I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I first review a pair of Audioengine powered speakers. That review was for the little A2 speakers that I used in my traveling system for years. You can read the reviews I wrote last year for their HD6 Powered Speakers and their HD3 Wireless Speakers on this website. We also posted the press release when these speakers were introduced back in March.
Dave Evans and Brady Bargenquas started the Audioengine brand with the A5 bookshelf speakers nearly 12 years ago. Now, they have released the A5+ Wireless Speakers, which are the subject of this review. On their website, they describe this new speaker as, “A powerful audiophile-grade wireless speakers …..an exciting evolution changing the way people listen to music. The A5+ Wireless isn’t just a pair of wireless speakers but a complete music system.”
Unpacking These Speakers
The Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers come with everything needed to set them up in no time. Inside the box, the two speakers are wrapped in plush carrying bags along with a cloth bag that includes the power cable, a brushed-aluminum remote and a speaker cable to send the signal from the left speaker to the right one. They also include an RCA cable and a 3.5 mm cable so you can use a CD player or another source; I used a TV.
Description and Design
Like the Audioengine 5+ Powered Speakers, the 5+ Wireless Speakers are a little bigger than the earlier 5 series. They both measure about 7 inches wide by 7.9 inches deep, but the 5+ speakers are 10.75 inches tall, while the older model was only 10 inches. The tweeter enclosure looks a little different on the Wireless Speakers. It uses a 3/4 inch silk dome tweeter with neodymium magnets, and the woofer is a 5-inch Kevlar design that includes advanced voice coils. Audioengine designs their own drivers for all of their speakers rather than just buying some generic off-the-shelf drivers. The left speaker houses the two monoblock amplifiers, so it’s heavier than the right speaker. The speaker bases also have soft foam pads along with threaded mounting screws should you choose to use them.
Audioengine matches these woofers and tweeters with an analog dual-class A/B mono amp designed specifically for these drivers. The biggest change for the A5+ Wireless is that it has Bluetooth 4.0 aptX HD wireless capability. Many of you may be familiar with Audioengine’s highly popular BI Bluetooth adapter, and if you are, you know Audioengine knows a lot about Bluetooth. The A5+ Wireless Speakers also feature a 24-bit DAC that has impressively low noise and low distortion characteristics that can easily be heard. A wide slot on the back of each speaker serves as a bass port.
The left speaker houses the 75-watt class A/B amplifiers as well as all of the inputs and outputs. On the back is a sizable metal heat sink to keep the amp cool as well as 3.5 mm inputs, one RCA output, the speaker cable outputs to attach the right speaker and an antenna for solid Bluetooth connectivity. The front of the left speaker has power and Bluetooth indicator lights as well as a volume knob, but you can use the remote to change or mute the volume or to put the speakers in sleep mode when not in use.
The units I reviewed were in basic black, but these speakers also come in white and retail for $499. For $569 you can get them in a very nice looking bamboo veneer as shown here.
Setup
Everything you need for setup is included, so you only need to connect the speaker wire to each speaker and then plug in the power to the left speaker. Then, you can turn on the power switch located on the rear of the left speaker and simply press the pairing button until it flashes. Select “Audioengine 5+” in your device’s Bluetooth pairing menu. Now you’re good to go. To connect more devices, just repeat the steps above. While the system can only connect to one device at a time, it will remember up to six.
Listening
To start with, I simply set the 5+ Wireless Speakers where my Audience 1+1s had been sitting in my upstairs system. Of course, since these are powered speakers, I didn’t use my Electrocompaniet integrated amp that’s in my upstairs system and at first, I didn’t even hook up the subwoofer. I did hook up the OPPO BDP-205 4K Blu-ray player and the audio from the rest of the video system to the A5+ Wireless left speaker with RCA cables and paired my Samsung phone and my iPad, which took no time at all.
I remembered from my review of the HD 6 powered speakers, however, that would take some time to break-in the 5+ Wireless Speakers. At first, they sounded a little muffled, the bass was boomy and the top-end was splashy. After about 100 hours of play, their sound improved drastically and continue to improve some for another 100 hours.
I was surprised by how big these speakers sound; they have real scale. It didn’t matter whether I was listening to a big band, a symphony orchestra or watching an action movie, they sounded huge. The soundstage was very wide, very deep and they also had a nice vertical soundstage. Added to this scale, these speakers produce a sense of real power for an impactful sounding system.
The Audioengine 5+ Wireless Speakers played voices naturally with a nice sense of air around them. There was also some air around instruments. The balance of the midrange sounded a lot like the small British monitors that people pay so much for. This was especially noticeable in the balance of the midrange to the upper bass. They provided a very satisfying sound for both music and videos. No, they didn’t have the sparkle of my Audience speakers, but that’s comparing them to a system that cost more than ten times what they cost.
As with any speaker this size, you have to talk about the bass. It’s just a little thick in the upper bass/lower midrange area. Still, overall the bass on the 5+ Wireless Speakers was amazing at this price point and satisfying despite the 50Hz low point quoted in the specifications. This is because of the scale and power this little package delivers. Anyway, I found the bass very satisfying and involving without hooking up my subwoofer even when watching movies.
Listening Wireless
With the aptX-enabled Bluetooth and its ability to up-sample audio to 24-bit, the A5+ Wireless Speakers sounded closer to the wired model than I had expected, but I still like the wired version better. When listening to Tidal in high quality over Bluetooth, the wide stereo image and scale still impressed, and acoustic guitar tones were rich and fast.
The best thing about these speakers is their convenience. In the basic black, I had no hesitation in carrying them out on my deck and streaming music from a phone to magically listen to really good sound while I cook, read or eat breakfast. Then, I could also put them in the guest bedroom and my granddaughters or visitors could play music in their room. This versatility is wonderful, but what makes it really great is how good they sound wireless and that they sound even better wired.
Listening with a Subwoofer
I listened to the 5+ Wireless Speakers with two subs. First, I used my TBI Audio Systems Magellan VIP Active Subwoofer, which retailed for $1,250. Then I used Audioengine’s own S8 Powered Subwoofer that retails for $350. My TBI sub, by the way, goes much deeper and is much faster than the Audioengine S8, which is no surprise considering the $900 price difference. What did surprise me, however, is that I liked the 5+ Wireless Speakers much better with the S8. This combo simply blends more seamlessly, which to me is more important than which sub is deeper and tighter. Also, the combo of the 5+ Wireless Speakers with the S8 subwoofer is a real bargain in a full range musical sound for the money.
Conclusion
The Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers are really nice powered bookshelf speakers that provide very good wireless sound. There is some real competition at this price range, some of it from Audioengine itself. For $100 less, you can get their HD3s, which I like better as our small desktop speakers. On the other hand, I prefer the 5+ Wireless Speakers for TV, for taking outside, or for listening in a larger office or bedroom. Then, there are their HD6 speakers for about $200 more, which are much more refined looking and sounding. I would also hesitate to take the HD6 speakers outside because I would worry about damaging their beautiful looks. The A5+ Wireless Speakers are more versatile and a better bargain. I highly recommend them or any of the other two wireless speakers by Audioengine.
