Audioengine A5 Plus Classic 150W Powered Bookshelf Speakers with Remote Control - Bamboo

I like the build quality and the look of these speakers. I chose them in Bamboo. They are being used for the tv audio instead of a sound bar. They are straightforward to set up for this purpose. A fairly expensive purchase but I do think that they are good value for money. Once they are run in they will sound even better than the already great ‘out of box’ sound which is great! They were bought for the long term and I’m very pleased with them.

I wouldn’t recommend buying these these if you want them for an amp they already have a built in amp doesn’t tell you that though just states a pair of 150 watt speakers seller won’t take them back either

Only rated 4 stars because these speakers need more bass. Otherwise they are amazing. The sound clarity is above any other speakers I've had in the past. The build quality is extremely nice, although I'm a bit biased towards bamboo. They look great on my desk and aren't as big as I expected, so I was able to fit them on the desk and install them relatively easily. Great speakers, but get a subwoofer with them!

After months of research, I decided to go with Audioengine. The A2's looked like all I would need, but after reading the great reviews of the A5's, I chose the A5+ Bamboo. I ordered them on Friday late AM, and received them on Saturday morning (overnite FEDEX, $3.99). I've been breaking them in all day (not that I noticed a problem out of the box), as the mftr suggests. I'm feeding them the signal from a Fiio E-10 DAC, plugged into the USB on my iMac. They are mounted on a pair of dense foam blocks, to raise them slightly. I'm not sure I see the advantages of using the optional stands since they tilt the speaker back and change the plane of the tweeter and woofer. I had to re-arrange some items on my office shelves to prevent resonance during some of the lower bass passages. The packaging was stellar, with cables and speakers covered by some nice soft, cloth bags. The bags will come in handy to put over the speakers while I'm away, and help prevent dust settling on the speaker cones. Anyway, the setup is straightforward, and AE even provides some good speaker wire to connect the two units. They look fantastic. The manual says the sugar compounds in the bamboo are 'carbonized' and 'caramelized' to bring out the darker wood tones. It also provides a sweeter sound (ahem). Whatever. They look great, and seem to be finely finished. Worth the extra money for this option, I think. Okay, now for the sound. An audiophile of sorts, I have a history of buying the best-value components based on my readings of Stereophile, Absolute Sound, and high end audio blogs. My tunes are all Flac, Apple Lossless, or AIFF-C files. Of course, my iTunes purchases are 256Kb conversions...can't help that. I train my ears by going to many pop and classical concerts and listening for the qualities that make live music so enjoyable. So, I don't take my speakers lightly...I have some expectations. How do I rate the A5+'s? I couldn't be happier considering what I paid. The speakers never seem to strain, even at very high volumes. The only thing I notice is some compression of the midrange at VERY high volumes. The bass hangs in there, albeit cutoff below 50hz. I do miss that very bottom octave, however. Kettledrums just don't have that extra punch you expect. This is not a criticism; maybe it's just a reason to get a subwooofer. I rarely listen at very high levels since I'm usually working while listening. Female vocalists sound very natural, with no boxiness in the lower ranges. Sibilants sound very natural, and maybe a tad soft. Acoustic instruments have some body to them attesting to the good midrange. Imaging is excellent, and I find the placement is not super-critical. Equidistant spacing, lightly angled in seems to be just fine. (Note that AE suggests having at least 6" of space behind the speakers, and they should be at least 6" away from a side wall.) When I move, I don't notice shifting of frequencies, which means the dispersion of the tweeters seems to be very good. The soundstage is wide, very wide on some tunes. No problem with that. The sound is so darned neutral, that I can listen for hours and not get weary. As much as I enjoy listening to music through my IEM's (Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 Pro's), it is really nice to be 'sitting in the audience' and listening to these speakers. With the lights down, they disappear, and you get that great experience of being there in the studio or concert hall. I'm sure there are better speakers out there that probably cost more, however I just can't fault the A5+'s. An audio bargain in my humble opinion. Update 10/30/2013 I'm still loving these speakers. I missed the lower octave however, so I took a subwoofer I bought at Radio Shack several years ago, and plugged it in to the speakers. Now, I have a fuller experience of my music. I really love this system, and I have had no problems with it. No hum, pops, clicks, and the cases look as beautiful as the day I bought them. Update 10/12/2014 After adding the subwoofer, I became aware of some mid-bass boominess, and found it hard to balance the sound using the cutoff on the subwoofer. I looked in to the DS2 foam speaker stands as a possible solution. These stands will raise not only the speaker, but the angle of the woofer. When the speakers sit flat on a desk, the woofers double some of the bass frequencies causing some imbalance. Tilting them back seems to resolve this problem. The stands are expensive, so maybe you can find a makeshift way of testing this theory to see if its worth pursuing. I have recently taken the Radio Shack subwoofer out of the office and into the living room. I'm thinking of upgrading the A5+'s with the Audioengine subwoofer. I really have fallen in love with these speakers over the years. I've had NO issues with them.

I purchased a set of Audioengine A5+ powered speakers on October 15th. They arrived two days later sitting on my front porch in a big box. Thank God no one ripped them off the porch while I was out having lunch. UPS just leaves stuff on your porch now. In the inner city that is very dangerous. They just shouldn't do that with a $469.00 dollar item, but that aside, I have my speakers. The speakers are packaged as described with layer after layer of cardboard, foam, fabric and plastic. The fabric is overkill if you ask me. I just don't need a tote bag for every item. What can I do with them now. It's a shame to just throw that away, but what use is it. I would have been satisfied with plastic only and a lower price. I can report the AudioEngine 5+ speakers do sound great. They can get loud and still sound clean and crisp. As reported in other reviews, the build quality is superb. I purchased the bamboo versions, and they are very nice. Not a flaw in the assembly or finish of the $70.00 dollar wood option. They are substantial and well constructed. I like the internal power supply and detachable power cord. My new speakers replaced an older Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 setup, which I was forced to retire after the subwoofer amp died. Klipsch doesn't service the amp, and the third party repair place wanted $75.00 to repair it, plus shipping and handling. To ship the woofer to them would have cost money too, so servicing a unit that was $150.00 dollars new, just didn't make sense. I thought of just replacing the unit with a new Promedia 2.1, but they are now discontinued, and I found many reports of other dead sub-woofer amps. Another promedia 2.1 was nixed! The Audioengine 2+ is closest in spec to the promedia 2.1, but I chose to step it up a bit and got the 5+. It is a bigger set of speakers, but the bigger power amplifier is worth it. My desktop is a bit crowded now, but I like the sound. The 5+ has better bass than the speakers I had (without a functioning sub-woofer), but I miss the deep bass of a sub. The 5+ has good flat response down to about 200Hz. That's where it falls off. There is nothing below 100hz to impress your friends, so a sub-woofer must be in your plans, down the road. I plan to save up for the audioengine S8 or Cerwin Vega, or maybe a Klipsch sub. I haven't decided. I wish audio engine packaged the amp portion of the 5+ in a box like the N22 product. I realized after setting up my new 5+ set that I no longer have a headphone jack as I did with the Klipsch Promedia 2.1. So what is one to do? I could buy the audio engine D-1 D.A.C., but that is so expensive for just a headphone jack. Besides, then I will have three volume controls. One in the computer software, one on the DAC and one on the left speaker. How confusing! If Audioengine would just build an N55 (hint, hint) with the 50 watt power capacity and an internal power supply, I hate the big brick power supply concept of the N22, I could have purchased a set of passive P4N speakers, and a subwoofer, had my headphone jack, and been able to mount the speakers up on the bookshelf. Audioengine should sell the right passive speaker of the 5+ as a set of passive 5" speakers. The enclosure without the power supply, as it is in the right speaker, must make for a better speaker. There is more space to resonate. I would buy that once they design the N55 amp! That would have freed up space on my desk. The 5+ speakers are not small. But they sure sound good. One thing I wonder about, why does the 5+ speaker system have the port on the rear, where the same basic designed P4N speakers have the port on the front? Is the port better on the front or rear? The endless rotation of the volume control of the 5+ is a problem. I realize this concept is common for digital volume controls as you find in cars and other modern equipment. It is necessary with the use of a remote control. However, you never know where the volume is set. I would prefer a digital readout of level instead of a power light. The power lamp could just relate to volume. Bright is loud, dim is low. Off could be dim / blinking. One last comment. Why is there no bamboo option for the S8 subwoofer? I wish I could buy a matching sub-woofer for my fabulous 5+'s. Bottom line, you will be happy with a set of audioengine 5+ speakers.