Gadgetory

hi I'm David carnally executive editor for cnet.com and I'm here with the updated version of audio engines highly rated five series PC speakers these speakers look a lot like the original five but they're slightly bigger and have some small but important design tweaks as well as improve sound quality and a higher price tag which is why they're called the five plus the key thing to note about audio engine speakers is that they are bookshelf style speakers masquerading as PC or multimedia speakers but unlike classic bookshelf speakers these audio engine models are powered be a standard AC plug that means there's no need for a separate receiver or amplifier so you can use them with any audio source this model is available in black or white for $399 as well as a swankier looking bamboo version for 469 dollars while the new model has grown up a little the other key specs haven't changed speakers of a 5 inch Kevlar woofer in a 20 millimeter silk dome tweeter because the left speaker houses the amplifier that's 50 watts per channel it's heavier than the right speaker the left and right speakers connect to each other with real speaker wire that's right real speaker wire it's included and you also get an input cable that allows you to connect your PC to the 3.5 millimeter auxiliary input on the back of the left speaker one final design note these guys have no speaker grilles which can be an issue if you have small children or animals who might decide to poke at them and potentially damage them so what are the differences between the 5 and 5 plus well audio engine says the 5 plus has a new thermal system for keeping the amplifier cool and the designers also changed up the connectivity a bit instead of finding an extra 3.5 milimeter auxilary input on the top of the left speaker along with a USB port for charging portable devices that audio input is gone and the USB port has been moved to the back of the speaker that's a good thing because it means you can hide whatever you're charging behind the speaker instead of the USB cord sticking out on the top of the speaker with the 5 series audio engine integrate a full-on AC power jack in the back of the left speaker company touted the fact that you could plug an apple Airport Express directly into the output turn the speakers into an iTunes streamer via Apple's air tunes functionality that's gone now though the speaker does have a second pair of composite input jacks as well as a set of outputs for connecting a subwoofer the audio engine 5 series did not come with a rope but this model does include one and retains the volume control button on the front of the left speaker as for sound quality well we're having a report that it has gotten even better these guys deliver big rich sound with deep tight bass and excellent clarity and they also play very loud we compared the 5 plus to the older model and while their size difference is small you can definitely hear a difference in sound quality it's not huge but it is noticeable the 5 plus simply sounds like a bigger speaker with more expansive sound yes we could quibble about there not being integrated AC power anymore but the combination of the design improvements feature tweaks and the speaker's exceptional sound make the audio engine 5 plus easy to recommend even at its higher price I'm David Carr Noy and that's the audio engine 5 plus PC speaker system thanks for watching