[nick n]

Quote:

By the design of the Audioengine's A/C Adapter, which is similiar to IEC's on various other electronic equipment (DVD players), the A2's short A/C cord can inserted one way or the other.   
By finding the correct polarity this will improve the overall sound. 

Whoa! I will have to try that right away. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

Mine have been playing for a couple hours now. They seem pretty resonant (is that the right word?) at particular frequencies; it just sounds wrong  at times.
 
I have them on a stack of parback books, so the surface shouldn't be an issue. I'm afraid that resonance is inherent to their housing material and will not go away with burn-in, will it?

 

[olor1n]

I find the A2s very responsive to components upstream. Changing opamps in my dac's output stage has a significant effect. This is not to say they're incredibly resolving, they're not.
 
For example, the ada4627-1brz opamp I've just received sounds neutral, incredibly detailed and dynamic through my HD650, with a natural soundstage. However, it makes the A2s sound very ordinary tbh. It's congested, muddy and sounds cheap. The micro details brought forth by the ada4627-1brz are lost along with the wonderful dynamics. Imaging is also a casualty.
 
The earth hdam on the other hand, with its airy soundstage, is phenominal with the A2s. This discrete opamp is neutral so the A2s overbearing bass is tamed. Details come through, there's separation and great dynamics. Imaging comes back with a vengeance. Cranking the volume further highlights the synergy.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Concerning the fatigue, positioning of a2 is important. This picture from silencpcreview helped me a lot:
 

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Also the silentpcreview website posted in a review, the frequency response of the audioengine a2 :
 

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Which helped me to make this rough eq, for a flatter response:
 

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Here the freq response "inverted" , appropriately scaled, and then superposed to the eq curve for comparison. You can see how "rough" is the correction. Better than nothing.
 

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[rictee]

Quote:

WOW. CK Turtle, you're absolutely right. I was having the muddy mid problem with the A2s that seem to be pervasive. I changed the polarity of the power cord and the whole thing opened up. Highs more extended. Mids not as thick.

I tried it and can confirm it works too.  Except when I switched the power cord it sounded worst so all along I had it in the right polarity.  The mids cleared up and overall sounds more clean.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

I tried it and can confirm it works too.  Except when I switched the power cord it sounded worst so all along I had it in the right polarity.  The mids cleared up and overall sounds more clean.

 
This  is dumb, there's no polarity  with the alternating current, so putting the power cord in one way or the other is exactly the same. You are all victims of placebo.

 
 

 

[adamlau]

My pair of A2s also sound muddy, even through the line outs of a Halo to a Velodyne crossing over at 100 Mhz and sending only mids and highs to the line inputs of the A2. AQ interconnects and AQ X2 cable (14 AWG) connecting L and R. Cutting low bass freq didn't cut for clearing up the mids, I'll have to take look at brighter opamps for the Halo. It's either AD8620, or OPA637. Anyone try one, or the other with respect to a Halo to a pair of A2?  

 

[rictee]

Quote:

 
This  is dumb, there's no polarity  with the alternating current, so putting the power cord in one way or the other is exactly the same. You are all victims of placebo.
 
 

I do not claim I understand how it works and the scientific basis of it but I have tested it with my A2s, eg. the drums from my main reference (Jazz at the Pawnshop) particularly stood out as clearer, sharper, and more dynamic.  It is so obvious that it cannot be placebo.

 

[simonwellander]

Quote:

In regards to the Audioengine A2, try reversing the insertion-direction of the short A/C cord which plugs into the A/C adapter. 
 
I found that inserting it one way versus another will produce a better soundstage and sound quality.
 
Give it a try and see how it works for you.  

Thank you so much! It worked here too, they sound more open now, and more dynamic sound

I love my A2's + Presonus Firestudio Mobile combo!
 
 

 

[johnman1116]

 
Quote:

Quote:

In regards to the Audioengine A2, try reversing the insertion-direction of the short A/C cord which plugs into the A/C adapter. 
 
I found that inserting it one way versus another will produce a better soundstage and sound quality.
 
Give it a try and see how it works for you.  

Thank you so much! It worked here too, they sound more open now, and more dynamic sound

I love my A2's + Presonus Firestudio Mobile combo!

this is so weird and seems too good to be true. is there any scientific backing behind there or is this one of life's great mysteries? lol
isnt that how you short circuit electrical hardware? idk.

 

[DaveVsTheWorld]

I just changed the polarity of the power chord myself.  There is no difference.   The sound is the exact same.   I don't know why I even bothered.