If you have the room on your desk, absolutely get the JBL LSR305 and spend another $100 on IsoAcoustics stands.  I saw a *pair* of the JBLs for sale on Amazon yesterday for $220.  It's unlikely you would ever need a sub with them for desktop or near-desk use.  You will need a DAC with a volume...

No, that will not be an upgrade.  It might be a difference, but I would not call it an upgrade.  If you want a noticeable upgrade from the A5+, you're probably looking at one of the powered Dynaudio models like the X14A or the Focal Be6 Solo, but these cost five times as much or more...

The price is $289.  Don't even think about it.  Just do it.   

If you figure $350 for the TD-11 and another $350 for a standalone hp amp and interconnects, then that's adding up fast.  Surely a one-box solution can be had that will deliver at least equivalent digital conversion and meaningfully better headphone performance for less than $700. How about the...

Thanks so much!  I look forward to trying this out.  My concern is excessive battery drainage, but I'll see how it goes.  I'm probably worrying needlessly.  

How fast does the D1 drain your phone battery?  I want to do the same thing with my Samsung S5 and my Audioengine D1.

Has anyone successfully run an Audioengine D1 dac/headamp off of a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone?  If so, what cables and adapters work?  

It's five months later, so you either have the 305s by now, or decided against them.   I own the A2 and the 305s.  Sometimes, I think the A2 is a tad more transparent in the mids with a deeper soundstage.  To my ears, that difference is more than overcome with the pristine, tuneful...

In my experience on my somewhat flimsy desk, no.  They were essential for image height, but they still needed the yoga blocks for further isolation and proper image height.  On sturdier surfaces like a granite countertop, the Audioengine stands were enough, or even no stands at all.  Start with...

Here's a further tweak that makes a difference with the Audioengine stands and foam yoga blocks: lay a pencil down under each of the front and back edge of the Audioengine stands between the stands and the foam blocks.  This step finally achieved total mechanical isolation between the A2 and the...

If you are of average height or taller, buy the official stands, but also buy two foam yoga blocks for about $5 each.  Sit the official stands on the large faces of the blocks and you will keep the "boom" out of the desktop and get the stereo image up to a more pleasing height.  Midrange will be...

My left A2 has a very minor imperfection around the tweeter bezel, but I had never even noticed it until I read your post.  I've had mine almost two years, so that tells you how minor it is.  See if you can get an adjustment from Audioengine if that's where you bought the speakers.  They have...

Agree.  I have searched far and wide for a solution that costs less than the speakers themselves to no avail.  The A2 speakers never sounded so good as when I placed them directly on my friend's granite counter top all the way to the front edge.  I fantasize about a pair of made-to-measure...

Do you know what we lovers of worthy music and fine audio like best, analog'd?  We like variety.  Sometimes the tube does it, sometimes the transistors do.  Sometimes we like orthodynamic drivers, sometimes piston drivers, or open back, or closed back.  I listen to music via my td-11 with...

The tube out will drive my 32 ohm Grados to great effect IF I am listening to easy-going music, like a solo instrument without much bass (flute, violin, etc.) or maybe a vocalist and a guitar, but that's about it.  On the other 95% of the music I listen to, it falls apart. You know, it might be...

Yeah, the TD-11 has a couple of quirks that should have been caught in the design phase, but I've learned to live with them.  Getting otherwise good tube electronics for $325 makes the quirks a trade-off I can live with.  Try turning the input selector to a source that you don't have and turning...

Well, I ordered the Voskhod "Rocket" 6N23P from Russia about a month ago, and it arrived this afternoon.  It's been in the TD-11 for an hour, and I hear improvements up and down the audio spectrum--more stability and articulation in the bass, more separation of images, and a slightly more...

Since the HE-500 is so very hungry for power, you really need a head amp.  A reasonably-priced solution for amplification that has gotten glowing marks is the 8.5 watt hybrid integrated Qinpu A3 for $199.  Drive the HE-500s from the speaker  taps, though, for best results. (You'll have to swap...

Thanks.  I guess I gotta get one now.

How would you compare the Voskhod to the Electro Harmonix that lots of folks have rolled into the TD-11.  I rolled in the EH a few months ago, too, and I'm loving it a whole lot.  The improvement from the stock tube to the EH was very significant.

In my nine months with my A2s, I've discovered that they need acoustic isolation and a very good signal to sound good, and then they sound very good.  Get the tweeters level with your ears if you haven't already, or at least angle them up directly at your ears.  If your A2s sit directly on your...

Taming the bass was my main task with the A2s, but I have mostly succeeded.  First, I got a different DAC, the Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11, which delivers better detail in the bass and provides better tonal balance for the A2s.  (I travel with my little D1, now.)  I imagine the Audioquest...

I have found that the better the signal you feed the A2s, the more meat they have.  Treat them like the $600 speakers they actually are, and you will be rewarded.  I now feed mine with a tube-based dac from Grant Fidelity ($350), and I upgraded the tube, too.  It was a big improvement over the...

If you buy an Audioengine W3 with two extra receivers, you will have unified volume. 

I just put the Electro Harmonix tube in my TD-11 this evening--my first "tube roll!"  It easily pushes this unit into a higher class.  All of the audio reviewer words you read suddenly become real trying to describe the improvement in sound: tuneful bass (biggest difference, IMO), punch...