usery

But back to the OP's original request (pardon the digression on the 4s). Sounds like you're already looking at Presonus' Ceres line, from which I too was close to purchasing when comparing BT-capable desktop speakers. I researched Presonus, Klipsch, Wren, Marshall, Sony and Audioengine. Audioengine was still in the running though I wasn't satisfied with my A2+ performance/price ratio. Then an Amazon encounter with a company founder soured me completely on Audioengine (I will no longer buy their products - PM me if you'd like the details). For portability I ended up going with the Sony SRS-X7 all-in-one and tabled the desktop search for a while ... glad I did because I ended up with the Airmotiv 4s. If I were doing it again (which I might yet for another desktop rig), I'd probly go with the Presonus Ceres C4.5BT and skip the USB-in.

I haven't measured for that, nor would I necessarily. As near-field active monitors the 4s are hard to beat at their spec/performance/price-point ratio - even by active monitors at >> the 4s price, I'm guessing.

I have the Airmotiv 4s as part of a computer desktop audio rig. At $300/pair they are hands-down among the best bang/buck audio investments I've ever made. Not waxing hyperbolic here - my "somewhat modest" home stereo setup includes a Creek 5350SE out to Nola Boxers on Dynaudio Stand 4's with a REL R-328 sub filling in <= 44Hz. That's my reference speaker setup. The Airmotiv 4s brings similar giant-killing performance to the desktop though obviously at a smaller scale. I also have the Audioengine A2+. They were my first desktop speaker investment after a venerable Klipsch 2.1 setup finally died. For me the A2+ are over-hyped and over-priced given their performance. Yes they have a small footprint and some 'convenient' features, but the sound quality is not fair value given their price. If the OP can make the 4s fit in his desktop listening space, I think they'll be equally pleased.

No you were completely clear, didn't hear you as BMS fanboy/convincer at all. Appreciate you bringing the earlier facts to the thread. For me BMS discovery is fine, though not any more compelling than what they pooh-pooh as Spotify's "computerized" discovery. And BMS touting "human-based" curation in face of algorithmic-based competition is stupid, especially given the results. Their curated lists are subject to constraints and biases of human curators. You get what you pay for. With iTunes as evidence I'm not all that hopeful Apple will influence/invest in/guide BMS to be a legit Spotify-beater. Nor do I think BMS leadership will do that - all that personal $$$ from Apple buy-out changes things, like really deeply caring about what happens to BMS. Maybe I'll be surprised later. And I be no Spotify fanboy either, they got their own issues (bloated UX's, crappy spammy interaction model etc). But for my requirements in foreseeable future Spotify is likely the least-bad option.

You had two #4's - I'm adding #6 and #7: 6. No Library feature in Beats Music web player. Like, none. Whatsoever. What Beats says: (Beats Music Support) Jun 25 07:29 Hi, Thank you for getting back to us. I understand your frustration with the web player. As you know Beats Music was designed for the mobile user. The web player is limited compared to what the [mobile] app can do. Over time we will be updating the web player as we have already made some changes to it. If the web player is your main source like many others who listen to music, your satisfaction will not be the same as using the mobile app. We hope you stick with us through the evolution of the web player. While this is just a front-line support person talking, the refrain "Beats Music was designed for the mobile user" is telling. That shows up in spades in the stunted feature set and design of the BM web player, a decidedly crappier app than the somewhat crappy MOG web player. 7. No 'radio station' features In either mobile or web app. Beats tried too hard to differentiate themselves from Spotify et al with their 'human curated' lists and so-called 'The Sentence' thing (mobile only). In doing so they shot a cannonball through their own mrket-appeal hull: music service customers like and use radio station features. 10 years of Pandora demonstrated this and all the other music services recognized that in this case the customer is right. Everything else is commodity: stream quality, catalog size, pricing etc. If you don't got those you're a non-starter as relevant, compelling competitor. Beats showed up with some but missed the rest of the target. As former MOG customer I'm in late stages of free 60-days on BMS. Will probly move to Spotify at end of that.

Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience it myself: Just bought Audioengine A2+ powered desktop speakers. All the reviews, Stereophile, TAS, blah blah - had high hopes going in. Wired them up to a Win7-64 PC, standard connector to line-out from RealTek HD Audio controller (no USB). Fired up variety of .flac from XBMC - and mid's and high's from the A2+'s sounded like crap: poor extension, muddy at low volumes, narrow & flat sound stage with too much bass. 2nd-guessed the sh!t out of it: connections, sources, audio controller. Looked for posts on EQ, suboptimal Audioengine factory settings , speaker placement. Then I found this, in a head-fi.org post from 2010: " In regards to the Audioengine A2, try reversing the insertion-direction of the short A/C cord which plugs into the A/C adapter. I found that inserting it one way versus another will produce a better soundstage and sound quality. Give it a try and see how it works for you." That was with the older A2's but what the həll, I flipped over the AC connector into the A2+ power brick... ...and that fixed it: mids and highs approaching what they should, and a soundstage worth the purchase price. Can probably get it better with EQ at the source, but bulk of the shortfall was addressed. Who knew...am still incredulous. No mention of this in the A2+ setup guide or any other Audioengine docs afaict.

Solved: ordered the Dayton Audio SUB-800. Will see how it performs.

I'm shopping for a small powered sub to pair with Audioengine A2+ desktop speakers driven/sourced by a Win7-64 PC. Constraints: budget <= $150, sub enclosure width < 12.5". Hifi music playback is the priority, all genres. Sources include .flac and 320K stream (MOG/Beats/Spotify). To help calibrate recommendations my own reference hifi sub is a REL R328. I've narrowed to Dayton Audio SUB-800 and BIC America V-80. Anyone got direct experience with either of these, and how they might meet my spec? I'm open to alternatives that meet/exceed the SUB-800 or V-80 specs/features/strengths, but they gotta fit within the above constraints.

+1 for leaving MOG/Beats Music - actually more reprobate artists & albums on Spotify.

Thanks for that, i'm hoping there's hope. But right out of the gate monthly cost for web-only will double over that of MOG (from $5USD to $10USD)

Note shut-down date for MOG: April 15. For our international friends that's Tax Day in the U.S. What a crappy choice on Beats' part, and I suspect indicative of the crappy disregard they'll give to discerning subscribers.

As feared, # of decent options for audiophile subscribers will be cut in half: -------- Original Message --------[TABLE=class: moz-email-headers-table] [TR] [TH]Subject:[/TH] [TD]MOG -> Beats Music[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Date:[/TH] [TD]Tue, 21 Jan 2014 11:58:06 +0000 (UTC)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]From:[/TH] [TD]Ian C Rogers, Beats Music CEO <[email protected]>[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Reply-To:[/TH] [TD][email protected][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH][/TH] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=width: 595, align: center] [TR] [TD=align: left][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: body-wrap, width: 100%] [TR] [TD=class: container, bgcolor: #FFFFFF, align: center] [TABLE=class: content, width: 500, align: center] [TR] [TD=class: spacing1][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center] Introducing Beats Music [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: left] Thanks sincerely for your loyalty to MOG. It means everything to us that you stuck with us while we created the next generation of streaming music services, Beats Music, using the great foundation of the MOG team and product. As you may know, Beats purchased MOG more than a year ago because we too were in love with its fidelity, simplicity, and mobile capabilities. Our goal was to go a step beyond where MOG or any other service had gone...." Will MOG shut down? Yes. After April 15th, MOG will no longer be available in the US. Monthly billing will stop on March 15th and yearly subscriptions will be refunded on a prorated basis. Between now and then we will offer tools to help make your transition easier. Stay tuned for more information on those tools." [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Now we know (sniff): " -------- Original Message --------[TABLE=class: moz-email-headers-table] [TR] [TH]Subject: [/TH] [TD]MOG -> Beats Music[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Date: [/TH] [TD]Tue, 21 Jan 2014 11:58:06 +0000 (UTC)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]From: [/TH] [TD]Ian C Rogers, Beats Music CEO <[email protected]>[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH]Reply-To: [/TH] [TD][email protected][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH][/TH] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=width: 595, align: center] [TR] [TD=align: left][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: body-wrap, width: 100%] [TR] [TD=class: container, bgcolor: #FFFFFF, align: center] [TABLE=class: content, width: 500, align: center] [TR] [TD=class: spacing1][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center] Introducing Beats Music. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: left] Thanks sincerely for your loyalty to MOG. It means everything to us that you stuck with us while we created the next generation of streaming music services, Beats Music, using the great foundation of the MOG team and product. As you may know, Beats purchased MOG more than a year ago because we too were in love with its fidelity, simplicity, and mobile capabilities. Our goal was to go a step beyond where MOG or any other service had gone <blah blah quack quack>.... Will MOG shut down? Yes. After April 15th, MOG will no longer be available in the US. Monthly billing will stop on March 15th and yearly subscriptions will be refunded on a prorated basis. Between now and then we will offer tools to help make your transition easier. Stay tuned for more information on those tools...."[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]