[Medion]

I'm downsizing and redoing my desktop. I'm looking for a small 2.0 setup in white or white/black. These two seem to fit the bill due to size, color, and mostly favorable reviews.
 
I'm not an audiophile. I don't need the best audio quality. I'll consider any recommendations that match these in overall size and appearance, and don't surpass $300.
 
So, between these two, or a third option I'm unaware of, which would you pick and why?
 
EDIT: I'm coming from a Topping TP-30 + 2xDayton B652 combo. Please, no DAC/amp/passive combos. I want two powered speakers with a build in amp. Going for size/space here.

 

[Roseval]

A third: http://nocs.se/collections/all/products/ns2-air-monitors-v2

 

[Medion]

Thank you for the suggestion. They seem to have mixed reviews, and the $449 price tag for the white ones puts them firmly out of my target price range. I also have no use for the Bluetooth/Wifi features. Just a traditional connection to the PC itself.

 

[KantoLiving]

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about our speakers!

 

[Sarnia]

I recently bought a pair of Kanto YU2 speakers and S2 stands from Amazon UK.

I haven't listened to much music through them yet as I use my headphones, but have been playing Titanfall 2 through them. I am VERY impressed. I was thinking of buying a sub to go with them, but have come to the conclusion there's no need. Playing Titanfall last night I almost jumped out of my chair when a couple of explosions went off!

Compared to Logitech speakers such as the Z623 there's no comparison. The YU2s blow them away in every aspect.

Size-wise they are pretty small, one of them sits on it's stand under one of my screens easily. If you go for these I'd recommend the S2 stands, as they direct the sound to my ears much better than without.

My only experience with the A2+ was a used pair I got from Amazon Warehouse which were DOA.

The only negative on both the YU2 and A2+ is that the volume control is on the back. That's the tradeoff for the small size though. I run them from my DAC/amp, so control the volume on that, so it's a non-issue unless I want to turn the speakers off. I'm leaving them on all the time now to avoid having to reach behind it (hope that's ok to do KantoLiving?).

Overall I'd highly recommend the Kanto YU2s.

 

[mvalpreda]

Sorry if this post is a tad old....I bought both and returned 2 sets of the AudioEngine A2+ for a HISS that drove me bonkers. Computer on mute they hissed, playing a file with no audio they hissed, hell....unplugged from USB they had a hiss! Two sets did that. Got the Kantu YU2 and they are dead silent when they are supposed to be. Used the AudioEngine stands and they look great on my desk. Sub-out to a DefTech and it sounds amazing.

I don't think they get as loud as the A2+, but didn't matter with that hiss.

 

[goodvibes]

To bad. I really think the a2+ are easily the best sounding up to twice the price. Don't matter of they don't work for you.

 

[mvalpreda]

I really wanted to like the A2+s, but my office is quiet enough that the hiss was noticeable.

 

[Asaf Karas]

I really wanted to like the A2+s, but my office is quiet enough that the hiss was noticeable.

Had the exact same problem.

 

[Jkane101]

Ive had no issues the the A2+'s. That said i'm going to be upgrading to speakers to ruin out of my Ragnorak which I just ordered

 

[barihunk]

Question to the folks who have tried both - I recently got myself a pair of YU2s, and compared to my audioengine a2+ they are significantly less loud than the A2+. This is when I use the built in USB DAC, which is why I purchased the YU2 for in the first place. Can anyone confirm this is normal, or have I gotten a bad unit?

Otherwise in my brief testing I feel the YU2s are more tilted to the bright end of the spectrum (a tad past the point of neutral imo) than the A2+, which is a sound signature I could get with, but the inability to play loud (despite having more amp power) with the USB DAC is kind of a bummer.

 

[KantoLiving]

Question to the folks who have tried both - I recently got myself a pair of YU2s, and compared to my audioengine a2+ they are significantly less loud than the A2+. This is when I use the built in USB DAC, which is why I purchased the YU2 for in the first place. Can anyone confirm this is normal, or have I gotten a bad unit?

Otherwise in my brief testing I feel the YU2s are more tilted to the bright end of the spectrum (a tad past the point of neutral imo) than the A2+, which is a sound signature I could get with, but the inability to play loud (despite having more amp power) with the USB DAC is kind of a bummer.

PM me and we'll troubleshoot

 

[AlanU]

I purchased the audio engine D1 dac and A2+ for my desktop. The volume/output level knob on the D1 works as needed. I use both knob and tweak with volume button on my logitech keyboard.

I also purchased the silicon rubber angled speaker mounts so the tweeters are directed upwards to my ears for correct orientation.

I also added Y connector and used one of my inexpensive Energy 8" powered sub which I added later.

My previous setup was using bookshelf Kef R100 speakers (w/ auralex speaker pads) with Emotiva A100 amp which truly had ridiculously amazing SQ and imaging. That was kinda silly looking on my desktop so I went with the Audio engine setup.

 

[mvalpreda]

Question to the folks who have tried both - I recently got myself a pair of YU2s, and compared to my audioengine a2+ they are significantly less loud than the A2+. This is when I use the built in USB DAC, which is why I purchased the YU2 for in the first place. Can anyone confirm this is normal, or have I gotten a bad unit?

Doubt they are bad as I experienced the same with the volume and posted about it above. I certainly wish the YU2s were a bit louder. I only use the built-in DAC. I have the volume set to max on the speakers and when the volume on the computer is max I wish I had some more.

I would go back to my DefTech Inclines.....those were loud and clean. Just so big on my desk!

 

[radosuaf]

Sorry to revive the old thread and going sligtly off-topic, but are there any cheaper alternatives to those two? I need something really tiny on my desk and don't really want to go GigaWorks T20, which seem to be the only sensible option at the moment...