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Audioengine is well known for their range of speakers in different varieties. The company has been around since 2005 and is based in Austin, Texas, where the founders have spent time with the likes of Gibson Guitars, Harman-Kardon, and Apple. Besides producing high-quality speakers, the company also manufactures components like Bluetooth transceivers and headphone amps.

Over the years, their smaller computer-orientated speakers have accumulated a lot of popularity, and with the newest release of the Audioengine A2+ Wireless Speaker, they have certainly added to that. Based upon the design of the first A2, the A2+ Wireless adds Bluetooth connectivity and USB-in, so you can access the internal DAC with a cable if you have a fixed setup. With its built-in amplifiers, the A2+ Wireless Speakers function easily as a PC speaker, analog or digital source.

Design

Measuring only 6 inches in height, 4 inches in width and 5.25 inches in depth, and weighing around 3 pounds in weight it’s safe to presume the Audioengine A2+ Wireless Speakers are reasonably small. However, with its small exterior comes a beautiful design and an even more impressive sound. From a front perspective, these speakers look very neat and clean, especially in black because it blends in the drivers well. Both left and right speakers are identical from the front which give an aesthetically pleasing symmetry to your setup.

Most speakers will have to rest on somewhat cluttered surfaces, so their size and design are most welcome. The Kevlar membrane woofer and soft dome tweeter look sleek, and the front-firing port is barely noticeable as it is situated at the bottom. The A2+ Wireless Speakers also feature no grills so it has a rather less rugged finish. DS1 stands can also be purchased, which raises the speakers slightly off the ground. The elevation allows the speakers to be angled upward until you find that sweet spot for maximum audio enjoyment.

Features

Audioengine manufacturers and creates their own woofers, tweeters and many other components in the speaker systems. The custom-designed speaker comes equipped with cabinets, bass port, amplifier, and drivers all working together to provide incredible sound for a compact package. The A2+ features a ‘master speaker’ with all electronics inside, in this case, it is the left speaker, whereby you would need to run a cable from the left to the right. This feature may limit you in the way you position the speakers to get to the inputs and outputs, but sometimes it is convenient to have one master and another slave, especially where there is a short distance between the two. This approach is probably the most cost-efficient and easiest to manage for computer audio purposes. The left speaker houses all the controls, ports and the amplifier.

There is a Stereo RCA Input and output ports, volume control, stereo mini-jack input, Bluetooth pair button, USB and power inlet. It should be noted that the volume control also doubles up with the power switch on the back. This can cause some annoyance, especially when there is no remote control included. This should be fine if you only plan to use it for PC via USB-in or Bluetooth.

The A2+ Wireless Speakers' amplifiers are a conservatively-rated class A/B analog monoblock design. This traditional amplifier configuration is said to provide better quality audio and superior flexibility. All the circuit boards for the preamp and power sections are also vertically attached for maximum mechanical shock defense. The A2+ Speakers use an audiophile-quality, ferrofluid-cooled silk dome tweeters with neodymium magnets, which hold up well under high power. The speakers’ woofers are made from aramid fiber woven glass composite with rubber surrounds, aramid fiber is durable in the sense that the woofer retains its shape when being set at high levels. The A2+ Speakers are both magnetically shielded, which means they can be used as TV speakers without the worry of interaction with a monitor.

Installation and Setup

When unboxing you’ll find that the speakers are well packed and covered with a microfiber bag to protect the finish from scratches or smudges. Upon removal of all the contents you should also find two bags with a power cord and cables. Both speakers are labelled left or right, but this should be obvious as the left speaker has all the output and input controls, and a volume/power button.

The quick-start guide recommends that the speakers be placed well away from walls, which is a common suggestion for speaker designs with a bass port. Audioengine also suggests that you be on the same level to the speaker drivers, so you can get the best frequency response and imaging. Depending on how you plan to use the speakers, and what way you plan to connect, leave some space at the back of the left sided speaker. If you plan to access the controls often, volume can also be adjusted on your computer or smartphone if that is the only control you wish to change often.

Sound and Performance

Sound quality is the most important aspect behind every speaker, and the A2+ Wireless Speakers produce an exceptional result considering their minuscule design. The A2+ offers a variety of ways to connect your device to the speaker. The easiest option when connecting to PC would be through the USB port found at the back, as it avoids another ADC step in the signal chain. Once the USB cable has been plugged in, your PC should immediately recognize the device and be ready for use. Other ways of connectivity is through the implementation of your laptop or smartphone using Bluetooth. The A2+ comes with Bluetooth version 5 which provides better sound quality, further range, and increased battery life. When tested with a smartphone it was found that the connection was extremely strong, and the connection did not drop within 60 meters as can be expected with Bluetooth 5.

Compared to most medium-sized smart speakers, the A2+ Wireless Speakers can seriously deliver some power. You get a little less bass than medium-sized smart speakers, but the overall sound quality is much better. Extension is very similar with the A2+ and medium-sized ones as they both struggle below 100 Hz, but the A2+ does so without introducing audible DSP artifacts. The treble and midrange are also pretty good, however, there is a lower midrange bump. The bump is not detrimental to the presentation, but it is was probably an attempt to get a slightly more cumbersome presentation in a system that is a little light on bass. In response to this, Audioengine does still make a suitable subwoofer for the A2+ speaker.

“in small spaces, these speakers are the perfect option”

EDM and Rock music sound great, even though the 3 to 5 kHz range is not overly pronounced. Female vocals are crisp without being too forward, and the sibilance is not a problem unless present in the recording. Around the 10 kHz mark, the A2+ falls short and sounds somewhat uncontrolled. In small spaces, these speakers are the perfect option, and Audioengine has been nice enough to include a sub out on their speakers, so you can upgrade to more bass. In larger areas, however, the A2+ wouldn’t be able to compete with bigger stereo sets, which should be expected from pc orientated speakers.

Audioengine also sells the DS1 desk stands, which help you position the speakers to find that sweet spot. Other desk stands will probably give you the same result, but the DS1 stands feel more secure despite being made of plastic. To find the sweet spot you’d want to have your ears on or slightly below the axis of the tweeter for maximum performance. The sweet spot does not necessarily provide range for everyone, so they speakers are more for a single listener, unless you’re sitting side by side.

Specifications:

Pros & Cons

Conclusion

Audioengine's A2+ Wireless Speaker System is a small speaker pair designed for use as a computer speaker or for smaller rooms. They shouldn’t be compared against large floor standing speakers or flat panels. Taking into all these factors, they are very musical and perform great considering their price and size. These speakers are not designed to fill a living room with sound, but in a smaller room, like a bedroom or office, they sound much bigger than they actually are. It should be noted that the larger the room these speakers are placed, the more the bass will get lost and the midrange will prevail.

It would have been nice if a remote was included and that the power button and volume button weren’t the same, but these are small sacrifices for an overall outstanding product. In conclusion, there are larger speakers that cost the same or are slightly more than the A2+ speakers, that also sound exactly the same or even slightly deeper in the low end. Therefore it would be hard to find something that sounds better at this size.

The Audioengine A2 speaker system has been on “the scene” as long as the iPhone has been in existence. Though the iPhone has seen many iterations (and features, like a headphone jack) come and go, the Audioengine in my memory hasn’t changed much since it’s fall of 2007 release. What is new for the A2+ Wireless Speaker System is the addition of Bluetooth aptX.

What remains the same, and thankfully so, are the many features of the original A2 design that initially made it a hit, and kept the A2 platform in the conversation about desktop audio solutions for over a decade. It’s worth noting that Audioengine still opts to use an all-analog, 15-Watt per channel (30-Watt peak) Class A/B amplifier in the A2+ design, where just about all other self-powered speakers in this category settle for small, cool-running digital amplifiers. These digital amps can sound good-enough but just don’t have the “magic sauce” that true analog Class A/B amplifier designs bring to the table.

Also remaining are the .75-inch silk dome tweeters and 2.75-inch aramid (see Kevlar™) woofers, and front exiting transmission line (slot) ports. It’s the combination of these fast moving, light-weight, and rigid woofers in concert with the slot ports that allow the small enclosure to play well below the A2+ visually predicted frequency range. Audioengine doesn’t use any “bass enhancing” circuits to artificially add bass, so what you hear with the A2+ is all-real and astonishingly deep with the right placement.

On the front of the Matte Black (also available in Gloss Red and Gloss White) painted Audioengine A2+ Wireless Speakers sent in for review is well, nothing. Nothing other than the requisite speaker drivers and the subtle wave-guides that surround them. The look of the front baffles of these speakers are identical, and clean. A nice feature for those with a propensity towards OCD tendencies. Around the back of the (Right) speaker, a single input-pair of gold plated five-way binding posts that will accept banana plugs, spades, or bare wire. The (Left) has a single output-pair of the same gold plated five-way binding posts, along with all of the inputs (power and signal) and controls. The volume knob on the (Left) speaker has two functions, volume being the obvious one, but also as the mains power switch which can be denoted by tactile click of the volume knob. Because of this combination of volume and power, I decided that my best philosophy of use was to leave the speakers in the ON position and set to a volume that best suited my listening needs (75%), all while adjusting volume at the source level.

Analog inputs (and outputs) on the rear of the (Left) speaker begin with two sets of RCA’s one for input signals from line-level sources, and the output line-level for use with anything your imagination can surmise, but my guess is for a subwoofer. However in my review, I never found the need for one. Also included is an alternate analog input via 3.5mm (1/8th) mini-jack.

Digital inputs begin with the newly added Bluetooth aptX (and pairing button), along with the mini-USB digital input that was added back in 2013. The inclusion of a built-in Qualcomm CSR8670 Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) capable of 16-bit/48kHz in the Audioengine 2+ allows users to bypass a computer’s headphone output and send music directly through USB (or now Bluetooth) for improved sound.

Installation

Unboxing and setting up of the A2+ Wireless Speakers was rather straightforward. The speakers were packed in cloth speaker bags, along with a cloth bag for all the included cables. Cables included a ground-free power-supply-cable-combo (12ft), solder-tipped (bare) speaker wire (16ft), a 3.5mm audio cable (5ft), mini-USB cable (5ft). Also included, a quick-start guide set of notable setup instructions and safety warnings, along with a complete brochure of Audioengine’s product line.

As for setup, I first decided to let the speakers break-in for the recommended 4-5 hours at moderate levels before settling in for serious listening. My initial placement was in a small listening room, placed on speaker stands about 7ft apart, with a listening position equalling 7ft from the front baffles of the speakers. For the remainder of my listening sessions, I found the desktop placement to be where I experienced the best results.

Impressions

First up was the in-room placement on speaker stands. With the front baffles starting out at 24-inches from the back-wall, bass was just too far gone for this placement to be worthwhile. Once I moved the speakers back to around 12” from the back-wall, and moved my listening position accordingly, bass improved remarkably. These speakers do benefit from wall reinforcement when it comes to bass. Though improved, I found the in-room position to leave much in terms of serious listening to be desired. As environmental sounds sources, the Audioengine A2+ work well to integrate into my living space’s decor. Never calling any visual attention to themselves, and succeeding at presenting a clean sound for passive in-room listening.

For the rest of my listening, I felt it best to move to a speaker placement where I assume most users will have intended to use them, at a desktop and in the near-field. As for inputs, it worked well to compare them to one-another. First up to bat was the 3.5mm analog input, sourcing FLAC files from an iPod Classic. This input responded as I expected with only the slightest noise creeping in from the iPod itself when the iPod was connected to a charging base. When the iPod was running solely on battery power, the noise issue was resolved. I swapped cables, and used the iPod again with the RCA line-level inputs and noticed the volume on the two inputs to be the same. Which leads to one gripe I have. The input level of the analog inputs is rather low by comparison to the Bluetooth and USB DAC inputs. But that’s only a nit-pick.

Moving on to the Bluetooth and USB DAC inputs yielded really fun and great sounding results. The Bluetooth aptX module did have a good range, even when the connected mobile device was located in another room. Using the USB DAC offered up a cleaner and complete picture of what this speaker system could do. Albeit the performance of the Bluetooth input was eerily close to the USB input. The Bluetooth feature shines on the new A2+ Wireless Speakers as it’s almost indistinguishable from the wired USB input. Given the option, I had no qualms about switching back-and-forth between USB and Bluetooth for convenience, and found some of my best listening happening with both.

As far as comparisons go, I had the much larger Kanto YU6 on hand which feature 5.25-inch woofers, 1-inch tweeters, large rear ports, and 50-Watts per channel of Class-D amplifier power. At first you would think this would be an unfair fight, but this duel takes place in an arena of near-field. In-room, the larger Kanto YU6 trounce the smaller A2+, but up close and personal the A2+ provides cleaner and more taught bass, though not as universally deep. The treble and midrange of the A2+ are more balanced for near-field monitoring, and less edgy at the top end. Furthermore the use of Class-A/B amplifiers in the A2+ deliver a near-field presentation that is quite and dark, whereas the Kanto YU6’s Class-D amplifier produces audible noise that cannot be overlooked or ignored. All of this equating to a win for the A2+ in most desktop environments.

Inference

Bass on the A2+ Wireless Speakers are powerful, fast, and dig deep for their diminutive desktop friendly size. Treble and midrange are in nearly a perfect balance, and tonally reach into what I call neutral territory. Extension and power is clean and free of distortion as I go up the volume scale, and with my full intention of exposing faults, I find none. I can’t state it enough, but I really did push these A2+ hard, and with evermore complex material I pushed their way, at no point did I feel they were strained, grained, or wincing. The kick and impact of the little A2+ Wireless Speakers is quite astonishing. The use of Class A/B amplifiers is apparent as their operation yields a dark and noise-free background, requisite for nearfield listening. The transmission line (slot) ports exhibit no audible chuffing, and the woofers no evidence of cone break-up. Overall the Audioengine A2+ Wireless are still king of the hill in their category, and with the addition of Bluetooth add a jewel to their crown. Highly recommended.

It’s a real shame that bookshelf speakers have gone out of style. Although they’re fairly big and bulky, bookshelf speakers are awesome! It’s a classic look that has the potential to deliver great performance in a neat package. The Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers take the classic bookshelf look and pack it with in-house hardware and modern wireless tech.

Overview

• Price: $499.00
• Wattage: 150W (50W RMS, 75W peak per side)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 (aptX, aptX HD, AAC, SBC), 3.5mm, RCA
• Dimensions: 27 x 18 x 20 mm (23mm on the left unit)
• Weight: 15.4 lbs left, 9.6 lbs right
• In the box: speakers, remote, antenna, 4m speaker wire, AC cord, 2 meter RCA cable, 2 meter 3.5mm cable, microfiber speaker and cable bags

The A5+ Wireless Speakers are almost identical, though the left houses a few extra features. There is a status light and an IR receiver side-by-side with a volume knob nearby. The status light is coated in darkened plastic so it’s dimmed and diffused.

On the back is where you see the main difference. The right speaker contains just the drivers in the cabinet, with the bass slit up top and the two banana jack receptacles for the speaker wire connecting the two speakers together.

The left speaker has a massive heatsink that houses the dual class AB analog amplifier and keeps it cool. All the connections are there as well, such as RCA and 3.5mm inputs, an RCA output for a sub, the output banana jacks, a power switch, a voltage selector, a fuse, and the AC power inlet. Under the bass port you’ll find a Bluetooth antenna and a pair button. The inputs can be used simultaneously; there is no switch.

Notice how there isn’t a single logo on the front, sides, or top of these speakers. It makes for a wonderfully clean look.

Build quality

Build quality isn’t important for stationary speakers in the traditional sense. A good feel is irrelevant, since you won’t really be touching them. However, quality materials and assembly make a massive difference in audio performance. And of course you want them to look nice!

The A5+ Wireless Speakers are made out of handcrafted 1/2-inch thick wood (MDF) and finished in either satin black, gloss white, or carbonized bamboo if you want to spend a little extra. This is the gloss white model, and despite being bookshelf speakers (which generally look rather average), the round corners and gloss white paint really look beautiful and modern. I love the choice of gloss finish.

Everything about these speakers is well put together. The cabinets are extremely solid. The back panels are properly fastened without any flex. The connectors are high quality. Of course, this is all stuff you’d expect to be done right.

The volume knob on the front is tight and has a satisfying resistance and click. It also pushes in to put the speakers to sleep.

The remote is something special. It’s made out of a single piece of milled-out aluminum with a brushed finish and heavy texture. It’s surprisingly solid feeling and the chamfered edges make it feel oh so premium. The buttons themselves feel just a bit cheap though.

To change the battery, you have to pop out the entire center remote section with a SIM tool or paper clip, revealing a bright red circuit board with an Audioengine logo and a coin cell battery. Inside the housing are four magnets that hold the board in. It’s definitely super cool and the attention to detail should not be overlooked.

One detail I quite like is that the speakers come in really nice microfiber speaker bags. The cables come in their own little microfiber bag. This is great for transporting them, but even if they’ll remain stationary, it’s a really nice touch.

Sound quality

There are a lot of different types of speakers on the market. Some are rugged, some are portable, some are straight up art. But the Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers are all function. Bookshelf speakers usually are.

And let me tell you, they sound amazing. The sound signature is relatively flat and balanced yet still sounds interesting and fun enough for regular people to love it.

Audioengine utilizes custom aramid fiber woofers, silk tweeters, and a dual class AB analog amplifier. The analog distinction is important, as most amps these days are digital. The debate between digital and analog will never end, but many say analog is superior in many use cases. It’s also nice to see all custom parts engineered to work together rather than off the shelf parts.

When at very low volumes, they sound flat and accurate. They’re one of the most “accurate” speakers I’ve ever tested, while most others are heavily colored, with boosted highs or bass. At very low volumes they’re almost a little clinical. This is usually augmented with a standalone subwoofer, which these speakers don’t need but can utilize thanks to an audio output for this purpose. I firmly believe a powered sub isn’t necessary here, but if you want it, Audioengine does sell the S8 Powered Subwoofer for $349.

When you turn them up, they really come alive. The bass is shockingly strong. For strong bass you’d usually see massive dedicated woofers and big ports, yet these speakers do without all that. You can get rib-shaking bass from these things with no tweaks to the EQ. And no matter how high you turn them up, they stay clear and sharp.

And they go loud! It’s easy to fill a medium-sized room with such loud sound you can’t yell over it. Distortion is basically nonexistent, too. Highs are sharp and accurate but never grating, and mids are full and powerful. It’s really a lovely sound signature and a breath of fresh air when every other speaker turns the treble up to 11 and the bass gets muddy from boosting.

They’re not just great for music either. Gaming on them is a pleasure. Gears of War (a game with wonderful sound design and incredible sound effects) especially sounds amazing, with punchy bass from every explosion and a sharp smack when you hit a wall after a roadie run.

Keep in mind that your source signal matters here. These are fully analog speakers, so your source signal is what gets amplified and played. If your device’s analog output is noisy or simply no good, the final audio won’t be as good. That’s not to say that the average computer or device will sound bad (it won’t!), but a quality signal matters. All my testing was done either through a Creative Sound BlasterX G5 DAC or via Bluetooth devices that supported aptX HD.

The downside to the analog amp is that you get no digital inputs. There’s no optical, so you can’t directly use them with your DVD player or Xbox. This is unfortunate, but a receiver can fix that.

Keep in mind that, unlike with a sound bar, positioning of a bookshelf speaker is very important. You’ll ideally want them spread far apart and at the height of the listener’s ear. You also want a bit of space behind them, so don’t actually put them on bookshelves if you can avoid it. Play with positioning and watch your audio experience change.

Wireless

Wireless is about as simple as you’d expect from Bluetooth. There’s no setup, just plug them in and pair them with your phone. The good news is that Audioengine used the aptX HD codec, which delivers “higher than CD quality” audio at up to 24-bit/48kHz. Most people may never hear the difference between Bluetooth via aptX HD and a quality wired connection. Don’t worry if your device has aptX but not aptX HD; these speakers work with regular aptX too.

One gripe I have is that every time you turn the speakers on, they’ll automatically connect to your smartphone. This can get annoying as every time you come home, your phone auto connects and you lose all audio through the device’s own speaker. Devialet managed to allow a manual Bluetooth connection without autoconnect, and I wish Audioengine did too.

Otherwise, the wireless functionality is stellar. Signal is great and never skips, quality is fantastic, and ease of use could not be better. While a built-in Chromecast is superior for audio streaming, it adds a lot of expense because of the Chromecast internals, a WiFi setup and antennas, and a setup process. This is dead simple and functional.

Conclusion

Read full review here.

 

If you’ve been around 9to5Toys for a while then you’ve probably seen some other coverage of speaker sets from Audioengine. Attention to sound quality and design makes them a favorite to cover. A new version of their beloved A2+ speakers, Audioengine’s new A2+ Wireless set delivers the same warm sound and clean design but with some added features for convenience. Check out the video below for more.

Coming in at $269, Audioengine’s A2+ Wireless Speakers are designed for desktop setups and small rooms. These speakers are compact and easy to set up while still offering powerful sound. At 6-inches tall, 4-inches wide and 5.25-inches deep, they’re easy to fit on a desk or shelf in a small room and with a variety of inputs you’ll be able to find a use for them almost anywhere.

Out of the box

Audioengine does a great job of making the A2+ Wireless Speakers feel like a high-quality product from their packaging. Upon opening the box, you’re greeted by two soft bags that hold the accessories for the speaker set. Underneath you’ll find the speakers and some documentation. Also encased in a soft bag, the speakers are well-padded to protect their clean modern design.

Inside the accessory pouch is everything needed to get up and rolling. Getting started is a breeze with the necessary cables. The variety of ways you can get connected leaves plenty of options for your setup.

Design

Audioengine always delivers beautiful products. The modern, clean design of the A2+ Wireless Speaker System is available in 3 color options. Black, red and this glossy white finish. 2.75-inch and ¾-inch drivers matched with precisely engineered front facing bass ports look good and deliver impressively powerful sound with their 60W total peak power.

A2+ Wireless: Video

On the back of the left speaker, you’ll find all of the action for input and output. A volume knob, RCA in and out, 3.5mm, USB Bluetooth pairing button and outputs to the right side speaker give plenty of options for connectivity on the A2+ Wireless.

Key Features

Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX are the main feature that set the Wireless version of the A2+ apart from their older design. In addition to RCA, 3.5mm and USB inputs, having Bluetooth makes the A2+ Wireless Speakers super easy to get audio from almost any device.

How do they sound?

For their size, the A2+ Wireless deliver some seriously impressive audio. One thing that sets Audioengine apart is their use of all-analog class A/B amplifiers. This is pretty unique in a desktop speaker set of this price and size and has led to their accolades as a great set of speakers.

Clear, warm sound is delivered through the 65Hz-22kHz frequency response. The A2+ Wireless Speakers do a good job of handling bass frequencies considering its small driver size, but if you do want a deeper sound you can also add Audioengine’s S8 Subwoofer to take sound to new lows.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a high-quality set of compact speakers for your desk or small room, the A2+ wireless is a great choice. Their impressive warm sound mixed with its variety of input options ensures you’ll be able to find a use for it even if you grow into a larger set and their beautiful design look at home on any desk or small room speaker setup.

The Audioengine A2+ Speakers and I have history. We go back, way back.

Many moons ago, c.2005, I bought two pair of A2s online, Audioengine sells direct through their website, as Christmas presents for our daughters. I hooked them up and showed our daughters how to use them, which took all of a few minutes and some wires. Months (and months) later, I wanted to use a pair for comparison purposes and neither daughter was willing to give them up. Even for just a few days.

The new A2+ Wireless Speaker System adds Bluetooth connectivity (supported codecs include aptX, aptX, AAC, and SBC) so you don’t have to connect them to a source using wires. When you first power up the left A2+ (master) speaker—the one with all of the inputs, outputs, and guts including dual class A/B amps offering 60W peak power total power (15W RMS / 30W peak per channel)—it automatically goes into pairing mode. But don’t worry if you miss that pairing opportunity because there’s a pairing button around back.

You can still connect to the A2+ with wires as there’s a pair of analog RCA inputs (think turntable), a stereo mini-jack input, and a 16-bit/48kHz-capable Micro USB audio input. The Qualcomm CSR8670 SoC (audio system-on-chip) provides D/A conversion as well as the unit’s Bluetooth capability. There’s also an RCA variable line-out if you care to add a subwoofer. You still need speaker wire, which Audioengine includes in the box, to connect the master A2+ to the slave A2+.

The driver complement consists of a 2.75″ aramid fiber woofer and 3/4” silk dome tweeter per side. The 18mm thick MDF front-ported cabinets come in Satin Black Paint, Hi-Gloss White Paint, and Hi-Gloss Red Paint which is the finish I asked for in the review sample because I like the way it looks.

The A2+ are small speakers, some might call them cute, measuring a mere 6” x 4” x 5.25” or roughly the size of the two-volume collection of the works of Gérard de Nerval as published by the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade (1961). Weighing under 4 lbs. each, you can easily pick ’em up, one in each hand, and put them anywhere you want—with Bluetooth, the A2+ only need to be connected to each other and power if you have a Bluetooth source, like your phone. This cuts installation time to under a minute.

My full desktop playback picture included running Roon on my iMac, using the Roon volume control. The A2+ volume knob sat fixed at close to its max position.

What should you expect from a small, $269 pair speakers?

In the case of the Audioengine A2+, you can expect a speaker that is very easy to like. Of course, this is a good thing but I feel clarification is in order because some people feel the need to try to read-between-the-lines. “Easy? Like? Does that mean they’re not accurate?”

Audioengine claims the A2+ reach down to 65Hz (±2.0dB). For reference, a bass tuba’s lowest note, F1, has a fundamental frequency of 44 Hz. Listening to the A2+ on my desktop, and I mean that literally because I did not use stands, the music sounded pleasantly full, nearly a tad plump. By plump, I mean to suggest the A2+ strike me as being voiced on the rich and full side as opposed to lean and a fleet of foot. However, and this is one of those kinda important, however, if you raise them up off the desktop, which I tried using some stacked plywood blocks, you can make them sound leaner. I preferred the fatter sound where my desktop acted as sound reinforcement. YMMV.

While I’m going on about physical placement, I recommend angling the A2+ up so that the tweeters point at your ears. Audioengine recommends this as well, and they sell the doorstop-looking DS1 Desktop Stands ($29/pair) for this very reason. I used a pair of Yamamoto Sound Craft PB-10 Ebony bases because I have them lying around (purchased in 2006 for speakers I longer own). And you don’t have to worry, that silk dome tweeter sounds, you guessed it, rather silky without a hint of bite. Think smooth.

The A2+ are also nice and punching, offering up a satisfying rendition of Lux Prima by Karen O/Danger Mouse, the horns hitting hard, with enough bass to get the message across. Satisfying, on my desktop. These little speakers also do a fine job of disappearing, throwing out a much larger than their small size, speaker-free sound image. One of the things I enjoy about listening to music at my desk is the ability to lean in or out depending on mood which shifts the speaker-to-brain interface from inside or outside the sound image.

After Karen O, Earth’s Full Upon Her Burning Lips was next. You might be thinking, “That’s not fair!” seeing as Earth is all about massive, guttural sound but the Audioengine A2+ did a fine job of carving Dylan Carlson’s epic guitar, it really is epic, from the air around my desk. Sitting roughly 3′ from the drivers, OK I leaned in even closer, offered up a goodly amount of the guts and glory to be found in Full Upon Her Burning Lips. That epic guitar was also presented with a crisp, cutting edge just as it should be, and while the drums were not visceral, you can’t get visceral from a 2.75″ driver even if you attach a 1000′ horn, there was enough there to get the picture.

Using my iPhone running the Qobuz app playing Mavis Staples badass new record We Get By, I was very pleased with the result. Bluetooth haters beware—when done properly, Bluetooth can deliver nice, punchy, colorful reproduction and I dare say the Bluetooth implementation in the A2+ makes you forget you’re listening via Bluetooth. Think about this proposition for a minute—take something you already own, your smartphone, add a streaming service plus the A2+ and you have everything you need to play millions of albums. If you’d told me this was going to be possible back when I was high school, I would have said you must be high on some of that pharma-grade shit from the future.

Designing and producing a sub-$300/pair speaker and keeping it in production, with upgrades, for more than a decade is not very common in the land of the audiophile. At least in my experience. There are many reasons why this shouldn’t work, but Audioengine makes it work. The A2+ Wireless Speakers are little treasures of sound that offer more than you’d expect given their price and size [footnote 1]. Did I mention they’re cute?

If you set your expectations on musical enjoyment, the A2+ delivers.

1. I told myself I wasn’t going to use the word “surprising”, or any variation of, in this review because every single reviewer who has written about a small speaker ends up being surprised about something. While I didn’t, I kinda did.

I love PC gaming. Since returning to it in earnest in 2012, it’s introduced me to all kinds of technologies and companies that I’d never heard of or before but am now glad that I have. The latest example of this is Audioengine, a speaker maker based out of Austin, Texas that only came to the scene in 2005. This alone is pretty brave considering the audio game is littered with big name brands which are considered to have provenance. At a time when the audio market is getting increasingly crowded as brands like Marshall enter the personal and Bluetooth audio fray where before they were known for the famed Marshall Stack used by the likes of Hendrix, it’s a brave duo who look to make a splash from scratch in the audio game which is exactly what Brady and Dave did when they founded Audioengine and damn am I glad that they did.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trying out the latest speakers to come from the company, a refinement of their lauded Audioengine A2+ powered speakers which are quite clearly aimed at the desktop market given their form factor and functionality. The A2+ was by all accounts a great stab into this highly competitive marketplace but lacking a fairly critical piece in the modern era – wireless. So now the Audioengine team have brought out the A2+ Wireless speakers and can claim to be part of the modern desktop speaker debate in earnest. So let’s see whether these speakers can cut the mustard.

Audioengine A2+ Wireless – In the Box

As ridiculous as it is, I find myself grinning like an idiot when I pull open the box. Regularly reviewing kit can lead to having a bit of a “don’t care” attitude which is a shame as the excitement of opening a box of new stuff can be a great feeling. With the A2+ though I’m pretty surprised to see that small touches like cloth bags over the speakers with drawstrings make me feel like something special is enclosed within. In an age where profits above all are often the mantra, a tinge of concern crosses my mind, I hope they haven’t skimped on audio quality to keep up appearances. We’ll find out soon enough.

I’m also fairly surprised at the diminutive stature of the A2+. I hadn’t particularly bothered checking the dimensions before asking for a review sample as desktop real estate isn’t really a problem for me, particularly since I downsized the PC case from a Cosmos 2 to a mid-tower but these speakers really are quite small.

Everything is packaged nicely and securely and the parts all feel well engineered with a suitable heft to them despite their small size. Let’s take a look at the specs then.

• 60W peak power total (15W RMS / 30W peak per channel)
• 2.75” aramid fibre woofer and 3/4″ silk dome tweeter per speaker
• RCA line out
• Signal to noise ratio of >95 dB
• Total harmonic distortion of <0.05%-
• Frequency response 65Hz to 22kHz +/- 2dB
• Impedance 10 ohms
• Dimensions 6” (H), 4” (W), 5.25” (D)
• Weight Left: 1.6Kg (3.55 lbs), Right: 1.4Kg (3.15lbs)

It’s interesting to note here that where most desktop and PC oriented speakers will simply quote a frequency response range (maybe with a peak/RMS W output if you’re lucky!), Audioengine has published deeper specs, the kind of which audiophiles will be looking for to get a sense of what the speaker is capable of beyond the headline numbers which can be somewhat meaningless in isolation. A statement of intent then. This is a company which is wearing its heart on its sleeve and what we see here bodes well, particularly given the price point.

Sound and Hearing Brief Intro

A lot of audio kits will tend to focus on or around what I refer to as the “standard” 20-20 range. This is talking about the frequency response from the low end to the high with 20 Hz to 20 kHz. “High definition audio” will tend to try to extend that range somewhat, going from single digit Hz up to 40 kHz or even more (100 kHz for the ridiculously expensive Sennheiser Orpheus which will set you back over $50k).

Realistically, as people age, their ability to genuinely hear the more extreme ranges disappears, low ends probably start at about 50 – 60 Hz for most people and will top out somewhere approaching 20 kHz. Below this it is more about “feeling” rather than hearing the bass and above the top end you may get a bit more range in ideal conditions with no other background noise etc but this, coupled with the fact that many people will be listening to lossy audio formats on a range of variable quality phones, sound cards, speakers etc mean that if you want a serious high definition audio experience, you’re unlikely to just look at buying a set of speakers for a PC, it’ll also cost you a lot more.

Audioengine A2+ Wireless for Music

I’m pleased to note that the speakers don’t come with a reviewers guide and assume the competence of the reviewer (who they do vet beforehand!) as well as demonstrating confidence in their product as they’re not trying to guide the reviewer into listening to things which their audio setup favours. Let’s make things tricky to start with as I usually do then, with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #6 Allegro Molto Vivace. For those that aren’t familiar with it, this particular piece is something that gamer-centric audio usually struggles with. It’s a non-bass heavy and very precise/delicate piece of music which demands good range control and usually gets destroyed by anything with a subwoofer tuned for pumping out explosions and gunfire like many PC audio solutions.

It’s probably slightly unfair on a lot of the other stuff I review to use this piece but I’m expecting good things from the A2’s here and indeed they don’t disappoint. Precision is plentiful but the speakers have a warmth that stops the sound coming across as overly clinical. Mids and highs are well separated and the piece comes together in a way that is quite startling for a pair of $269 speakers. There’s no subwoofer to overpower the track and I wonder if that may be where the Audioengine suffer a bit. Time to try something different…

The family is told to leave me alone in the study for a while as it’s time for an old favourite. Pink Floyd’s Echoes is 23 and a half minutes of audio ecstasy (my kids disagree with me for some reason!) The song (if it can really be called a song, it’s more an experiment in sound) has a large variety of elements to it, including significantly more bass than the Tchaikovsky piece. The range on the Audioengine speakers doesn’t go as low as my regular desktop speakers (I’m still using Razer’s excellent Nommo Pro’s which have a dedicated subwoofer and a range that goes down to 35 Hz), but at less than half the price, that’s to be expected. Even so, I’m surprised at the amount of low end that the A2+ puts out. It’s obviously not room-thumping bass but it’s plentiful and gives great character to the song.

I know a lot of gamer audio is about making the room and listener vibrate as much as is physically possible with a subwoofer but that’s really not what audiophile equipment is aimed at. The purity of setups like this is that the 2 channel audio reproduction should be as pure and clean and as close to master as possible. I’ve both owned and auditioned some ridiculously high-end audio equipment in the past and while, sure, you can shove a big bloody subwoofer on pretty much any setup (in fact you can connect a sub to the A2+ from your subs line level output), it’s kind of missing the point when it comes to audio reproduction.

Final song test then and it’s time for Eddie Van Halen’s Eruption. The screaming wail of Eddie’s guitar comes bursting through Audioengine’s little speakers that could and I’m again genuinely impressed. These speakers, for all their cutesy size and reasonable price, are well ahead of other comparably priced desktop speakers and even able to keep up with stuff above their price bracket.

Let’s get to some games.

The A2+ Wireless for Gaming

Ok, so we’ve established that they’re good for music, but let’s face it, on this site, they need to handle gaming well too. I’m slightly surprised at how well the A2+ is performing so decide to throw something at it that should show up the weak points first. Let’s dive straight into some Doom! Although I’m not a massive FPS fan, I played the original when it released in 1993 A LOT and the 2016 reboot was a pre-order for me, that’s how excited I was about it. Doom, however, is your typical BIG AUDIO, BIG ASPLOSIONS BE HERE type of game and this is where I think the Audioengine offering may suffer a bit. I’ve got to say though that as I make my way through swathes of the damned, the game is sounding pretty bloody good actually. Certainly, when I get to some of the meatier weapons there is a noticeable lack of low-end thump but overall the speakers give a very good accounting of themselves.

Next up is Alien: Isolation. This is also a game of great audio but it’s about the atmosphere here and less about bombastic explosions. Precision audio is needed and the Audioengine A2+ delivers it exactly as I’d expect it to do.

Star Citizen isn’t really a game that I’m planning to use speakers for due to its MMO nature which obviously lends itself to headsets and voice comms with friends and squadmates, but it does have a wide variety of soundscapes with everything from fairly precision FPS gunfire to spaceflight and large energy weapons replete with a wide soundstage that befits the universe the game is building.

I dive into a game without anyone else since I’m just looking to consume the sound rather than chat with anyone too and the game soundtrack doesn’t disappoint, coming in strong with location precision, great quantum travel audio effects and excellent assault rifle staccato.

All in all, the speakers are coming across well for gaming. Not as strongly as they do for general music listening but that’s very much going to be due to the lack of a subwoofer and the fact that most games are less about music reproduction and more about slamming tunes and guns/explosions. It’s pretty fair to say that many games treat audio the same way that Michal Bay does, namely that if you can’t feel your body shake, you’re doing it wrong.

Wrapping Up

Back when I was a kid living in Hong Kong in the late ’80s, I remember my dad getting a Sony Discman. This was an amazing thing I recall thinking at the time. We’d had CDs by then of course but when I went to school I was still tethered to an analogue, magnetic tape-based portable audio experience in the shape of a Sony Walkman (with mandatory Mega Bass of course!) By then, portable tape player quality had come a long way from the first Walkman I’d had in the early ’80s (this time while living in Boston, MA), but I still remember being completely dazzled by my dad’s first Discman. It was expensive, metallic, oozed quality and when I put the earbuds in to listen to it for the first time I think I shuddered as I’d never had such crystalline sharp audio pumped directly into my ears. That’s probably the moment I’d point to in my life where I started my (very expensive but very fun!) journey down the path of an audiophile.

Decades later, as a jaded 40-something who has spent far too much money on audio gear over the years, it’s pretty rare that I come across a product that I think just hits all the right notes including value. It’s pretty easy (ok, not really but kind of) to get amazing audio these days. You spend a lot of money and generally, you can get a really good audio experience. That’s not always the case of course as many people will quickly point to brands like (no highs, no lows, must be) Bose, Beats and others which are pricey but generally unimpressive considering the cost, but companies like Denon, KEF, Harman Kardon, Pioneer, B&W, Arcam, Sony, Marantz and into the realms of ridiculousness like Meridian all offer varying degrees of high performing audio at relative price points.

The tricky thing is getting really good VALUE and that’s a lot harder to come by. Throwing money at the problem is an age-old way to getting good stuff but there’s very little value to be found in this approach. Turning on the first piece of music on Audioengine’s A2+ Wireless brought me a shudder as it’s been a while since I’ve had some real audiophile kit in my hands and the experience jarred me, not quite to the extent that trying my dad’s Discman back in the day did but certainly the experience was similar.

Overall, these are great speakers then. There are certainly better desktop sound based solutions out there but certainly not at anywhere near this price point and in that sense, Audioengine’s entry-level PC speaker has hit the value for money scale in its favour in a big way.

If you’re looking for a genuine entry into the world of audiophile grade kit, this is an extremely good choice of speaker. For those looking for bombastic, Michael Bay-esque gaming explosions, you should probably look elsewhere, or at least consider adding a subwoofer to the A2+ but for everyone else? Get a pair, you won’t be disappointed. I’m sure some of the offerings higher up the Audioengine range may offer a more complete experience but the A2+ Wireless Speakers earn themselves a Recommended award.

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Read the full review here.