[henny]

Last few weeks I've been thinking of buying an A5 for my desktop. My room is kinda small and I have a small desk but I have a ipod nano 8gb so I can use it in other rooms too. It's very expensive in my country so I'm trying to decide. To they sound that good as the review or they are just advertisements? Someone from here told that they make strange noises sometimes. I listen too many kinds of music, hiphop/rap/rnb, minimal, electronic, soft and alternative rock, instrumentals. Is there clarity at sound? I don't want too much bass but a good bass, I want balance. Will I be satisfied? And how is the power? Any alternative speakers? And which soundcard should I buy? Do they sound good with IPODS? sorry for asking too many questions but I'm just trying to decide

thank you.

 

[backtoreality15]

I've only had these for a couple weeks, but here goes:

To they sound that good as the review or they are just advertisements?
That's for you to decide, but they sound very good. The reviewers have not over hyped these speakers. They do perform well! You can search the forums for a more detailed opinion.

Someone from here told that they make strange noises sometimes.
They only make a quick noise as they power off after not being used for, I think, 15 minutes. I haven't had any other "strange noises."

I listen too many kinds of music, hiphop/rap/rnb, minimal, electronic, soft and alternative rock, instrumentals. Is there clarity at sound? I don't want too much bass but a good bass, I want balance. Will I be satisfied?
I listen to all kinds of music too and they perform well in all areas. However, I am slightly a basshead and find the bass lacking sometimes for trance & hip hop songs. However, seeing as how you don't need too much bass I'm sure they'll be perfect for you. The bass is very tight and is improved with a proper soundcard/DAC. The key to these speakers is placement. You need to have them elevated to ear height and keep them at least 6 inches away from the wall. If they are too close to the wall you will get boomy bass...

And how is the power?
Plenty of power, for me at least. I've never maxed it out, heh. Too scared.

And now with my preamp/DAC combo unit (the Musiland SVDAC06) it can go even louder.

Any alternative speakers?
Just search on the forums for Audioengine A5. There are alternatives recommended in many other threads.

And which soundcard should I buy?
You might want to look into an external DAC (which can be thought of as a soundcard) to maximize your performance with these speakers. I just received my SVDAC06 DAC today in the mail for $120 on eBay. The difference is quite noticeable and will continue to improve as it burns in more. I'll probably get a mini-review up later. What you can do is search the forums for "budget DAC"s if you want a entry-level DAC. But if you want serious recommendations, you should post a budget.

Do they sound good with IPODS?
Word on the street is that they do since they were somewhat designed for that. Just search on google and head-fi.org and you'll find plenty of information on the Audioengine A5s in addition to what I told you.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the forums!

 

[j3ff86]

They pop after 10 minutes of inactivity. It's annoying, but the only alternative besides a receiver + bookshelves that I could find was the M-audio AV-40's. I tried those but I thought the A5's sounded much better. Plus the AV-40's have problems of their own, like sound leakage from the speakers when you plug in headphones. I use my A5's with a Xonar D1 which has a full EQ control in a nice GUI.

 

[kaldaim]

I like my A5's a lot. Had some issues with the first pair but that was all taken care of. They still scare me on occasion when they 'pop off' when the amp is is inactive for too long. They're definitely a little heavy on bass for my taste, but a little bass reduction EQ and they're fine. They sound pretty great out of my iPhone 3G S headphone out. Sound card, I have a crappy creative X-Fi but it's still working and doing just fine in that regard - don't really recommend it, though. Build quality is superb, though sometimes I get worried about deforming the tweeter/woofer as my desk is messy - I wish they came with some removable grills. They're plenty loud and fill a big room very nicely. Make sure you have at least 6" or so behind them as they are rear-firing.

Really just minor complaints. They're well worth the $275 I paid for them.

 

[henny]

Thank you everybody who answered my questions and tried to help me. I'm a little bit scared of that heavy bass thing which kaldaim said, is it possible to make bass reduction EQ when I'm listening on IPOD? And will it work fine with M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard? Thank you again. Every answer appreciated.

 

[advan031]

Don't worry about the bass comment as this differs from ear to ear. You may find the bass lacking for your taste.

 

[henny]

and are there too many differences between A2's and 5's coz my room is kinda small like I told before so will it worth the price? ty

 

[backtoreality15]

Quote:

Originally Posted by henny /img/forum/go_quote.gif and are there too many differences between A2's and 5's coz my room is kinda small like I told before so will it worth the price? ty

Honestly, only you can decide what sounds right to you. Each person has their own different taste and different environment. If you really are that concerned about room size, then I'd say buy the A2s from someplace with a 100% refund return policy and see how those work out for you. You might find they work better because of a front-firing bass port. If you find them lacking in bass/SQ, you can step-up to the A5s.

 

[ljhodad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtoreality15 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Honestly, only you can decide what sounds right to you. Each person has their own different taste and different environment. If you really are that concerned about room size, then I'd say buy the A2s from someplace with a 100% refund return policy and see how those work out for you. You might find they work better because of a front-firing bass port. If you find them lacking in bass/SQ, you can step-up to the A5s.

The A5s sound better louder (more justified in a large room like I have), so with a small room/near-field, I'd go for the A2s, and if later you need more bass, get a subwoofer. The Hsu STF-1, or my preference the Glow Sub One, will make for a sweet setup.

 

[vjack]

I was in a similar situation in that I was worried that the A5s might be too large for my desk and more powerful than I needed. I went back and forth on the A2s or A5s for awhile before finally deciding to buy the A5s. I love them. Measure your desk space to make sure you can fit them, but I find the bass level to be perfect - never overwhelming but definitely present. I suspect that I would have needed to add a subwoofer for the A2s.

Right now, I have them running straight out of an iMac. I will probably add an Apogee Duet soon, but I want to do some other tweaks first (e.g., elevate the speakers, add some isolation pads, etc.).

 

[noinimod]

vjack: I'm a new owner too! Love them to bits, was using a klipsch gmx previously and this totally rapes the klipsch. I'm on the same boat as you; need to find some stands/isolation pads and i'm getting a dac soon too, to get the best out of this baby!

henny: You have to make sure there's enough space at the back of the speakers so they can breathe, or else they're gonna sound boomy. I've read quite a number of people claiming they sound boomy and i highly suspect it's due to the speakers being too close to a wall.
They are NOT the least bit boomy. Yes you will not feel your bass, that's for sure. But the bass is very clean and tight. Quite hard to go wrong with these.

 

[kaldaim]

I was concerned that they'd be too big for my desk, so I made little cardboard speakers using their measurements

. They were, and still are, a little bit big but I'll deal with their size in exchange for their sound.

 

[vjack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noinimod /img/forum/go_quote.gif vjack: I'm a new owner too! Love them to bits, was using a klipsch gmx previously and this totally rapes the klipsch. I'm on the same boat as you; need to find some stands/isolation pads and i'm getting a dac soon too, to get the best out of this baby!

I've got mine sitting on phonebooks now and have mopads on order. Even getting them off the desk and onto the phone books made them sound a bit cleaner.

 

[vjack]

I now have my A5s on mopads on top of phone books. They sound much better, and I was surprised how much of a difference proper elevation made. Still no DAC, but Musical Fidelity V-DAC ordered.

 

[Shahrose]

I find the A5 to be fairly revealing. With a bad DAC/source they don't sound very good, but paired with high-end equipment, they scale up quite nicely.