I will second the recommendation for Audio Engine. I just installed an Audio Engine 5 system - and I am very impressed with the sound quality. I paid about $350 for a pair at a local distributer. The amplifier sits inside the left speaker. There are two inputs available - and that is useful.
I might do an in-depth review here later after I play with them for a while, but my initial impression is that they are really very good for the price. My one caveat is the black finish on the cabinets - they can come with a scratch "out of box." I purchased a pair where one of the speakers had a very small scratch, but I took it back anyway. I felt I had to get an exchange - the scratch seemed small enough to be acceptable to me, but I could not install for someone else with any marks. We opened another box in the store, and one of those turned out to have a larger scratch on the finish. We opened still another box, and that one was clean. If ordering online, I would consider calling the distributor and ask him to check before shipping. In the past, I tried a small Logitech 2.1 system - and it sounded terrible to me - the speakers sounded tiny. The Audio Engine 5 simply blew that setup out of the water in the first few seconds I had it turned on. There was a significant price difference however - but I thought it was absolutely necessary to pay a bit more, and get something better. In reading online, the Audio Engine 5 system struck me as maybe the least expensive setup that could pass that threshold from sounding cheap to sounding like hi-fi. -Ron -- Ron F. *Squeezebox setup:* wireless SB3 -> CI Audio VDA.2 DAC + VAC.1 PSU *Main rig:* NAD 7600 + NAD 2600A -> Phase Tech PC-6.5 speakers *Headphone rig:* Headroom Max -> Sennheiser 650s *Music Server:* Nano-ITX computer running SlimCD + 750 GByte HDD -> Netgear wireless router *Other stuff:* NAD C542 CDP, NAD 6300 Tape, Monster 5100 Power conditioner, Outlaw Audio cables ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ron F.'s Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=5616 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=38793 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
