Perfection..

I give many webinars via zoom to college students across California regularly. They are live, interactive, with variable-quality microphones in the classrooms with 8 -15 students per webinar.

The curriculum is packed. Each minute counts. And, I use questions all the time to keep everyone active. One campus was regularly using a speakerphone for their microphone. Often, I couldn't hear them well despite asking for the student to repeat a question or answer. Very frustrating.

So, I thought I would read a few reviews on usb speakers for a pc. (My laptop has no audio input/output holes.) My husband said not to both trying to get a high quality speaker via usb. I read about these speakers, thought I would try them.

Perfection:
1. Unpacked them without asking the audiophile members of my family for help. Easy peasy.
2. Scanned the simple instructions. I am not a big reader of instructions, I admit.

3. Followed them.
4. Used them via zoom with 15 students in 4 locations across the state 2 hours later.

5. And, turned the speakers up when the college that uses a speakerphone for a mic used a speakerphone as a mic for 9 students in a little room again
6. And, I could not believe I actually heard each student speak to me the first time each student spoke! Crystal clear.

Recap: Wish I had gotten these speakers a year ago. They were excellent in fairly poor conditions. And, they are even better in 1:1 zoom coaching sessions.

PROS: Very versatile; high quality construction; multiple quality inputs w/ variable output for sub or additional devices; volume control via builtin preamp or external preamp/computer/source; threaded mount adapter for use with adjustable stands; excellent, for the size and cost, at high volumes.

CONS: I was not blown away based on the glowing reviews and listings around the web as a top choice for the money I paid ($250; now $200 as of this writing; it figures); but they still have very positive aspects worth considering; all cables included, however, the satellite speaker wire was way too short for me and I replaced it. No big deal.
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If you watch the prices and can get these for under $200, they seem a much better value for the output (to me). That said, I think MOST people will think these are the bee's knees if not compared to anything else above $225. If you are adding them to any laptop or all in one (iMac, etc.), you will be BLOWN AWAY by the vast improvement.

Biggest issue: These speakers are VERY dependent on direction if you sit close or intend to use them with a computer. Make sure they are situated so they point DIRECTLY at your ears -- or are at least EQUALLY NOT pointed at your ears, else you will definitely observe imbalance and lack of midrange impact left to right. If you move about your desk/office space frequently, and want these for music, do yourself a favor and place them as far apart as you can manage; when you leave the "sweet spot", the quality drops rapidly.

I have six LCD displays on three vertical VESA mounts, and added articulating VESA boom arms and made a simple adapter from painted wood to use the thoughtfully included ¼" tripod/camera mount on the bottom of the speaker to VESA 100 mounting plate. Now I am able to rapidly adjust direction/pitch/angle of each speaker for upright computer tasks, or laid-back Netflix or fill-the-room-with-sound while I work.

Most of you will not go through this, but consider an inexpensive pair of adjustable speaker stands or camera tripods/stand (tabletop are very cheap) to both elevate and adjust angle/pitch for your needs. You could also use very inexpensive threaded wall mounts intended for surround satellite speakers. The AudioEngine speaker stand accessory option *might* work for a lot of you, but all it does is adjust the pitch to try to get the sound up to your ears. If you're tall or short, it will miss.

They are otherwise quite warm sounding, good midrange and highs with no appreciable distortion at high volume when playing lossless audio. They do start to distort playing heavily or badly compressed audio (MP3, AAC, etc, under 160kb). Excellent for voice, such as podcasts or Skype, FaceTime, etc. These will get VERY LOUD; louder than any neighbors will appreciate.

If you are looking for more bass for games or dance/trance/metal, either opt for the 4" version, or add a good subwoofer. If you intend to watch a lot of movies, these are a good addition to a 3.1/5.1/7.1 output, paired with a good center soundbar or speaker. I am using the output to a second preamp to subwoofer and an extra set of 2x2 1" tweeters for a richer "surround" experience for music and movies. If I am doing reference work, I rely only on the A2+, and am reasonably happy. I would probably like the 4" version better, but did not want the larger enclosures or expense.

I very much appreciate the multiple (3x) inputs and outputs (1x RCA), the primary reason (after sound quality reviews) for choosing this item. Many people are extremely upset by the volume knob being on the back; however, for my purposes, the input/output volume is always controlled by computer or preamp or AirPortExpress WiFi input, so I set it a notch shy of full and never have to touch it.

I wish they had covers for the rear to hide ugly connections for an open-back, front-facing desk installation. Recommend 90º right angle banana plug adapters.

Power adapter is an inline brick, which, again, for most people is not a big deal; this keeps the heat of a power transformer outside the speaker enclosure, which is fine by me. The power input plug even has a lock button to prevent accidental disconnection; a very nice touch reflective of the price you are paying. The length from the brick to the enclosure could stand to be 2-3 feet longer, but I'm an outlier with equipment placement.

Preamp enclosure gets quite warm to hot on the back plate; should not be an issue for most people, but they will add to the heat of a small room.

These little speakers look and sound great. They are a nice small size that makes them great for computer speakers. But from the beginning I have had scratchy intermittent sound from the left speaker. Tapping it sometimes made it work. After checking connections and cables I decided to open it up and see if I could find a connection to fix.
The main board looked cheaply made. It had a dusty, sticky feeling and look. Many of the solder joints were poorly done. Many had a white, crystalline look. I re-soldered every major connection. There were two pins on the main IC amplifier chip that didn't appear to have been soldered.
These speakers have only been in a protected, dry, clean climate controlled environment.
Now it seems to work, but you shouldn't have resort to this.

So, I will start off saying I was skeptical about the bass response after reading reviews. It was confirmed when I received these that in my opinion, the bass is lacking. BUT here is the upside- the clarity and "punchy" spacial sound they deliver is really good. I used these to replace some old Klipsh that died on me, (thought it was a fuse, but turned out to be something not fixable). I loved those Klipsh for the price, they delivered loud, bass sound (comes with subwoofer). So to compare these 2 as apples to apples is not fair. AA2 are good speakers for the size and as I mentioned earlier, they have a good "spacial" clarity to them. I listen to primarily Trance, Techno, and Progressive music, along with gaming, so bass was a big deal to me. I like the booming in your chest gutteral bass, and if you do too, the AA2 doesnt offer that. I think though that if you have a good sound card or module, using your eq can supplement the bass it's lacking. I am giving this review an overall 4 just because the manufacturer says "To say that the bass on the Audioengine 2+ is substantial for their size may be an understatement, but you be the judge". I am judging this to be an incorrect statement. This sounds like a negative review but it's really not- because the rest of the speakers are exactly as described and hold their own for great sound.

There is a lot to like about these little speakers. Finding the right mountings for the wall was a lot harder. Would have been great if Audioengine had a solution for this. I ended up buying a pair of $7 brackets at the hardware store and connected the speaker to them with a 1/4 bold. Worked out great.