A2+ Desktop 24 Bit Limited Edition Wireless Bluetooth Desktop Speakers - 60W Computer Speakers for Music and Gaming Accessories

Let me begin with the aesthetic appeal. Despite their compact size, the speakers are beautifully finished and come in a variety of colors that please the preferences of even the most discerning customers. Every detail, from the smallest components to the overall design, has been meticulously considered to create a solid and stunning professional look. Of course, there are many other speakers available with appealing styles and colors, but many of them are either significantly more expensive or lack the exceptional sound quality of the A2+ speakers. And speaking of which, the quality of sound is where these little wonders truly shine. I tested the speakers with a diverse range of music genres, including classic, jazz, salsa, rock, and pop, and I was pleasantly surprised by their performance. I wasn’t expecting such a high level of detail, especially in the mid and high frequency sounds, which are remarkably good. While the bass may not be particularly powerful for their size, it’s not bad in any way. Regarding connectivity, the speakers offer various options to connect to your music sources without compromising their clean and elegant appearance. All the available ports are conveniently located on the back of the speakers. An USB-C port is provided; I reached out to user support to get more information about the requirements for this specific port. According to user support, the minimum practical port speed is any USB port that supports USB 2.0 Full Speed. This includes USB A 2.0 ports, USB A 3.x ports operating in backward compatible mode, USB C ports that support USB 2.0 signaling, and Thunderbolt docks that expose USB 2.0 lanes internally. Even the slowest USB ports on modern docks exceed this requirement. Here, I discovered an issue with my specific setup. The only available “free” USB ports left on my "busy" Ivanky FusionDock Max 2 dock are USB A (2.0 and higher); however, attempting to connect the speakers to any of these ports using either a USB C to USB A cable or an adaptor from USB C to USB A results in no connection. Only when using a USB C port was I able to connect the A2+ to my Mac Mini M4 Pro. The Bluetooth connection works perfectly fine. When I first turn on the speakers, they enter in “pair mode,” which simplifies the process. I didn’t notice any difference in the sound quality when using USB C or Bluetooth. I haven’t tested the RCA connection, but I would have preferred an optical port to be included instead. I find that port more useful for this type of speaker (more computer-oriented).

I tried to watch as many reviews and research as much as possible before making a purchase. I was in the market for a set of desktop speakers that sounded good for a small office. I went back and forth between larger speakers, Kanto YU2's, the Audioengine A2's, and multiple Edifier speakers including the M60's. I decided on these because they are simple, are connected together with speaker wire rather than a proprietary cable (easier to repurpose later or replace the cable long term), and have multiple inputs (Bluetooth, RCA, line in, and USB-C) with an option for a sub later if you wanted one. After having these for a few days I can say they do sound really good for their size and will fill a small/medium sized office easily. I had a pair of Creative Pebbles before these(an older model from about 3 years ago than the current ones available) and there is a huge difference between the two. The Pebble's looked and sounded cheap and lacked that volume "boom" to them. The A2's fill the room with ease and look really great on the desk. I think the knocks to their sound levels and bass are a bit exaggerated from some of the reviews out there. If you're using these as desktop speakers or for a laptop, they are more than serviceable and sound great, especially considering how small they are. They get pretty loud on their own and without cranking them to the max, I didn't notice any drop off in quality by going louder. I think adding a sub would put these over the top for a full desktop setup, but is not required for good sound. Nobody is buying these to professionally mix or edit music, that's not what they are for. These are regular computer desktop speakers intended for entertainment. That said, overall, I do think these are just a bit expensive. I think they are a near perfect product for their usecase, though, and you get what you pay for. Multiple inputs that are all useful, sub out, usb-c, bluetooth, and a very small footprint. I wouldn't knock someone for going for the Edifier M60's or something nearly $100 cheaper, but if you have the budget, I'd say these are perfect for a small/medium sized office.

I read that new speakers take a few months to break in so I waited until I owned these for a while before writing this review. I’ve had these for almost a year. Executive summary: I upgraded to these AudioEngine A2+ speakers from the $20 speakers I’d been using since I got my desktop PC. These are so much better. These sound as good or better than any speakers I’ve ever owned, even ones that are much more expensive. They are worth every penny. I have zero regrets and would recommend them to anybody. I am not an audio expert and I have not done exhaustive comparisons between these and a lot of other kinds of speakers. Details: My $20 speakers were OK but after 6 months of pandemic working-at-home I was definitely ready for a sound improvement. I read a bunch of reviews of different computer speakers. There were a lot of speakers around the $100-150 price point, but I decided to splurge on these at over $250 because the reviews were good and I figured that you get what you pay for. I have no idea whether these are better than any of the ones I didn’t buy. My first take upon unboxing was that these folks care about what they’re selling. The packaging was extremely well done. Each speaker came in its own individual cloth bag, and the rest of the box was very well put together. Obviously this has nothing to do with the sound quality, but when people pay so much attention to what’s on the outside, chances are pretty good that they care a lot about the insides too. The physical size of these is perfect for my limited desktop. I had considered getting the larger A5 instead and after seeing these, I’m glad I didn’t, they would have been much too bulky for my particular setup. The wiring setup is very easy. All inputs plug in to the left speaker and the right speaker is just a slave that connects to the right via speaker wire. The left speaker also contains all of the electronics like the Bluetooth, USB DAC, and amplifier. So it tends to run a bit warmer than the right speaker but not overly hot. They give you every cable you’ll need for all the different inputs. I turned them on and started listening. My music source is Amazon Music HD. They immediately sounded fantastic, but after making this investment I decided to do a bit of research and figure out how to optimize them for the best listening. First I got equalizer software for my PC. I use the APO equalizer, with the Peace GUI. This is an amazing piece of software for the price ($0), and it lets you customize just about every aspect of your sound. Everybody has different preferences, and ears with different ages, and varying sensitivities at different frequencies, and Peace/APO lets you tweak the equalization so you can get it sounding just right for you. It’s a huge improvement over the flat response that a computer gives you by default, and far more capable than the equalizer that came with my sound card. Next I tilted the speakers upwards so that they point directly at my head from where they’re sitting on my desk. This made a huge difference in the mid-to-high frequencies. I ended up buying the AudioEngine DS1 speaker stands. They’re custom fitted to the A2+ speakers and even though their angle is not adjustable, it’s perfect for my specific layout. This brings up the point that a PC sound system is usually used by just one person, so you can position the speakers so that your head is in the perfect “sweet spot” of the sound field. Of course that is possible with any PC speakers. These speakers have a bunch of different inputs, all of which can operate simultaneously. From my desktop PC I connect them to the on-board sound card via the provided 3.5mm cable. From my laptop I connect via a dedicated USB DAC that I bought because otherwise my laptop just wasn’t able to produce anything like the great sound I was getting from my desktop. I knew before I bought them that they had multiple inputs but that turned out to be an unexpectedly nice feature because I can switch seamlessly between audio from both computers, and even hear sound effects from both systems at the same time when I need to. I am only using the analog inputs. I did not try the built-in Bluetooth. I did try the built-in USB DAC, and I was unable to get it to sound as good as either of my other sources. Overall the sound from these is superb - the highs are crystal clear with zero tinniness and I can’t think about any aspect of the sound that I’m unhappy with. One comment I see in a lot of the A2 reviews is that people think the bass is lacking. It’s true that these don’t thump you out of your seat like a dedicated subwoofer would, or even speakers with bigger drivers. But the bass they deliver is super clear. I can hear every nuance of a jazz bassline, and low drum beats with no problem at all. I personally have no issue with the bass on these, but if that ever changes they also have RCA outputs that can be used to drive a dedicated subwoofer if I feel like adding one some day.

These looked great and sounded great but they did have a slight hiss that I could hear when not playing music. I am quite sensitive to this sound since my room is quiet and I wanted new speakers to specifically eliminate the hissing noise my current speakers had. To be fair, it is hardly noticeable when sitting at a normal distance from the speakers but I could hear if if I was listening for it. I ended up with the ORA's instead which do not have any hissing sound even with my ear right next to the speakers.

Let me start off by saying that I did a lot of research and watched a lot of reviews on these speakers before buying them. And it is clear that there are basically two types of people that Audioengine attracted in this offering; Audiophiles, and luxury minimalists. (I am in that second category). Some audiophiles don't mind them, but as with any all-in-one offering, they complained that the price to performance was not there. For myself though, the value is excellent. I don't have golden ears and I do not care to spend any more time than I have to tinkering around with hardware or software to get that "perfect" sound. I want to buy audio equipment and I want it to sound good out of the box. And these DELIVER! The entire experience is premium. The packaging was excellent, the green finish on my unit was immaculate and has an absolutely lovely luxurious matte finish that feels durable. They feel nice and dense and solidly built in the hand. The hardware and controls on the back of the main speaker feel so smooth yet sturdy. They also do not take up hardly any room at all on my desk. And it is as simple as plugging in the power, connecting the two halves via the included copper wire, and then pairing it to my computers bluetooth. There is an option to connect via USB, which I had originally planned to use, but I tried the bluetooth first to see if I would like it. I loved it. The speakers sound fantastic right out of the box. Admittedly though, I do like to EQ my music a bit to try to push the bass and highs. These speakers handle it with ease and have rich and deep bass that is perfectly sufficient for any personal desk setup. Are they a bit on the expensive side for the raw performance? Yes. But they offer a near perfect user experience that instills pride and confidence. It is a joy to look at and use these speakers on a daily basis and it is so easy to switch between all my audio sources thanks to the bluetooth connectivity. That being said, bluetooth is ideal for music and casual youtube. There is a slight but noticeable latency that would make gaming or movie watching annoying. But that is fixed by just using the USB input instead. And for the more adventurous out there, yes these work just fine on Linux and Nintendo Switch 2. If these ever got stolen, lost or damaged by my own negligence, I would absolutely go buy another pair without hesitation.

I use these at my desk and they are a nice improvement over the Bose Comoanion II speakers. I love that it has numerous ports. The usb c port is really helpful and keeps my computers headphone jack free. I use the aux input to connect it to my WiiM pro plus streaming device. USB c input sounds almost as good as the WiiM so the DAC is at least adequate. You don’t need to switch between input later and there is no auto sense. It will play sound from both inputss if there is a signal from both. My attempt to describe the voicing: slightly warm and a smooth top end, very easy to listen to. Good detail for this price point. Pretty much what I was looking for and why I chose these over Kanto. Soundstage is very good in near field listening. Not a lot of bass extension as others have noted, but the bass that is there is pretty well defined. Speakers are heavy for their size. Very enjoyable and I think that, for the size and price, you will be pleased.

I've had an intermittent issue with the speakers where when waking from a sleep state, they refuse to connect to my pc until fully powered off, disconnected, and then plugged back in where they magically work again. Initially when I had this issue I sent an email to Audioengine support assuming I just had a faulty set and was told this was a known issue with how the speakers interact with usb power states (the connectivity option suggested by Audioengine). I was given a suggestion to adjust a usb setting deep within settings however even upon changing this, the issue persists. I tested the speakers on three different setups (two window, one mac) just to be sure it wasnt my pc acting funky and the issue appeared on all three. I asked if an rma would be possible because the issue seemed to be persistent and was told a repair was possible but Audioengine requires the customer to pay shipping both ways for repairs, which ended up being quoted at around $50 for me, despite the fact that the speakers were less than a year old. I understand issues arise with mass manufactured products, but for a premium brand to not stand behind their product when there is an obvious reliability issue is pretty unacceptable.

These speakers produce a fantastic sound. Even though there are no treble or base controls, the sounds are excellently balanced. Setup was quite simple. I connected the speakers to a Bluetooth amplifier and tested the output of the speakers connecting viq Bluetooth to both the amplifier, and also directly to the speakers. In my opinion there isn't enough volume capacity when connecting directly to the speakers, so my choice is to connect via Bluetooth to the amplifier. This results in a huge volume range that is controllable from my phone. It took a bit of tweaking to get the amplifier volume just right so that I didn't overdrive the speakers's amplifier. The finish on the speakers is fantastic. And they are very well made. I particularly liked the fact that the input can be just about anything. Packaging was also excellent with each speaker packaged in its own cloth bag. Be careful unpacking and installing, because there is no grill cloth leaving the actual speaker exposed and susceptible to a finger being jammed into it during unpacking and setup. They're pricey, but outstanding.