Audioengine A2+ Review – Solid Tone from Super-Cool Cubes

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As such a popular, multi-award-winning set of speakers, Audioengine’s A2+ should need no introduction to anyone with a background in audio. In fact, as Audioengine themselves claim, these are ‘the most celebrated desktop speaker of all time.’ It’s an accurate claim – but do they make good monitoring speakers? Only one way to find out!

Design

The first thing you will notice about the A2+ is that this is a tiny set. Standing at just 6” tall and 4” wide (a depth of 5.75”), these compact cubes are perfect for computer desks or small setups, while they make for excellent travel partners – very easy to slip into a bag.

The second thing you notice is that they are an inherently stylish pair, that would look great pretty much anywhere. They show off a minimalist design but one that is very eye-catching with hand-polished finishes, especially if you opt for the glossy white or red casings over the sophisticated satin black case. With a thick and sturdy hand-built MDF shell, the A2+ feel very high-end in their construction.

Features

The A2+ have 3/4” silk dome tweeters with neodymium magnets sitting above strong 2.75″ Kevlar woofers with advanced voice coils. Instead of stock parts, these drivers are custom designed by Audioengine, meaning they are tuned specifically to this model. This results in very good power for such tiny speakers, with a total power output of 60W and a solid frequency response of 65Hz to 22kHz.

While the right speaker is passive, the rear of the A2+’s left speaker contains all the control, inputs and outputs. These include a combined volume/power knob, has 1/8”, RCA and USB inputs, as well as a variable RCA output. Finally, this set also comes with microfiber bags for the speakers themselves as well as the power supply and cables.

Performance

Audioengine explain that, even though the A2+ are based on nearfield studio monitors, these are not designed to be all-out nearfield speakers. While this will instantly turn off many audiophiles, the sound on the A2+ is still very impressive. For such a mini build, they boast great depth and excellent clarity. The bass output is very solid for their size, but they do lack a bit of punch in larger rooms compared to others on our list of best studio monitors under $300.

Conclusion

Although the A2+ may fall a little short in terms of a completely flat response, budding producers with a desktop setup will definitely find use for these thanks to the clean sound. If you need the flattest response – and space isn’t an issue – you will certainly want to look elsewhere, but these stylish little cubes have plenty to offer. They aren’t perfect, but they definitely close the gap between computer speakers and quality home audio.

For more info about the Audioengine A2+, click here.
For more Studio Monitors Under $300, click here.