Audioengine Frequently Asked Questions
1. Just how easy are Audioengine speakers to set up?
Take them out of the box and place them where you want. We recommend using speaker stands to get them up off the floor. Plug in the AC power cord and connect the speaker wire from the left powered speaker to the right. Then plug in your iPod or dock into the top ComboPort and you’re ready to go. All required cables are included and setup really is that simple - unlike connecting a stereo receiver and “regular” speakers which cannot be done without cursing up a storm.
2. What is the best placement for Audioengine speakers?
It is true that proper speaker placement has a huge impact on sound quality. There are many different theories, but all rooms and tastes are different so it's impossible to specify a "correct" placement. We do suggest you experiment with a few different locations to see what works for you. As a general rule of thumb for the best soundstage balance, the speakers should be equi-distant from side walls and a different distance from rear walls. The tweeters should be at about eye-level in your most frequent listening location. For the best bass response on Audioengine 5, we recommend that you keep a minimum distance of around 6" between the rear of the speakers and the rear wall.
3. How can these small speakers have so much bass?
One of the reasons Audioengine 5 speakers have such amazing bass in such a small package is the bass port tubes on the back of each speaker. These aren’t just holes in the cabinet, but specifically shaped openings with tubes designed with precise calculations. The result is incredible low end with very minimal audible air turbulence. These are effectively mini-subs built into each speaker, allowing Audioengine speakers to be used with or without a separate subwoofer.?We don’t use any enhancement circuits to add fake bass, so what you’ll hear is real bass, really low, and really clean. Dig it.
4. Why do I have to plug one speaker into the wall?
Audioengine speakers have a built-in power amplifier so you won’t need a stereo receiver to power these speakers. In addition to built in amps, we’ve also added an extra “always-on” AC outlet on the speaker rear panel, which just happens to be perfect for plugging in an Airport Express or Squeezebox. Wireless-ready speakers. Very sweet.
5. Are Audioengine speakers portable?
Our 3 friends would ask us over and over “Hey speaker guys, are there any great sounding speakers for my living room that I can just plug in my MP3 player and not buy a big stereo receiver with a remote control that I will never figure out how to use?” We finally got tired of answering “No, not really”, and came up with the Audioengine 5. There are so many cheap plastic portable disposable iPod speaker toys on the market that we decided to create a line of real speakers that are self-powered, sound great, and don’t have a handle or run off 25 AA batteries. OK, so to finally answer the question, Audioengine speakers are not really portable but are durable enough that you could carry them around in bags or backpacks like we do when we’re out on the road.
6. Why don’t Audioengine speakers have a built-in iPod dock?
Audioengine speakers not only work well with iPods and iPod docks, but were also designed to connect easily to all other audio products. iPods connect to Audioengine speakers with or without an external dock via the “ComboPort” connector on top of the speakers. There are so many clever and inexpensive iPod docks available that we made a decision early on to spend our development time primarily on audio quality and other simple features, such as an AC outlet on the rear panel for an Airport Express, for example. We feel that Apple docks do an excellent job so we didn’t want to waste resources trying to design and integrate a dock into our speakers only for it to become quickly obsolete. If you have an iPod but don’t yet have an Apple Universal Dock or one of many other great dock systems on the market, pick one up, sit it on top of our speakers, plug it in and you’ll see what we mean!
7. Which remote controls do you recommend for Audioengine speakers?
Our thinking behind not including a remote was that most people have too many remotes already (I know my living room sofa owns at least 3). Feedback from our awesome customers seems to back this up as many people report using their TV remotes and/or Squeezebox and Sonos system remotes as well as iTunes to control Audioengine speakers. Here are two USB (non-dock) remotes that work well with iTunes and Audioengine: Griffin AirClick USB Remote: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/airclickusb/ and the Keyspan Express Remote: http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/urm17a/ -
8. Can I control Audioengine speakers with my TV remote?
Most TV’s have variable audio outputs that work well with Audioengine speakers. Just connect the left and right RCA jacks from your TV audio out to the 1/8” mini-jack input on the left speaker (we’ve included an RCA to 1/8 “Y” cable). Set the volume knob on the left speaker front panel, select “variable audio output” on your TV menu, and then use your TV remote to control the Audioengine volume.
9. Can I use a subwoofer with Audioengine speakers?
Even though Audioengine speakers have huge low end which will easily fill a room and rival floorstanding speakers many times their size, you can also connect an external sub if you wish. We’ve recently added RCA subwoofer outputs to the rear panel to make connecting a powered subwoofer even easier. These are full-range outputs so the crossover frequency and volume can be dialed in on the sub. You can even connect an Airport Express to your sub and send a separate audio stream from iTunes for a wireless subwoofer!
10. Can I increase the length of the speaker wire between each speaker?
Yes. Any standard speaker wire will work. For the best audio performance we’ve included 12 feet of 16 gauge wire with each system. The speaker binding posts on the back of each cabinet will accept bare stranded wire, mini-banana jacks, pin terminals, and most other commonly-used wire termination types.
11. Why do digital music files sound better with Audioengine speakers?
Audioengine speakers were specially designed and tuned to make MP3 and other digital music files sound great. We spent many months tuning each speaker and almost exclusively used MP3, AAC, and WMA 128 and 192kbps files during this process. We also tuned with lossless CD-quality audio, but found that digital files really do sound great on Audioengine speakers. Even though we are big fans of digital music, your turntable will sound equally as good.
12. Do higher power output ratings mean louder or better sounding speakers?
Not necessarily. Audioengine speakers and amplifiers are very efficient and are designed to work directly together so we get way more volume output than stereo receivers or amplifiers that have a higher wattage or power numbers. Due to this precise tuning, we achieve big sound outputs with just a fraction of the power required by other systems. Keep in mind that our very conservative rating of 45 watts RMS per channel translates easily to well over 100 watts per channel peak power - which we don’t advertise as peak power numbers are a bit misleading.
13. Even though Audioengine speakers have built in amplifiers can I still use them with my stereo receiver?
An A/V receiver or amplifier is not needed as we’ve built the power amps into the speakers. However, if you wish to use Audioengine speakers with an existing stereo receiver just take the “preamp out” from your receiver and plug it into one of the Audioengine inputs (use the included RCA stereo “Y” connector to 1/8” mini plug cable). The internal Audioengine amps will still be active but this setup allows you to use your existing receiver as well.
14. Are two separate speakers really better than one?
We are firm believers that two quality speakers will always sound better than one or more speakers together in a single cabinet, regardless of the technology used. There are some decent one-piece speaker systems that simulate stereo and surround sound from a single source, but most fall way short as they can’t accurately duplicate a wide soundstage with imaging as complete and rich as Audioengine speakers.
15. Do Audioengine speakers come with speaker grills?
We use Kevlar for the woofers and the tweeters are made from silk, so speaker grills aren’t needed. Plus they look better without them. Clean and simple.
16. Will the Audioengine “ComboPort” charge my old Firewire powered iPod?
The Audioengine USB ComboPort on top of the speakers charges all USB iPods and most other USB devices (including the Zune player) but does not charge older 1G and 2G Firewire-powered iPods, which can only be charged via Firewire.
17. Can I take my Audioengine speakers to another country with a different voltage?
Yes, you can switch the voltage on the rear panel to use in areas with 220-230v mains. The power supply is not a switching supply so you must do this if you take your speakers to another country with a different voltage. The power cable is also detachable which makes it convenient to replace the AC plug with a different type if you don’t want to use an adapter plug.
18. How can I stream music from my computer to multiple Audioengine speakers?
If you have an AirPort Express with firmware 6.3 or higher, you can easily send music from iTunes out to multiple speakers, including a subwoofer (a wireless Wi-Fi subwoofer, think about it!). This is a great feature for Audioengine speakers and can be enabled by selecting “Multiple Speakers” in the bottom right-hand corner of iTunes. The AirPort Express Firmware Updater 6.3 for Mac OS X can be found here: http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
Another option we recommend is a software application called AirFoil by Rogue Amoeba. AirFoil allows you to send audio from any application (including iTunes) to one or multiple AirPort Express units. Download a demo or purchase Airfoil here: http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/ -
19. Why only analog inputs?
Audioengine speakers contain all-analog circuitry and do not include digital inputs. The analog outputs from the Airport Express and Slim Devices Squeezebox, for instance, are extremely high quality and are perfect examples of why we didn’t feel the need for digital inputs. There were also other issues associated with digital inputs that we felt were not acceptable (such as DRM restrictions and remote volume control issues).
20. Can audio be played through the Audioengine USB charge port?
The USB port on Audioengine speakers was designed to be for power charging only, but don’t despair - we’ve also included an audio input next to the USB port to handle the audio input.
21. If I have 2 inputs plugged in at the same time, how does Audioengine switch between audio sources?
Both inputs are "open" or active, so you can leave 2 audio sources plugged in at the same time.
22. What is the difference between powered and active speakers?
Both are basically the same. “Active” and “powered” speakers refer to speakers with power amplifiers built into either one speaker or both. Audioengine speakers were designed with the power amps in the left speaker to make connections easier (they only require 1 power cord and all connections are in the same speaker). It’s time to sell that big old receiver and make the switch!
• Have a useful FAQ that you want to add to this list? Write it up and send us an email: support@audioengineusa.com