I love Audioengine A5+ but need to know how to use it.

[michael]

Hi Guys,

I just loved these speakers when i read about lot of postivies reviews about these speakers set, thsese has really tight and deep bass which I was searching for, however i dont know what else (or least ) I need to buy to use them ?



I have few below questions:-

1. Are those white and black coloured speakers sound exactly as wooden coloured speakers ? As wooden speakers are costs more than black and white version of Audioengine A5 + ? (main imp query)

2.Can I connect them directly to 3.5 mm jack of CPU?

3. Which is the cheap but yet good enough DAC I can buy for them?

4. Which is the best Sound card is best suited for them ?


Thanks,
michael

 

[Lopez0101]

I have these speakers, in white. I don't know that the sound is any different. The bamboo ones may be slightly better. I'm not sure, but I'm assuming the painted speakers are just fiber board. I have mine connected to my headphone amp/DAC (Schiit Bifrost/Lyr). The speakers are powered, so you don't need an amp at all, my amp is just a passthrough for the RCA outs. You could use the 3.5mm connection, but I would recommend going RCA. You typically only see RCA outs on higher end soundcards though. So, yes, you can use the a male/male 3.5mm AUX cable.

You could go with the D1, or this from Schiit: http://schiit.com/products/modi . The D1 has the bonus of being optical or USB and powered by USB and also has a headphone amp, but in that small of a package, the headphone amp isn't much to write home about. Otherwise, they're fairly equal in performance. So, if you know you're going to be using either optical, or USB and don't need a headphone amp, I'd go with the Modi.

 

[michael]

I have these speakers, in white. I don't know that the sound is any different. The bamboo ones may be slightly better..

Thanks for reply and I am happy that I finally met with someone who owns these two speakers.

I have few questions:-

I actually like the White ones because they look fresh and can bring smile on your face the moment you arrive from your work. But for deep and tight bass I will not look any any colour options. I would require more people commenting on these two different coloured speakers.

1. What comes with speakers ? Does that grey cord shown in above pic comes with speakers?

2.How are these speaker play when watching a movie on Smart TV?

3.Do they really produce deep and tight bass.. What you experience say?

4.If possible can point towards DAC which is easily available in Indian market, because here our Prime Minister name is "modi"...


I guess this has RCA inputs. right ?

5. What if I have to play these speakers without PC (to lower power consumption) can we connect any USB/Bluetooth to it?




Thanks.

 

[Lopez0101]

1. The speakers come with a remote and power cable. It does come with a set of RCA cables (not the nice grey ones) and 3.5mm AUX cable.

2. I only have them connected to my PC. They would likely sound the same from any source.

3. They really don't produce much bass. It's there, but it's not powerful. They're definitely tuned like proper speakers, you need a the S8 subwoofer if you really want powerful bass. They sound great, but I can't really turn them up loud due to my living situation and not wanting to piss people off.

4. Don't know any places. You want something with RCA outputs. The speakers have the RCA input. But yes, that looks like it has RCA outs.

5. Uhh, you can connect any audio source via the 3.5mm cable. The USB on the back of the speakers is meant for Audioengine's wireless reciever adapter.

 

[michael]

Thanks a lot Lopez.
I am bit unhappy with your bass remarks. May be bamboo has deep base as per youtube review.
Yes sub woofer may play part in it too.

Last week i visited a mall where i checked Roth white speakers with sub woofer they were sounding great too. Tight bass

 

[Lopez0101]

Well, satellites aren't supposed to provide much bass. That's a subwoofers job. When you try and do both in a single speaker you lose out everywhere. They do have bass and it's not sloppy or boomy. It's subtle like it should be.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

You are going to want to add a subwoofer to them for actual bass. The AudioEngines only go down to about 65hz iirc.

 

[Lopez0101]

What I found says 50hz-22khz.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

What I found says 50hz-22khz.

Still, subwoofer can go all the way down to 20hz. If you like bass you will want to compliment these speakers with a sub.

 

[michael]

My. then this going to be very expensive setup then without being actual 5.1 or home theater. around rs. 60,000

 

[MxPhenom 216]

My. then this going to be very expensive setup then without being actual 5.1 or home theater. around rs. 60,000

What happened to the Yamaha or whatever you were looking at before. If you want home theater, get a home theater system. 5.1 or 7.1.

 

[Bansaku]

My. then this going to be very expensive setup then without being actual 5.1 or home theater. around rs. 60,000

True, but from what I have read, well worth it. I heard the A5 and S8W when I picked up my D1 and wow does it sound amazing! I would go with the D1 for a DAC, from my own experience, it not only sounds fantastic but fairly priced as well; the D1 actually outperforms DACs costing $100-$200 more (according to reviews and blogs who did an a/b comparison).

 

[Lopez0101]

Still, subwoofer can go all the way down to 20hz. If you like bass you will want to compliment these speakers with a sub.

Definitely, I was just saying. I really want the sub, but I would hardly be able to use it without annoying my housemates. However, for home theater, you really want a receiver and non-powered speakers with a sub. 5.1 kits are a cheap way to get into it, but they aren't always the greatest.

 

[michael]

Definitely, I was just saying. I really want the sub, but I would hardly be able to use it without annoying my housemates. However, for home theater, you really want a receiver and non-powered speakers with a sub. 5.1 kits are a cheap way to get into it, but they aren't always the greatest.

yes ,greatset 5.1 dont come cheap, i looked yamaha 196/299 all has no deep bass at all. pioneer RS33 had some what deep bass with that annoying small TV sized sub woofer..

 

[Lopez0101]

Really, in the end, you can't go wrong with the A5+/S8 combo.

 

[michael]

One thing I really want to clearly understand as some of you said that for deep/tight or good bass we require sub woofer. Ok fine I get it one. But then when I use my sub woofer with my audioengine A5 + set , then that improved bass effect will actually come from sub woofer or from those two speakers ?
Does the sub woofer actually improve bass effect coming from two speakers or it itself produces that deep/tight bass ?

Thanks.

 

[Lopez0101]

The subwoofer itself produces the bass. It doesn't change anything about the A5+'s themselves. Basically, a subwoofer is a much larger speaker that fires down toward the ground, tuned specifically for the low frequencies that make up bass. The only downside with the S8 is that, if you adjust the volume of the A5+'s, up or down, the subwoofer does not change with them, its volume has to be adjusted manually. And really, all "tight" bass means is that the speakers aren't just boomy for the sake of sounding like they produce good bass.

 

[michael]

And really, all "tight" bass means is that the speakers aren't just boomy for the sake of sounding like they produce good bass.

Oh yes...! This is what I want. But still S8 make good match with white A5 + ones.. but my brains says go with Wooden colour A5 +.