I was able to get the speakers locally from WestWorld Computers in Vancouver. I ended up getting the A2's since they were smaller and would be easier to place on my desk. They also have their bass ports on the front whereas the A5's have them on the back, which is helpful since my desk is right up against the wall.
I first tested the pair in store, the speakers were hooked up the mini output jack on the back of an iMac. I listened to a few songs, but "SexyBack - by Justin Timberlake" caught my attention. I personally don't like this song, but whatever instrument was being played during the intro sounded like it was coming from 3 feet in front of the speakers! I found the sound stage to be quite decent, it was as if the sound coming from about 2-3 feet further than where the speakers were positioned.
Later in the week, I hooked up an RCA audio switch to compare the A2's directly against my Logitech Z-2300 speakers. Generic cables were used to hook up the A2's to the switch, and a RCA to 1/8" adapter was used to hook up the Logitech Z-2300's. My source is a DELL M1210 laptop hooked up via USB to a DIYEDEN (Musiland) SVDAC04-U using the rear RCA outputs.
I stacked a few of my computer science textbooks to create speaker stands and placed the speakers beside each other. The "outer" speaker set would probably have an advantage since it's further apart, but I address this by swapping their positions during testing of each pair.
At first, I tried to determine the sound stage for each pair. Even with the A2's in the "inner" position, they still have wider sound stage compared to the Logitech's placed in the outer position. With the A2's in the outer position, there was no contest.
Sound clarity on the A2's is noticeably better, having an easier time hearing the different instruments, they weren't too bright either. I also noticed that it handled the voice of Celine Dion in "My Heart Will Go On" very well compared to the Z-2300's which I found was a little distorted and fatiguing to listen to. I'm not sure how to explain it, the voice is clearer, more natural, more centered, but not overly bright. On the Z-2300's, her voice sounds a little synthetic, less clear but too bright? Perhaps "too bright" is the wrong way to describe it, but it I found it difficult (hurting) to listen to.
Being used to the Z-2300's "thumping" bass, when I tried to listening bass I was greatly disappointed with the lack of bass compared to the Logitech Z-2300's. However, the first time I hooked up these speakers was actually at my girlfriend's house and at that time I thought the bass was plentiful, punchy and above all very clear. You could clearly hear the instrument creating the low notes, but it's not loud, you have to listen for it. It's just when compared directly against the Z-2300's (which has a 120 watt subwoofer) the bass "seems" lacking.
I then hooked up the Logitech sub to my headphone port, and continued using the A2's through RCA output. Essentially, I tried to "combine" the best of both worlds. At first, I was quite blown away, all the clarity and sound stage was there, along with the decent bass. The low notes (thumps) we very centered, though I'm not exactly sure how this works. When I turned off the A2's, I could hear all the low notes coming directly from my right (where the sub is placed). When I turn off the sub, I could clearly hear the instrument creating the bass coming from center between the A2's, though there was no "thump". However, when I turned both the A2's and sub on, the bass "thump" magically moved towards the center of the A2's!
After further testing of my hybrid setup, I came to notice that the low notes or "thumps" produced by the Logitech sub was actually very muddy compared to the A2's alone. The instrument creating the sound of the bass was unclear. The "thumps" I heard from all my songs all sounded the same. When I turned down the volume of the sub, the clarity came back. But with the sub volume low enough to retain the clarity, there isn't much improvement in bass, it's noticeable, but I don't feel it's worth turning the sub on for. I've since unhooked the sub and have been listening to the A2's alone, and they sound incredible without a sub. Perhaps I will be able to find a better sub to pair with the A2's, any recommendations are welcome.
In my opinion, the A2's sound much better than the Z-2300's, the sound is clearer, voices are more centered and focused (with the Logitech pair, instruments seem to overpower the singer), voices sound more natural, and the sound stage is much wider. The A2's don't provide deep bass, but at the same time they were good enough to have me realize that the sound created by the Logitech sub was very "muddy" in comparison.
