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

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.

Well, I'm an audiophile with a $30,000 dedicated stereo system in a dedicated room and have written many in-depth reviews of high-end audio equipment for a premier review site. I find the negative reviews of this speaker unfortunate as this speaker is capable of very satisfying and high quality sound, but like most higher quality audio products it requires a little more effort to get the best out of it. Specifically, for starters you want to play some music through it for at least 50 hours before making any assessments of its sound. This is because right out of the box the drivers will be stiff and need to loosen up before they will sound as designed, and the internal electronics inside the speaker also need to burn in. Next, especially if the speaker will often be situated below ear height (but even if not) I'd highly recommend purchasing the associated ADS1 speaker "stands" as they aim the tweeters more toward your ears, which is critical as the high frequency sound from tweeters is highly directional and could be significantly compromised/decreased if your ears are well above or below the tweeters' axis. Secondly and also importantly, the rubber stands do a good job of damping vibrations between the speaker and whatever surface it's on, which improves bass tightness and evenness as well as overall imaging. These details may explain many of the reviews that found the B2 to be bass heavy or mushy sounding. Oh, and while we're on this topic, if sound quality is important and you want to hear the B2 at its best, REMOVE THE GRILL WHEN LISTENING. It blocks the sound -- especially the treble -- when it's on. The grill is more for protecting the drivers from prying fingers when not in use. THIS NEXT PIECE IS CRITICAL. The B2 is a pretty revealing of whatever quality is fed into it precisely because it uses higher quality components than most other products in this class. Many other competitors boost bass and lower mids and attenuate upper treble so basically all music will sound the same through it. They'll never sound accurate or great, but they'll pretty much always sound appealing no matter what's fed into them. If that's what you're after, the B2 may not be for you. But there's something most people ignore that can make the B2 sound significantly better than almost all of the others. In your phone or whatever you're using for a sound source you can go into the audio settings and choose from several preset equalization options usually labelled "Jazz," "Rock," etc. These settings vary the sound you'll hear greatly, so it's critical you at least go through them with some of your music to find the one or two that sound best to you. The B2 will reward you substantially for your effort with likely significantly improved sound. Even better, if your phone, tablet, or whatever has an option called "Equalizer" or the like you may have the ability to customize the sound you hear to your specific preferences (rather than being limited to the above preset options) by giving you the ability to adjust individual frequencies from the low bass up through the midrange and up to the high treble. Don't worry, this is easy and if you take some time to play with it and you'll likely find a personal setting you prefer to any of the preset options. That's what I did and the B2 rewarded with very well balanced and pleasing sound that greatly surpassed most other wireless speakers I've heard. If it at all helps get you started with this, a good curve to start with would look something like a small letters "nr" next to each other with the lowest bass frequency starting at the midline and rising a little before decreasing to the midline in the midrange and then increasing back up again and leveling off at the highest treble a good bit above the midline. You'll see what I mean once you're in the equalizer. Again, if you put some effort in at the beginning the B2 has the resolution and refinement to produce very nice sound. Basically, garbage in garbage out. The B2 will let you hear it either way. Don't be afraid to play around with it to ultimately find what sounds best to you. Lastly, there were some comments about the B2 sounding narrow unless you're sitting in front of it. I had the B2 out in a field while we played a waffle ball game and the sound does get compromised if you move off axis as it does with many high-end speakers. To mitigate this I turned the B2 up on its narrow end, and the sound literally filled the whole field with more than adequate volume and even decent bass. If you have the B2 in a larger space or in a party type situation you might want to try this if placement allows. By the way, I left the B2's volume controller on the rear at the mid level permanently and adjusted volume from my phone, and the speaker was always plenty loud enough so that's what I recommend doing. Sorry for the length of this post, but especially if you're willing to follow the steps above (or even if you're not) the B2 is a very well made and great sounding speaker that will reward you more than most competitors out there.

I've spent 5 figures on my sound setup in the past, in a combination of headphones, dac and amp. I eventually got tinnitus which the headphones probably contributed to, as well as the audio gear. Truth be told, high end audio gear is generally rife with issues, and a lot of it snake oil. And the differences are somewhat minimal. That being said, there are clear differences as well as strengths and weaknesses to different setups. This is one of the easier options for strong audio quality for your PC. I got these for the speaker quality and the dac. The DAC is solid but not really great, I think it's clear something with the ESSABRE series chips are going to sound better---but those are also much more expensive. They also start taking up a LOT of space. With this option, you have everything you need and things work just fine. You'll be happy with the sound quality most likely. The bass is a bit low, Audioengine has a subwoofer option that might be worth looking into, but again that does add costs and adds space. I didn't take a star off for it but my product came with a defective cable. It's a standard micro USB and I wound up borrowing one and ordered another from Amazon. They are inexpensive, but it definitely was a bit annoying. Just bad luck on my part I guess, but if it does happen to you, it's something to look out for (the end was plugged up and couldn't be inserted into a USB slot). Fortunately I do not have the issue with the sound not coming in for a few seconds. Mine comes in right away. I also didn't bother attaching the bluetooth antenna, as I never plan to use it. For me this is strictly for my PC, and in terms of placement it makes little sense for me to do it any other way. Overall I'm very happy with this purchase and will probably eventually add the subwoofer. There are some alternatives out there, but depending on space requirements and what you already have, they might not really be worth it. But that's always a personal decision. As it is, these have a great soundstage, are clear, and are very solid in detail. Oh and a note on the banana plugs, they require a bit of force to get in but they will go in, and you don't need to worry about damage or anything, they're designed to work that way. Edit- Wound up returning these. The lows and highs just weren't where I wanted them to be. I wound up getting an AudioEngine subwoofer, but it just would not wake up from sleep most of the time, and once you're used to the subwoofer that really reduces the sound enjoyment when it's not coming on (especially as you'll be configuring the crossover for it). Audioengine took awhile to get back to me, and I wound up deciding to just return everything. I had the subwoofer for less than 2 days and had the speakers for about a week. Now I'm waiting on refunds before I begin my next step. Shipping everything back cost me about $40 (a little more with buying a new cable too), but that's probably better than having $700+ of equipment I'm not happy with and might worry about down the line. There was a rare mic feedback style crackle I'd heard once or twice a day, not sure if that was going to be a long term issue either, but with everything together I decided that was best for me. I did decide to ding a star. Hopefully things work out for you if you go with this option. I might suggest going with the cheaper A2+ however and a different subwoofer. As for me, chances are I will just go with a separate dac and studio monitors, and just work with that. Space does become a bit of an issue with that, but I will try and make things work. Or I'll just keep my current speakers, Edifier Exclaims, which are definitely a tier below but are perfectly okay for casual watching, listening and gaming.

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.

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 started a full-time remote gig and wanted to upgrade my sound system since I no longer have to encase my ears in headphones if I want to listen to music while I work. I had a Sonos move that I love so tried that but because of the height, had to put it off to the side. Suboptimal. Decided to try the Sonos Soundbar but alas, don't have an extra HDMI port in my dock or MacBook. Airplay was finicky at best to the point of going back to the Sonos. Read about the A2+s on various review websites and they were highly regarded. I liked the fact that I could connect either via the headphone jack or via Bluetooth. I decided to go for this version since it has the volume knob on the front and well, shallow as it sounds, I like the wood finish. I was concerned about the size as I don't have enough room to side of my dual 32-inch monitors. But I decided to lay them on their sides and they are perfect size that way -- not too wide so my monitors aren't obstructed. They aren't too deep so still plenty of room in front of them for my keyboard and trackpad. And height -- plenty compact (much more so than the relatively small Sonos Soundbar). Setup was a piece of cake ... as was Bluetooth pairing. At first, I wasn't blown away with the bass -- particularly compared to what you can get with other bluetooth speakers like Sonos and JBLs etc. But that was using Pandora as a source. When I started playing using the Apple Music app and the built in equalizer to bump up the bass, they really came alive. But what gets me is the sound stage is just mind-blowing for the size of these speakers. Even though the edges are 8-12 inches from the edges of my monitors, it feels like the entire 5-foot span of my desk is covered. I love classical music to alternative rock and some (by my standards) edgy Guns N Roses etc and everything has sounded great. If you love classical music (my predominant genre), you will REALLY appreciate the details from the mids and highs. If your primary listening source is Pandora where you can't optimize the treble and bass to your taste, you might be disappointed. However, if you go with Apple Music (and would assume Window's media player which has the same ability to adjust the sound parameters), you should really find these up to you listening standards... as long as those listening standards don't necessarily include hip hop and Rap which is designed to make your whole body feel the vibrations. As I said, I currently have these lying flat on their sides. I did order the 15-degree risers that are recommended for these speakers and waiting for those to be delivered any minute now and suspect that will make these sound even better. I wanted good pure sound but didn't want something that was going to take up what little remaining real estate I have on my desk. These definitely fit my needs. I'm in a relatively small room and I am sitting RIGHT in front of them so not sure if these would be as satisfying if I was using as room speakers. Are these worth the extra money compared to the A2+? I don't know. Supposedly they have an upgraded DAC and Headphone amplifier. Plus the nifty little volume knob on the front. If you are on a budget, then the A2+ might be just fine for your needs. [LCAR]

With over 100 hours of output and a few dozen of actual listening to the Audioengine HD3 speaker, with a reservation, I have decided to keep these speakers. The Pros: Sound Quality Onboard amplifier quality and analog input resolution Headphone output quality Form factor Fit and finish Capable of sustained, quality unreasonably loud and generally unflappable output The Middle: Where the reduced bass selector switch cuts bass Backplate of the powered speaker can get super hot, doesn’t affect sound quality. The Bad: Onboard DAC in USB mode instantly shuts down on silence cutting off the start of every sound sent to it, even going from track to track. Other: The HD3 is one of the only pieces of audio equipment I have ever used that actually does break in and requires a period of use before its actual output sound is realized. This is opposed to the typical scenario where the user gets used to a piece’s sound signature. The sound output is definitely the star of the show with these speakers and has cemented in my mind that Audioengine considered the actual speakers, drivers, and driving section first and foremost. When connected to a Schiit Yggdrasil, a Denon DA-300 USB, Pioneer XDP-100, or run off of the analog output from the connected PC they playback admirable levels of detail and personality intrinsic of each source. They render sound with an impressive level of resolving capability that is particularly noteworthy. I have a couple of class A amplifiers and the amp section of the HD3 is no slouch. The HD3s are sho’nuff pretty in walnut, well put together. I personally like the design choices they made in regards to Bluetooth functionality. Loud or whisper quiet, these speakers are stunners. Better still, the headphone output is something of note and one of the principal reasons I have decided to keep these speakers. The headphone output is excellent regardless of whether I am running my 8 ohm Shure SE846 IEMs despite being a smidge below Audioengine’s specification of resistance for best results. With the SE535 or SRH-1840 they do a similarly great job. Not perfect but for most, even my picky self, the HD3 is good enough to be the sole amplification source for your headphones. You are going to spend comfortably beyond Fiio money to fully outstrip the HD3 in this regard. In regards to output volume I generally do not understand the few but consistent complaints I have read about their output level. As desktop speakers they have a lot of headroom for volume before running the risk of damaging hearing in extended playback scenarios. For a small room, say 20’x16’x8’ they will be overwhelming for room acoustics at max output. For larger rooms, there are bigger speakers available. Even with hearing protection their output on a desktop is clear and loud enough to be uncomfortable at max so even those with notable hearing loss should be well satisfied with these as a desktop speaker. I do have minor concerns about to longevity of these speakers owing to the fact that when driven hard the amp backplate gets hot. Really hot. You wouldn’t be able to grab the speaker, cupping from the bottom and carry it for about 5 minutes after shut down unless you work in a weld shop or as a cook and can withstand more heat than normal. This is to be expected from a Class A/ AB amplifiers designs but some heat sinking would have really helped in this regard. My guess is the form factor is the limiting factor as other Audioengine products have said cooling and I am willing to bet the engineers did their homework here like they did everywhere else and these will survive past the warranty period without a problem. How long is the question. If I get three years of service and they then promptly die I will be satisfied and would instantly short list the HD3 again. The output quality is that good and my concerns are few given my experience with class A and A/B designs. These speakers are truly a wunderkind so I don’t want to overemphasize my biggest nit with HD3 but it’s egregious and almost had me returning them. The DAC inbuilt the HD3 seems to want to instantly go to sleep the very moment there is no audio sent to them and then takes between half to a full second to come back online only to instantly shut off again. If you let output lapse for any measurable time they will shut down and cut off the first moments of audio output as described. EVERY TIME. Transitioning from track to track in VLC media player, Tidal’s web streaming in Chrome, from the Tidal app, or when Windows generates a notification sound absent of background music results in the first half second of audio being cut off. This doesn’t occur via Bluetooth or analog inputs… just the USB DAC. #*^&ing borderline unforgivable. If I hadn’t had a spare DAC sitting around I would have boxed the HD3s back up and returned them hastily in/from/of disgust. One of my main reasons for purchasing this speaker system was the ability to use the USB DAC inbuilt and neat up the desktop wire situation as much as possible. This is just unacceptable functionality and a shame since the DAC is of pretty OK quality. I don’t know why Audioengine would even bother integrating it if they felt it necessary to have the power saving be set so aggressively other than they wanted to check off the feature box. It’s an inkblot on an otherwise stellar report card. This problem occurs on two separate computers. I even went as far as blowing out the driver install on both computers and fiddling with settings configurations to no avail. Neither computer exhibits this behavior when running the Schiit Yggdrasil or Denon DA300 so I am comfortable with assigning the blame 100% on the HD3. Of much less concern is the cabinet tuning can make for some… overpresence in the lowest frequencies of output, especially with the bass selector switch in the “full mode”. I don’t want to call it boominess but it is the first word that comes to mind even though it is not quite right. Much less but definitely still there with the bass selector switch in reduced position at rather high output levels. This was a design choice and not an easy one. I get why Audioengine landed where they did. Some, maybe most will never run these speakers with a subwoofer and the HD3 as a standalone output solution is comfortably worth the price charged with out a sub. I am of the opinion that if they do not satisfy (impress is more appropriate considering the physics going on…) your expectations are not realistic. The audio enthusiast in me wishes they had set the low level cut off to avoid the… overpresence at loudest output levels in reduced mode and allow me to put it all on a pair of subwoofers to maintain image. This suggestion is something that could easily be ruminated over several pages of prose but suffice to say I am being REALLY nit-picky by even mentioning it. Long story short. If you are dead set on using these with the integrated USB DAC I would suggest you look into other solutions given the playback problem I have described above or prepare to feed them audio some other way. The DAC itself is solid enough for desktop casual use but its cutting off of every track or sound is just unacceptable. Instinct had me wanting to take three stars off for it but the rest of the HD3’s performance is so good it pains me to not give the review a solid five stars. That performance is why I have kept them. It’s why the have HD3 earned those 4 stars that lead off the review. It is why I will consider these first the next time I am shopping for something in the sub 90 square inch foot print (yes, 90) category or shortest is “bestest” bin. Considering the Audioengine HD3’s price to play and how infuriating I find the DAC’s behavior consider everything written as a glowing endorsement that these speakers become your next set. Equipment used to assess list: Audioengine DS1 desktop stands Ryzen 2700x based computer Alienware 17r4/7820HK/GTX 1080 laptop Schiit Yggrdasil digital to analog converter Denon DAC300USB digital to analog converter Pioneer XDP-100 portable music player Galaxy S9+ phone Shure SE846, SE535, and SRH1840 “headphones” SVS SB-16 Ultra subwoofer.