Hey, the T-amp and low cost, super-sensitive speakers sound intriguing to me too.... but as Killyp alluded to, the A5's are more likely to yield a generally more potent, dynamic, louder, cleaner sound in one fell exciting swoop.
They are 50w RMS per channel and YES, they rock at high volumes!
I'm intrigued by the promise of the T-amp.... I just wish it had more power@@@@!
You just gotta hear a Mac plugged into the A5's, friends.... yikes! $285 USD inCREDibly well spent.
Audioengine Tech Stuff
Custom Built
Audioengine designs and manufactures our own tweeters, woofers, and many other critical components. In other words, these are not "box built" speakers with off-the-shelf parts but entirely custom-designed to our specifications. What we do not fabricate directly in our factory we have custom-made to our designs (parts such as toroidal transformers, magnets, and wiring harnesses, for example). The cabinets, drivers, bass port designs, amplifiers, and crossovers are all painstakingly tuned together for each Audioengine model. This, in turn, makes for a much more efficient system that requires much less power than AV stereo receivers and passive speakers.
Based on Studio Monitor Designs
Studio monitor speakers are used by producers and engineers in recording and production studios. They are designed with a theoretical flat frequency response which allows the engineer to create a final mix in such a way that the recorded music will sound good on most other speakers. Although Audioengine speakers are not designed to be up-close "nearfield" studio monitors, we do carry over much of the same higher-end technology, components, and design philosophy for Audioengine speakers.
Drivers
Audioengine uses audiophile quality, ferro fluid cooled, silk dome tweeters with Neodymium magnets. Silk tweeters hold up well under high power and the edge-driven design gives very smooth response. The woofers are Kevlar woven glass aramid composite with rubber surrounds. Kevlar is obviously very strong, which means that the woofer retains its shape when being driven at high levels. The speaker materials and construction are robust enough to stand up to some serious thrashing, so speaker grills aren’t needed. In other words, we did our homework on the speaker drivers and they will sound and look great after many years of use.
Cabinets
To minimize unwanted resonances and distortion, Audioengine cabinets have thick high-resin MDF walls with extensive internal bracing. Heavy internal sound-damping material is used to reduce unwanted sound reflections inside the cabinet. All cabinet edges are rounded which look great and reduce high-frequency diffraction effects on the front baffles. Each cabinet contains tuned, rear-firing ports. Both speakers are tuned and tested together and sold in pairs.
Power Amplifier
The amplifiers in Audioengine speakers are located in the left speaker and are a very conservatively rated all-analog design. All components are tuned together for each model, which provides a much more efficient system requiring less power than passive speakers and separate amplifiers. Circuit boards for the power and preamp sections are vertically mounted for maximum mechanical shock protection (a good thing).
Transformers
Power transformers are a large contributor to the overall audio performance, especially in the low end. Again, no off-the-shelf parts here. Audioengine uses gapless core toroidal transformers which have a tighter radiated magnetic field, directly translating to lower noise. They are lighter than standard, lower-cost "EI" transformers and also generate less heat. In other words, toroidal transformers do make a difference.
Shielding
Both drivers are directly video shielded and allow the user to place the speakers within a few inches of a video monitor. This shielding also offers protection for hard-drive digital music players.
USB Power
5V@1.2A USB power supply powers the latest generation iPods and most other USB "bus-powered" devices. The USB port is for charging only, not for data transfer or music syncing. Available on Audioengine 5.
