I got my Audioengine A5 yesterday and I'm having a hard time telling the difference using FLAC files on that and my old Klipsch Promedia. I'm not really an audiophile and have a pretty simple setup of PC -> Xonar DX -> Speakers. Can anyone recommend a part of or instrument in a song that would make the difference fairly obvious? I think my problem is that I don't know what to listen for. Thanks.
We all have different musical tastes, you have to look for yourself what you like. And go for that. Listen your favorite songs, and if they sound great for you, you are on your way.
Xonar DX is not that high end of a DAC.. its basically medium quality dac. You also may not have the ears trained for that. Klipsch are also very good speakers.
Do you like classical at all? maybe its because i've been playing the instrument since I was 5, but cello recordings always presents the most difference for me. Cellos have a richer tonal texture than vocals and a lot of instruments, and is smack in the middle of the audible frequency range where your hearing is most sensitive.
I haven't heard the promedias, but they're apparently a fairly nice pc speaker. Given the size of the woofer, I would expect the promedias to have a gap or dip in the frequency range around 100-140hz, but perform better in the lower-bass(40-60hz) due to the subwoofer.
oh LOL. I had two threads open, one IEM and one speaker. stupid me
anyway. OP, you should listen to how much quantity of bass there is in each pair of speakers first. then try to listen which has more forward mids (vocals sound laid back of forward?) etc..
It should be a night and day difference, if its not that's not saying much for the A5s.
Being a 3" "woofer" on the Pro Media to the 5 1/4 on the A5s the lower mid range distortion should be much much better on the A5s. This should come through on pretty much any instrument or vocal heavy track. The upper bass range should be much cleaner on the A5s since the Pro Medias are relying on subwoofer to cover what the little 3" mid woofer just can't Handel whereas the A5s have a real woofer. I would also suspect the dome tweeter on the A5s is much better than the cheap little Klipsch horn.
Actually, the Klipsch is a lot better than you might think. They surprised the HECK out of me...and I had a $9000 pair of PMC monitors on the desktop to compare them to. What they got right was a good dynamic balance. Also, that "cheap little Klipsch horn" was not only surprisingly smooth, but it has one built in advantage...directional control...which makes a significant difference in a desktop monitor. A better driver can be significantly screwed up by the immediate refractory effects the desktop surface has. This is one reason you see studio NFM's either mounted on stands, or on the console bridge. Putting a typical dome tweeter on a desktop is a sure recipe for all sorts of smearing. The Klipsh's are angled up and have limited vertical dispersion which makes a big difference.
Not saying the Audioengines are bad...not my first choice for a monitor in that price range...but just saying the Klipschs are a lot better than you are giving them credit for. My fav monitors in that range...Behringer 3031A's which also have a highly lmited vertical dispersion HF driver and have significantly more dynamic range with a "real" 8" woofer that has some extension to it.
It should be a night and day difference, if its not that's not saying much for the A5s.
Being a 3" "woofer" on the Pro Media to the 5 1/4 on the A5s the lower mid range distortion should be much much better on the A5s. This should come through on pretty much any instrument or vocal heavy track. The upper bass range should be much cleaner on the A5s since the Pro Medias are relying on subwoofer to cover what the little 3" mid woofer just can't Handel whereas the A5s have a real woofer. I would also suspect the dome tweeter on the A5s is much better than the cheap little Klipsch horn.
I have heard them and they are by no means bad but I was no overly impressed with them either, pretty average really.
At any rate they still suffer the typical "multimedia speaker" short comings. It seems to get around them you are left with monitors or perhaps building your own 2.1 system.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably just chalk my inability to hear them to inexperience and return them as $320 isn't really worth the upgrade to me. In a way, it's good to know that my current speakers sound just as good.
Actually, the Klipsch is a lot better than you might think. They surprised the HECK out of me...and I had a $9000 pair of PMC monitors on the desktop to compare them to. What they got right was a good dynamic balance. Also, that "cheap little Klipsch horn" was not only surprisingly smooth, but it has one built in advantage...directional control...which makes a significant difference in a desktop monitor. A better driver can be significantly screwed up by the immediate refractory effects the desktop surface has. This is one reason you see studio NFM's either mounted on stands, or on the console bridge. Putting a typical dome tweeter on a desktop is a sure recipe for all sorts of smearing. The Klipsh's are angled up and have limited vertical dispersion which makes a big difference.
Not saying the Audioengines are bad...not my first choice for a monitor in that price range...but just saying the Klipschs are a lot better than you are giving them credit for. My fav monitors in that range...Behringer 3031A's which also have a highly lmited vertical dispersion HF driver and have significantly more dynamic range with a "real" 8" woofer that has some extension to it.
I totally agree.The Klipsch ProMedia sattelites are amazingly smooth with detailed output mainly because of the tweeters and 3" mids.They may look cheap but they sound totally high end.And mine, with the upgraded speaker wires and iBasso D4 DAC sound fantastic for a $200 2.1 system.The subwoofer can easily over power the sattelites.So all you need is to have the sub volume to the bare minimum for balanced output.
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