AudioEngine A2 Review
The AudioEngine A2 computer speaker system is by far the best 2.0 system on the market. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical at first mainly because I’ve never seen a 2.0 computer speaker setup that sounded this good in this price range (they retail for $200). Nonetheless, I’m impressed with this set.
The A2’s pack a whole lot of punch with 60W peak power (30W per channel) in a small and elegant case design (comes in black or white). The A2 speakers have a 20mm silk dome tweeter and a 2.75″ Kevlar woofer. The back of the main A2 (left speaker) has the power output, volume knob, two audio inputs – a 1/8″ stereo jack (for iPod, computer, Playstation or XBOX, etc) and an RCA input (for home theater systems, stereos, and more).
How about the sound? The A2’s sound great with solid highs, good mids, and great bass. They provide a very full sound unlike many other 2.0 computer speaker sets on the market. One thing I found is that the speakers sound best after some adjustments with an equalizer. The speakers are tuned very flat and the bass can be a bit overpowering which drowns out the highs and mids. Once I adjusted the equalizer I was extremely pleased with the sound I was hearing. Even at very high volumes (I could feel puffs of air coming out the speaker) there was no distortion.
If you are looking to purchase these speakers I would recommend you also buy their speaker stands as they will greatly improve your listening. The speakers have completely flat bottoms and therefore the sound they produce can be lost if the angle they are pointing isn’t ideal. The stands are designed to point the speakers on an upward angle (15 degrees) which I found to greatly improve listening quality.
I have two issues with these speakers, one is that you cannot plug headphones into them (unlike most computer speaker systems) and the second is that the volume knob can be a pain to access depending on your desk configuration and speaker placement. This is because the volume knob is on the back of the speaker itself and if your desk is setup like mine, it makes it a bit more difficult to reach it.
And lastly, the AudioEngine A2’s work on both PC and Mac computers making them an excellent choice for any computer user. If you are in the market for a new set of computer speakers I would definitely have these on my list of possibilites. Highly recommended.
I would like to personally thank AudioEngine for sending me a pair of these speakers for review.