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Product:  Audioengine 5

Price: $349 per pair
Rating: Excellent - 8.5/10.0
Pros: Sleek white cabinets, built in USB charging, dual 1/8” audio inputs, auxiliary power, airport support, 30 day trial, all needed cables
Cons: Heavy bass, white cabinets
Overall: These bookshelf speakers are great speakers that have been designed from scratch for your iPod and playback of MP3 files, and they do a great job doing just that.

These are the first pair of bookshelf speakers that I know of that were designed specifically for MP3 and ACC files. Upon opening the box, I was pleased with the shiny white lacquered speakers that matched my iPod and the obvious care for the tiny details that Audioengine had taken in packaging. The box came with the pair of speakers, 1/8” to 1/8” gold plated audio cables in 2 meter and 20 centimeter lengths, an AC power cable, a 1/8” to RCA “Y” cable, USB power extender cable, 12.3’ of speaker cable, and a cloth bag to store the wires.

Upon setting up the speakers, I noticed how much attention was paid to make these units the ideal speakers for the iPod. On top of the master speaker (the one with all the connections in back: power, audio, etc) lies a USB power jack as well as a audio input so you can place your iPod dock (preferably remote controlled) on top of the speaker and charge your iPod while you listen. The back of the speaker has the speaker’s AC plug in addition to an auxiliary AC plug for Apple’s Airport, the second audio input, and a spring loaded jack to connect the slave speaker.

Without hesitation, I plugged my iPod shuffle into the USB adaptor and connected the audio 1/8” cable. The tunes sounded good but not great. As with all speakers, I ran music through them for 24 hours and listened to the sound gradually warm up. Now I was ready to get down to business…

All tests songs that I played were either MP3 or ACC encoded at 192 kbps. First up was Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young – Deja Vu. The harmonies and acoustic guitar in the song sounded great, as did the background harmonica. I would have liked to hear some more separation between the lows and mids in the song. I was getting excited with the sound now and wanted more funk. Next, I threw on Peter Brown’s - Do you wanna get funky with me. Once again, the highs (the vocals and synthesizer effects) sounded very clean and clear. The bass also was very sharp and concise, with perfect balance. James Blunt- Beautiful was up next. I have heard this song in a listening room at the release party and I have to say that the Audioengine 5’s were similar given that my listening was in my office. Once again, there could have been a clearer separation between the lows and the rest of the track. My final test track was Modest Mouse - Float On, a track with a very hard bass line as well as constant mids and nice high snare. On this track, I really enjoyed the large sound; these speakers are powerful enough to fill a medium sized room without distortion.

It was interesting to learn how these speakers were built specifically for MP3 and ACC files, which tend to be rather empty and tinny as opposed to WAV files or analog, yes vinyl, recordings. I was a little disappointed when playing CD’s or watching movies through the speakers. While it is not easy to notice a sound difference when performing an A-B comparison of a song on a CD and that same track on my iPod it sounded better from my iPod.

Most people are spending most of their musical enjoyment time listening to MP3 or ACC files through their iPod, computer, or streaming through their stereo system. These speakers are perfect for this job. The sound is very real and warm. The lows have more than enough bass (at times a little too much) and the highs are very sharp and crisp. If you do not mind the white finish on these speakers, they are a great buy. Don’t believe me? Check out their 30-day trial. I think you will want to keep a pair of these, I certainly do.