HD5 Powered Bookshelf Speakers – Bluetooth Speakers

Great sounding speakers especially when paired with the S8 subwoofer. I owned a pair of the A5, but they fried due to a lightning strike and unfortunately I had no surge protection. I would say these are the same as the A5, but with Bluetooth and the built in Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) which really brought my streamed music to life! Also running a Denon DP300F turntable with a tube preamp and a Denon DCD-600NE CD player using an optical cable and the sound is pretty amazing! The world of HiFi can be ridiculously expensive, but the Audioengine setup is a great value for the price!

Sound great, easy to setup. Remote is odd, but I'll take it.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: First pair of speakers I ever own and I am slowly learning the audiophile world. I was drawn towards the simplicity and aesthetic of audioengine speakers. I can't really say for other speaker brands, but the description of being immersive, warm, and musical of the sound signature is what I wanted out of a speaker for near-field listening. Functionality: I'm using these speakers at a desktop setting for music, gaming, and watching media. These speakers functionally are only for near-field listening. I was messing with placement and height for these speakers, which play a huge role in how the sound play. When I saw reviews people saying how flat, muddy, no clarity they weren't lying cause it sounded bad, but it is not the speakers its speaker placement, environment, listening position, and other factors that mess with sound. I have the speaker stands, a monitor stand, and a standing desk to adjust height and angled them towards my ears (do not angled them aggressively cause it made them sound garbage). I was completely blown away, it was so immersive, emotional, and intimate especially the vocals. Fit: These fit well on my desk since I have a big desk and make sure to check the dimension of this speaker cause they are pretty big. Also, I have added ifi zen v3 DAC and SVS SB 1000 pro to compliment the sound signature and strength the bass, since these speakers are more gentle on the bass. I really recommend these speakers if the use case is nearfield, the space to fit them in, and that you have the ability to adjust the height of these speakers.

I needed a set of powered speakers for my new apartment and the walnut HD5’s looked beautiful. So, I decided to give them a try. I have a few different kinds of speakers – but I’m going to compare these to another set of powered speakers - the Edifier S2000 Mark III’s – which are a speaker at the same price point from another budget brand. THE GOOD: The Audio Engine speakers look truly amazing. They Walnut looks like real wood. I like the look more than higher end Polk or Klipsch speakers. The HD5’s are minimalist and beautiful – it’s the main reason I chose them for my apartment. They did not disappoint in this regard. THE BAD: I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile – but I do mix audio for work. Here’s my take: I’m disappointed with the Audio Engine HD5’s – they just don’t sound good compared to any of my other speakers. When I really open them up (proper loud) – they start to sound ok. But I can’t listen to music that loud in an apartment – and even when I lived in my own house – 80% of my listening wouldn’t have had the volume absolutely cranked. High or low volume - the Edifiers have noticeably better sound than the Audio Engine HD5’s. The Edifiers are incredibly rich with excellent clarity while the Audio Engine HD5 are a bit dull and lifeless in comparison. The HD5’s are just not there… Mid-range is pretty dull and muddy. At high volume the lows are nicely punchy (for not being bass forward speakers). The highs can feel quite shrill at times– not pleasant, and not present on the Edifiers. But here's the major problem - The Edifiers have dials for bass and trebel. The Edifiers also have various EQ settings. The Audio Engines have none of this. With no amp/receiver to EQ – and no way to tune the speakers at all – it’s all but impossible to get good sound at varying volumes. Forget about dialing sound to the type of music (or movie…) you are listening too. It’s a major oversight by Audio Engine. No built-in controls and no app for EQ. In terms of general build quality – the Edifiers again – are simply better. Yes - they are very heavy and much larger – but they are well-built. If you look closely at the Audio Engine HD5's you can see the glue on the speaker. The Edifers have better cables and connections. The Edifier remote is beautiful and functional - with Bluetooth connectivity options, EQ settings, and quick source changes right on the remote. The Edifer has an LED screen to help you change EQ modes, source, or blue tooth pairing. The remote for the Audio Engine HD5 speakers is a joke – I’m not convinced it will even work for long. For every thoughtful piece of design on the HD5 there is a perplexing piece of poor quality. I’m debating returning the HD5’s. The sound quality 100% isn’t worth the price (compared to other options). If I keep them it will be for the look of the speaker alone – and is that really enough? I’ll give them a bit more of a break-in period – but I don’t expect them to improve enough to make up their massive shortcomings. I’ll update this review if they do. 30 Day Update ------------ I gave the HD5’s their full return window – I wanted to believe they would get better. I was really excited about these speakers – I tried so hard to like them; they were undeniably beautiful in my living room. But the more time I spent listening to these speakers the more apparent their shortcomings were. A lot of music just didn’t sound good unless played extremely loud. The eye-opening moment was when I realized my music had more clarity and separation when played on my 2023 16” MacBook Pro speakers (which are surprisingly useable) than the HD5’s at low (apartment loud) volume. Even with this realization – I was tempted to keep them as rarely used bedroom speakers but the nail in the coffin were the serious Bluetooth connectivity issues (which shouldn’t be present in 2024). Outside the astonishingly poor pairing system – many devices do not connect easily. My iPhone and Macbook needed to ‘forget device’ before pairing with the speakers a second time – sometimes it would take several attempts to pair before successfully connecting – it’s a pain and there were times I just gave up. Worse yet, some devices simply couldn’t connect at all. My 2022 Samsung Frame TV and Chrome Cast don’t pair at all no matter how many attempts are made (both pair with other speakers effortlessly). Speaking of which – I recognized immediately these speakers were useless for TV and Movies – I won’t even launch into the numinous issues on that side of things but movies were more watchable through the crummy built-in TV speakers. In fairness to Audio Engine, I bought the HD5’s for music (not that they performed well in that regard). A couple weeks ago I bought a Klipsch Felix 200 for my TV - its audio quality blew the HD5’s out of the water. For music (and especially for movies) there’s no comparison at a decently loud apartment-level volume – plus the ability to control the EQ, the different listening modes, and effortless pairing made the Klipsch felix system all I need for my living room until I purchase my long term receive/passive speakers. It is with a heavy heart that I returned the HD5 speakers. Truly beautiful but ultimately worthless. I won’t be looking back.

These speakers sounds great, and are a good value. I like that I can connect multiple sources that can play at once (like music + a synthesizer and/or a drum machine to make music.

Looks great, sounds clear, bluetooth connection is great. Power enough for any home

I was impressed with the build quality the minute I unpacked the speaker set. Excellent quality and excellent sound, nice heavy weight. Very easy to set up. I have mine set up for bluetooth and the sound is amazing. For the money this is a real winner and I recommend it for anyone looking for a bluetooth speaker set upper home, office or.....

UNBELIEVABLE SOUND!!!!! Best purchase I've made in a long time!