“The Audioengine product line starts at $199 with the A2, a competent powered speaker that’s sold as a computer companion. The A5, at $349 is a big step up in sound quality. But the $449 version with bamboo cabinets is the one to go for. Not only are the laminated bamboo cabinets beautiful, they have sonic benefits over the standard fiberboard model, and are green to boot. The A5 has built-in power amps, so you plug them into the wall, then connect to your source—and voila! Music!”
Gizmodo doesn’t know shit about dick. This thread on Head-Fi (really, madly, deeply audio geekery that I’ve been frequenting since my plunge into spending a bit of money on gear) it breaks down the differences really well.
I own a pair of black A5s, and they’re superior computer speakers. So good. Amazingly good. Loud as hell, they make a wide soundstage. They sound best up close (nearfield), but sound fine from a room or two over. The “fiberboard,” mentioned kind of disparagingly I think, above, is medium-density fiberboard. It’s actually really, really good to make speakers. Audioengine created the bamboo A5s to sound as close as possible to the MDF ones. They claim there are “natural acoustic advantages” to bamboo, but that’s not really true. The bamboo model costs $100 more and looks better (maybe), but they don’t offer a better experience.
