[MrTechAgent]

Nice review ......... thanks

 

[groovyd]

Sold my A2+S8 setup for Paradigm MilleniaOne CT and the difference is night and day.  Highly recommended!

 

[simonwellander]

Quote:

Sold my A2+S8 setup for Paradigm MilleniaOne CT and the difference is night and day.  Highly recommended!

 

But that system costs like 3 times more? :O Of course they sound better.

 

[patrick1]

I sold them for a Muse TA2021 amp (42 euros) and a pair of B&O Beovox S30 speakers from a jumble sale for 10 euros. This is connected via my maverick D1 (modded).

It sounds so much better and costs so little. Maybe i'll upgrade the speakers in the future, when i see a nice pair come by second hand, for now it's fantastic.

 

[groovyd]

Quote:

 

But that system costs like 3 times more? :O Of course they sound better.

meh... totally worth it 

 

[simonwellander]

Quote:

meh... totally worth it 

Yeah, that may be true

 

[dizzyorange]

if you're disappointed with the A2 sound (compared to the glowing stereophile review), keep in mind that the reviewer had them on lead shot loaded stands positioned in a dedicated listening room.  IMO these speakers don't do so well placed on a desk -> the mid bass bump obscures the otherwise wonderful mid-range.  I elevated them about 14" off my desk and the difference was drastic.  i only imagine they would sound better on real stands with no desk below (and no monitor in between).  

 

[sixtyfo]

if you're disappointed with the A2 sound (compared to the glowing stereophile review), keep in mind that the reviewer had them on lead shot loaded stands positioned in a dedicated listening room.  IMO these speakers don't do so well placed on a desk -> the mid bass bump obscures the otherwise wonderful mid-range.  I elevated them about 14" off my desk and the difference was drastic.  i only imagine they would sound better on real stands with no desk below (and no monitor in between).  

+1 for sure. I found that half a dozen beer bottles make an excellent stand for my desk. It also helped that I took 10db out at 150hz which cleared up the midbass issue for me.

 

[groovyd]

I think there is an untapped market for small solid desktop stands specifically for high end computer sats like the AudioEngines and Paradigms, etc. 14" is about right in most cases.

 

[BradleyP]

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 granite blocks to acoustically isolate the speakers completely from my desk, but that would cost hundreds.  For now, thick, heavy books paired with the A2 rubber stands do pretty well. 

 

[cnhardwick]

Sterophile has an update on the Audioengine A2+.
 
It is nice to see Audioengine is listening to customers' feedback and attempting to address the bass distortion issue:
 

Bass response has also been addressed. Audioengine's Brady Bargenquast explains, "In the new A2+ we've included a linear limiter which will manage the bass at the point where bass distortion starts to occur. Being a linear limiter, it will not chop the signal, but instead retains the shape of the waveform, simply not allowing it to go into distortion. So if you listen to the A2+ at higher levels you'll notice the bass response is tamed and not as boomy. The limiter will have no effect at normal listening levels."

 
Reportedly these will start shipping November 1. 

 

[SonicBlip]

Has anyone else had issues with the general build quality of their A2's?  Although mine sound great, one of the units looks pretty rough.... the bezel around the tweeter looks like it was improperly processed (hacked at), but then still used anyway.  Also there's a lump in the paint and there was a minor scratch on the speaker cone out of the box... 

Images: http://imgur.com/a/UD8pI/all

 

[BradleyP]

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 always been responsive to me, although my communication has always been questions and suggestions, never complaints.

 

[shenhaizile]

good idea,i will see if i can buy some A2 from the US to use when i dont use headphones,beside some cheaper logitech and a few brands more,is a good and cheap speakers to start with when considering good enjoiable sound.thanks for your sharing

 

[groovyd]

IMHO if you care about good sound just bite the bullet and get something like the Paradigm MilleniaOne CT instead.  Then you won't be losing out on every upgrade resale in-between. It is cheaper in the end and far less work then hassling with ebay or shipping.