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Interesting thread as I noticed something similar but was hesitant to ask about it. It is that using my car stereo radio sounds better to me than when playing cd's. By "better" I guess I mean a more lively, fuller sound. I found that odd too and those are comparing actual purchased cd's so not low bitrate mp3's. Thanks.

bikemig, do you think the Peachtree decco2/ds4.5 combo would be significantly better than the Audioengine A5+? I ask because I got the A2's a couple of weeks ago and really like them. I am not using them where I intended or even as a desktop but they sound so "big" that I moved them right next to my current bookshelf speakers in the living room and much to my surprise I like the A2's better. So I am now convinced I need to upgrade by current bookshelf speakers and am definitely leaning towards staying with Audioengine and mostly likely the A5+. But I am also considering the Audioengine P4's too. Do both of those have a similar sound to the A2's as I assume? And are there any big differences in sound between them? And how do you think those A5+ or P4's would compare against the DS4.5 speakers only with a different amp than the Decco? Another passive speaker I am considering is the PSB Alpha B1's. If you have heard those do you think they would make a better choice than either the A5+ or P4? Would welcome any comments or recommendations from others that have heard any of these as well. Thanks in advance.

Hi, Because I have a small Onkyo receiver available I have found that my computer speakers sound better to me if instead of connecting ipod directly to speakers I connect ipod to receiver and then the headphone out of the receiver to the computer speakers. But does this cause any damage to speakers or receiver? I have not noticed any problems with the receiver or the Swan M10 speakers I am using but I have only done this for a short time and I am planning to get either Audioengines or Airmotiv speakers shortly and may connect the same way and want to make sure I am not causing some sort of problem I am not aware of. Thanks in advance.

"Do you know your neighbors, or speak to them? What kind of speakers do you have now, and how low do they go? If they go fairly low you could try turning up your system with the bass boosted just to see how your neighbors react to that. Or better yet, perhaps someone you know has a sub and you could borrow it for a day." I don't speak to my neighbors often but we get along fine and there are no real problems. So it is more from me just not wanting to create problems. Not in my current home but in the past I have been on the other side of wall from loud subwoofer from neighbors and it drove me crazy so maybe I am more sensitive to it. But I like to get along with neighbors and feel as long as they are reasonably considerate with me I will do more than the same in return. I may try to have my nephew bring his sub over to test it in my home and see the impact and how it improves my sound also. One more maybe foolish question; can I add a passive sub to my bookshelf speakers? I have seen real cheap on craigslist some Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble set ups that have a passive sub and two small satellites. It looks very similar to Bose Acoustimass and assume it is. Instead of connecting to passive sub and then to satellites from sub could I use my current bookshelf speakers instead of satellites? Would that cause any damage to receiver or speakers? I did not know if it would even work and would the passive sub help to kind of fill out the sound of the bookshelves? Or even if something like this did work is it likely to make the sound worse? Thanks.

Your description fits my townhouse exactly as one side I never hear(and they have two teenagers) while the other(where my sub would go) I can hear a ton. My living room has roughly the same dimensions as the OP including the high cathedral ceiling. That is also why I am extra concerned about sub as I would think to "fill" all that space it would need to be turned up. Adding a sub or new speakers I consider the "big" solution but I am also considering going "small" instead. This would be having small speakers very near field say 1-3 feet. I don't know if that would work or just foolish idea but at least speakers would be about 12 feet minimum from shared wall so I think I could turn up easily but also would not need to as much since so close? Sound plausible or just bad idea? Anyone using speakers near field like that? I posted about this recently in the Audioengine 2 thread I started. wgscott, I saw a recent post where you had B&W MM-1 and I thought those could possibly be used super near field as well. Do you like them and would you recommend them? I was kind of skeptical they are worth 2.5 times A2 but I have not heard either. Thanks again.

I know this is an older thread but I had some follow up questions: Apart from the sound quality improvement of adding a sub or subs do just about all of you that have them live in a detached house? I ask because I have a townhouse and if I added a sub it would almost certainly have to go along the shared wall with the next unit due to the layout of the room. I am concerned because I don't know if I would be able to enjoy and get the benefit of the sub at even moderate volume without disturbing my neighbors. Have any of you ran into this issue in either townhouses or apartments as I would think it is common? In those environments even if in general terms you think sub(s) are better to use do think it is likely not worth it for practical reasons? Thanks.

Hi, I was considering getting the Audioengine A2's for really nearfield listening. They would go on a bookshelf behind my recliner which is my main listening spot. When upright the speakers would be roughly 3 feet away but reclined(most of the time)would only be about 1 foot maybe 18 inches. Would the A2's be suitable for that or is it too close and likely too fatiguing? Would any speaker be suitable so close? For those that have them would you strongly recommend the A2's in general? I also wonder as I have read mostly great reviews is that only in comparison with computer speakers or do they have great sound in general? Would they be in the same league as a good budget bookshelf and small amp? By way of comparison I have the Swan M10 2.1 and I would be looking for a large step up in sound quality from them. Have any of you heard those and the A2's and would you rate the A2's much better? Lastly, I did a search on this forum of the A2's and came across many references to Chris's review of them but I can't find the actual review. I may have just likely missed it but is that review online? Thanks in advance.

Interesting comment about rock often having poor recordings as I was going to ask about that. I would guess I may have the most modest home system of any CA member and even on mine I can easily tell good recordings from bad. If comparing to my car stereo, which is just a stock GM but does have rear speakers etc, I would rate the car stereo as kind of warm, bassy sound but not much detail at all. Everything sounds kind of similar and it seems the richness of the good recordings is lacking but I can listen to all music on it including rock and actually enjoy it. I can still tell good recordings from bad but not nearly as pronounced as at home. If what I am describing is fairly accurate and due to the recording itself then is it even more of a problem on the terrific systems many people of this forum have? Do just about all CD's sound at least good on your system? Or are there some(many?) that you just can't listen to either? If that is the case is there any solution? Would super hi res files or anything overcome it? Thanks again.

Thanks for the replies but I have some follow ups: Do you think the PSB Alpha B1's would be fine in a room of my size without a sub? And I think those go for only around $300 a pair which is roughly the same price of my CSW Newton M50's(when they were still made) but you think the Alpha B1's are a large step up sound quality wise? I am not saying they are not as I have not heard the Alpha B1's but I figured any difference would be small. I was considering PSB but I was thinking of maybe Image B6(I think, the ones that are around 5-550 pair new). Would those be much better than the Alpha B1's? As far as the amp the NAD 316bee is around $380. For music only is a choice like that much better than say an avr that has more stated watts from say Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo that is around the same price or even cheaper? Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply. If I went that route with say the NAD316bee and either Focal 706 or B&W 685 do you think in the type of room I have that would be enough on their own or would a sub still be needed?

Hello to all, This is a long post but I am hoping to get some advice as to what to try next to improve my sound and to better understand what is creating the current sound. I currently have only a small Onkyo receiver and two Cambridge Soundworks Newton M50 bookshelf speakers. For some soft music like Bocelli or some instrumentals I think it sounds pretty good or even better than that really but for most rock like Boston, AC/DC I find I can't even listen to it. It basically is too bright and to some degree even vocalists are like that but I find it fine for a Bocelli as it seems like he is in the room but intolerable for rock. So I can't understand why some things can sound good but others terrible with the same system. I do have a tough living room in that it is roughly 15x14 but with cathedral ceiling that slopes from about 18-20 feet with cutouts above that lead to upstairs hall and downstairs hall too along with with cutout to dining room attached to living room but with normal ceiling height and another 12 feet in length. I would like a softer sound than I currently have and am not sure how to go about it. I have tried Pioneer tower speakers before that were recommended on another forum and ran those two channel with the same small Onkyo receiver but although it had way more bass I did not like it nearly as much as my CW speakers and even with the enhanced bass I still did not like rock on it. I also tried Cambridge Audio S30 speakers recommended on that other forum but felt they were not nearly as good as my CW speakers either. So the options I am considering: Adding a sub to have a 2.1 system. Other than adding more bass I am not quite sure how this will impact the overall sound or if it could soften things so I can enjoy more types of music. Getting new better bookshelf speakers like maybe B&W 685’s or PSB pair around 5-600, or the Focal bookshelf’s recently recommended in another thread that are around 650 but I was not sure if any of these would be fine without a sub too. Replacing my Onkyo receiver with maybe a small NAD or something similar. But I am not sure how much if any the receiver is the problem. It is only 30wpc but I have never had an issue with loudness and never even have volume over halfway as too loud. Could something like an underpowered receiver contribute to the bright sound? Would also consider just starting over from scratch with say a budget of 1k and ideally would prefer just two channel with no sub but if convinced I can't get good sound that way am flexible. If I went that route am also looking for suggestions as to what would make good choices starting over? So far I have been frustrated as I end up just listening to the good sounding soft music only at home and also have now wondered if some rooms such as mine can just be too difficult. I was planning to try the sub idea next but ideally would like to understand better what is creating the current problem as then obviously I would have a better chance to fix as for now I am kind of guessing. Sorry for such a long post but I know from reading here for several months that there are many really knowledgeable people and hope to be pointed in the right direction. Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations.

I was curious how you would compare the Audioengine A2's straight up versus the MM-1 without the DAC? If you have also heard the A5 are the A2's very similar? And are they actually better than the A5 for nearfield listening? Thanks.

I have some basic questions about adding a sub and hoping to get some advice. I currently have a small Onkyo receiver and a pair of small bookshelf speakers alone. Would adding a small sub make a large difference in sound quality? Also, my receiver does have sub pre out but I am not sure if it works. If it did not or the receiver did not have one does it make a big difference if you connect a sub at speaker level? If you do it that way and adjust the crossover on the sub itself do you still lessen the load or impact on the receiver? I am not sure I am phrasing that right but I looked into adding a sub and one of the things mentioned was that besides more bass it would also help the bookshelf speakers perform at what they do best without having to deal with bass that the sub would handle. But even if I understand that roughly correctly I was not sure if you still get that benefit if connecting at speaker lever for sub. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies above. I figured the Marantz/Focal's would likely be much better than the A5's based on price alone but I am trying to get an idea of where the A5's fit compared to passive bookshelf & receiver. If instead of those Focal's say it was a $200 entry level receiver and $300 bookshelf speakers(maybe PSB Alpha B1's for example) so the total cost is roughly in the same area as A5+ would the passives you think still be much better? I had a similar question about the A5's versus the Zeppelin that I was going to post in the other thread. How would those compare? I often see both get very positive comments and even many comments as to how great a value they both are but wonder is that only related to their own category of "computer speakers" or "portable" etc. So I wonder how they fit in performance to passive bookshelf's & receiver for roughly the same money. I would guess the passives are likely still the better sound quality option for the same money but that is why I am asking as I am somewhat new to this and trying to understand how the various options may compare. Thanks again.

Hi, would the recommendation of the Marantz receiver and Focal bookshelves sound much better than the Audioengine A5+? I know that is subjective but I am trying to get an idea of the difference between those options. Also, would it matter in a meaningful way if instead of the Marantz receiver a less expensive(say $200) entry level one was used with those Focal's? Thanks.