Today, we’re writing the Audioengine A1 Speaker Review to share everything you need to know about the speaker. It’s an excellent product from Audioengine that provides quality, balanced, and accurate audio.
Speakers are an essential part of every creator’s setup. If you’re starting the journey as one, you know you’ll need quality audio recordings at all times.
Generally, getting access to well-known and top-notch audio peripherals can be tricky. But if you want a speaker with excellent quality while staying on a budget, the A1 is your ideal option.
The A1 from Audioengine is a compact, well-balanced, quality audio system powered by two speakers. It offers versatile top-notch stereo sounds for all music and audio enthusiasts around.
You can use the speaker wirelessly or wired, including aptX Bluetooth via your smart device or computer. You can even use it with an old analogue from a tape deck or turntable.
Before we learn about its features, specifications, design, functions, and performance, our Audioengine A1 Speaker Review will discuss its packaging.
Audioengine A1 Speaker Packaging
Our speaker arrived in a basic-looking cardboard box showing only the company’s name and the word “One”. When you open the box, there’s another package inside the first box, and it has more visuals and colour.
Of course, we also looked inside to share its contents with you in our Audioengine A1 Speaker Review. Everything was neatly-packed and organised, so you won’t have to worry about any damage while it’s in transit.
In the box, you’ll find the left and right A1 speakers, plus a 16AWG speaker wire that’s 2m long. There’s also an AC power cord (1.85m), a mini-jack audio cable, plus a quick setup guide.
Audioengine A1 Speaker Review – Design and Functionality
While writing our Audioengine A1 Speaker Review, we learned that the speaker is a modulated version of the company’s A2+. It features almost all the vital features the A2+ has, making it an ideal option.
However, the A1 will offer you the same aramid fibre woofers and silk dome tweeters packed in a stylish cabinet. The speaker has a matte finish exterior, giving it a polished look ideal for any setup.
The A1 has a build and design that will fit any corner of your home/office. Why? That’s because its body takes up minimal space.
We also love that its entire setup process is intuitive, making the A1 an easy-to-use product.
Style, Design, and Measurements of the Audioengine A1 Speaker
The speaker sports a black and grey theme that gives off a premium look and feel. It doesn’t sport any grille covers since Audioengine opted for an uncovered driver look. It’s a decision we will always approve of, so kudos to the company.
Each speaker cabinet houses a 2.75” aramid fibre woofer and one 0.74” silk dome tweeter. Combined, they form a frequency range of 65Hz to 22kHz.
The speaker delivers 60W driven by a dual, class-D digital hybrid amplifier. It incorporates lots of the company’s past analogue designs, abandoning any hints of DSP. The speakers also work with Bluetooth 5.0 and support aptX, AAC, and SBC codecs.
While creating our Audioengine A1 Speaker Review, we learned a few things about its connectivity. Its system connections are on the left speaker’s rear panel. You’ll find a 3.5mm AUX input, LFE variable line-out for subwoofers, and a speaker-wire connection for the included cable.
The latter is necessary for linking to the rear panel of the right speaker. And lastly, there’s also a connection for the provided power supply.
If you want lots of booming bass, you can’t get that with the A1 unless you connect a subwoofer. For its rear panel, it houses the power/volume knob and the Bluetooth pairing button.
The speaker’s volume/power knob functions independently of your paired smart device’s master volume.
Key Features of the Audioengine A1 Speaker
What features should a good sound system have? We’ll discuss the A1’s key features for you to determine if this speaker is what you need.
Play Anything and Hear Everything with Two Speakers
The A1 produces exceptional True stereo sound to deliver the optimal at-home listening experience. The premium two-speaker setup excellently reproduces music and surrounds you with a sense of presence that single-speaker systems usually lack.
High-performing Speaker for the Ultimate Home Audio
The A1 delivers a brand-new home audio experience, which we enjoyed while testing for our Audioengine A1 Speaker review. No compact speaker can match its superior audio quality and clarity.
This custom-built home stereo system combines an easy setup, an incredible soundstage, and versatile playback capabilities. It lets you hear every detail of your music, just like it should.
Versatile Audio that Defies its Size
You don’t need massive music systems to enjoy the expansive, high-resolution sound filling your room. With the A1, you can experience the emotion and detail that larger sound systems can deliver.
The best thing about this speaker is its compact and simple design that can easily fit any room. They may be smaller but can deliver a larger soundstage and impressive imaging.
Plug-and-Play Design of the Audioengine A1 Speaker
It’s an easy-to-use plug-and-play sound system that will play your music in seconds. You won’t need to install drivers or software to set it up.
With the A1, you can play music your way. Use any device via aptX Bluetooth or directly connect the speakers to your computer, TV, or turntable to stream seamlessly.
You can also stream music from the top music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, TIDAL, etc.
Audioengine’s Signature Sound
For over 16 years, Audioengine’s team has been designing and manufacturing speaker drivers and other essential audio components. The A1 and the company’s other speakers aren’t box-built systems with off-the-shelf components. Each product has custom parts constructed to Audioengine’s specifications.
The A1 uses unique components that Audioengine constructed. These are similar to the company’s award-winning A2+ speakers. These speakers use silk tweeters, aramid fibre woofers, and integrated power amps wrapped in precision-tuned, hand-crafted cabinets.
Benefits and Features That Will Make You Love the A1
There are countless reasons to choose the A1. Setting up this pair of speakers is quick and easy, thanks to its compact size that doesn’t compromise quality. Aside from the simple setup process, its sleek design makes it suitable for any home aesthetic.
You can also enjoy versatile playback using any device, thanks to its compatibility with lots of devices. Its high-definition wireless aptX Bluetooth offers an extended range, so keeping the device close to the speakers isn’t necessary.
Plus, it delivers unparalleled audio quality with True high-resolution stereo sound.
Wireless Connectivity with Low Latency Audio
Wireless devices like Bluetooth often have delay and latency, but that’s not the case with the A1. Even if you’re watching movies or music videos, the A1 will not have any delay. It’s a low-latency stereo sound system that doesn’t have a noticeable lag between video and audio.
Specifications
Let’s continue our Audioengine A1 Speaker Review and focus on the product’s specifications.
The A1 has a class D amplifier and a powered Bluetooth aptX speaker system. The speaker’s power output is 60W (15W RMS/30W peak per channel) AES.
The speakers have 2.75” aramid fibre woofers and 0.75” silk dome tweeters. Then, its inputs and outputs are 3.5mm stereo mini-jack Bluetooth and LFE Variable line-out for subwoofers, respectively.
It has 100-240V 50/60 Hz auto-switching for input voltages, and >95dB (typical A-weighted) SNR. The speaker also has <0.5% at all power settings (THD+N), and crosstalk of <50dB. There’s even a 65Hz – 22kHz ±2.0dB frequency response.
The A1 has an input impedance of 10K ohms (unbalanced) and power consumption of 10W on idle.
Bluetooth Specifications of the Audioengine A1 Speaker
The A1’s internal BT receiver is the CSR8670. It has an input-bit depth of 16-bit and Bluetooth 5.0 for its receiver. It ranges up to 100ft for wireless operation range, supports aptX, SBC, plus AAC codecs, and has a 30ms wireless latency.
Measurements
Each A1 speaker measures 15.2 x 10.2 x 13.3cm (HxWxD) though they weigh differently. The left active speaker is 1.4kg, while the right passive one is 1.1kg.
Its overall shipping weight is 3.5kg.
Hands-on with the Audioengine A1 Speaker
After unboxing the A1, we began using the product to see how it works. We also did tests to see how well it performs and if it can deliver everything the company claims.
First, we’ll talk about the setup process, which was quick and easy.
Upon removing the A1 from the box, we connected the power and speaker cables to the speaker. We used its speaker cables through the spring clips.
Next, we turned up the volume knob which also acts as the power knob. It automatically activated the speakers’ pairing mode on Bluetooth, allowing us to connect your device.
Since the A1 supports aptX technology via Bluetooth, it gave off higher-quality audio output.
We also tried using an AUX cable to enhance the audio quality and a subwoofer to boost its bass response.
Next, we played different music to test its audio quality and performance. We’re also sharing our user experience to let you know if the speakers can deliver the performance you need.
Audioengine always focused on detailed mids and highs, clarity, and quality audio output. They provided room to add a subwoofer to boost the rumble and depth of the speaker’s audio. It’s also good to note the speaker offers a balanced and classic sound signature, even without a sub available.
For listeners accustomed to the bass-forward and powerful audio of most speakers on the market, the A1 is a good choice if you are looking for something that is small and compact. Not only is the bass great but if you’re searching for clean and accurate-sounding audio that will boost your listening experience, you will enjoy this speaker.
We didn’t expect much with its audio since the speakers were small and compact, however we can honestly say that we were blown away. The amount of power and volume that you get out of these guys is fantastic. It may not be able to fill an entire house with sound but it can easily fill a room with clear audio with some quality bass.
With the Audioengine A1, its sounds were more directional. That’s the reason why its stereo imaging wasn’t as wide.
The audio strength of the speaker is mid-range, and the focus on the mids allowed us to enjoy movies and vocals. Everything sounded clear without any distortions and distractions.
The sounds the A1 produces are warmer and more natural thanks to its class-D digital hybrid amp. It doesn’t have any hyperactive limiting and DSP.
Remember, the A1 isn’t the type of speaker that you are meant to drive as max volume, so do keep that in mind to get the best listening experience possible.
We tried it with a wedge-shaped desktop stand since it sends the sounds directly to your ears. In this scenario, you only need to play music with moderate volume. Doing this will lessen the obviousness of limitations like distortions.
Audioengine A1 Speaker Review Summary
The A1 is an ideal set of speakers for most computer setups. It’s compact, well-constructed with high-quality materials, and delivers superior stereo sound. Also, this sound system has a plug-and-play design, which makes it easier to use.
What makes it better is that it works with any device, and you can use any music streaming platform.
The A1 delivers rich, balanced, and accurate audio that will appeal to those who want clarity, detail, and stereo separation. It may have minimal distortion, but it rarely happens, so we don’t have complaints in this part. If you love enhanced bass, all you have to do is use a subwoofer.
Overall, we highly recommend the A1 from Audioengine. It’s a great choice if you want a simple sound system that delivers quality audio in your home. It’s more compact and versatile than other options on the market. This set of speakers is a solid investment that works excellently as a home sound system.
To learn more about the A1 Speaker, check our Audioengine’s official product page for more details.
