a major clue:
http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/index.php/the-music-company/craftsmanship

Allow me to copy/paste a few sentences to get you started:
"As you can follow in the accompanying pictures, the manufacturing starts with a medium-density fiberboard, which is milled to its final shape. Glue is applied to the board in carefully selected areas, then a sheet of veneer is wrapped around it, pressed, and dried. As is evident in the pictures, the veneer can follow only the two curves on the long side and then must make the complex transition at the corners."

Any questions?

 

[DomJF]

Yeah, in garbage throwaway crappy speakers. Good speakers aren't made of compressed cardboard. It sounds muddier, dirtier, and more muffled than real wood. Plastic sounds about as good as MDF. Cheap floor trim is made from MDF, for crying out loud.

For the same reasons you don't make real instruments out of compressed cardboard.

http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/

Yeah... the reason instruments aren't made from MDF is because they are supposed to resonate- that's how they produce volume. You've probably noticed that instruments don't have woofers and tweeters (sigh). For speakers, however, you only want the drivers to produce the sound, not the cabinet. Real wood isn't nearly as dense as MDF, that's why even speakers like the B&W 801's from the 1980's- which were $6000/pair -used MDF covered by a thin veneer.

By the way, here's another Vienna Acoustics link regarding their cabinet construction. The word "Veneer" should be a major clue:
http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/index.php/the-music-company/craftsmanship

Allow me to copy/paste a few sentences to get you started:
"As you can follow in the accompanying pictures, the manufacturing starts with a medium-density fiberboard, which is milled to its final shape. Glue is applied to the board in carefully selected areas, then a sheet of veneer is wrapped around it, pressed, and dried. As is evident in the pictures, the veneer can follow only the two curves on the long side and then must make the complex transition at the corners."

Any questions?

ddferari you've hit the nail on the head.. To summarise; musical instruments need their construction material(I.e. wood) to resonate in order to contribute to the final sound. Loudspeakers need their construction material (e.g. MDF) to resonate as little as possible in order to contribute as little as possible to the final sound.

 

[krizby]

Very educating discussion guys. I have the Audioengine a5+ non wireless version and need a little more bass, do you think the Audioengine S8 subwoofer go well with it ?

 

[ddferrari]

Very educating discussion guys. I have the Audioengine a5+ non wireless version and need a little more bass, do you think the Audioengine S8 subwoofer go well with it ?

Well, at $350 it's overpriced for what it offers, and the reviews are mixed.

The Polk Audio PSW505 is something you should take a good look at. http://www.audiorumble.com/polk-audio-psw505-review/

It has better specs: a 12" driver vs 8", 300W compared to 125W, and lower frequency response. Maybe you don't need something this powerful right now, but here's the kicker- it sells for under $200. It is somewhat bigger and heavier than the S8. But again, at nearly half the price you get more performance. It's currently sporting a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Amazon (2000+ reviews). Worth looking at.

 

[theUnforgiven]

I have has these speakers for a couple of months.
I did not listen to them as they are, as I bought the S8 sub-woofer with it
Everytime I play music on these little beauties, nothing can wipe the smile off my dial
I just love this system to bits
I always look forward to playing games & cranking up the gun fire & explosions
I also bought their D1 DAC as the external DAC that comes with my ASUS Rampage V Edition 10 is useless with the useless software that ASUS gives it
All I can say about the D1 is, I have to get better speakers than my now blown Definitive Technology BP 2006 speakers
Do your self a favour, if you can afford it, get these grouse little speakers with the S8 sub, you won't regret it