Audio Engine 2 vs MX5021

Status
Not open for further replies.
Brendon

Brendon

Galvanizer
Hi, just wanted to satisfy my curiosity. Seeing that the AE2s are very good reviews here, I wanted to know if anybody has compared them with the other favourite - the MX5021.

Since the AE2 lacks a subwoofer, is it very bass shy ?

Was half thinking of upgrading my comp speakers and was wondering if the AE2 are really worth 4k over the MX5021. (10500 vs 6500)

Has anybody heard both ?
 
I currently have an ATP3 and was toying with the idea of upgrading and I was wondering the same thing too. Can anybody lucky enough to have listened to both these speakers comment on how they stack-up against each other?

I am into clean-yet-shirt-vibrating kinda bass, if it makes any sense...
 
I have the AE2, and have heard the mx5021s.

AE2: Clean midrange, awesome lows.. treble seems to be a bit of an issue.Yet, for a 2.0 speaker set, the bass this set produces is phenomenal.

Recommended music: Classical, soft rock, electronica.

mx5021: VERY good lows (with a woofer), good midrange (the AE2s are better), but treble is handled quite well.

Recommended music: Rock, metal, electronica (again!)

Note: this is to my untrained ears :P. Waiting for greenie and Sangram to pitch in.
 
+1. Not heard the AE2s.

But the mids on the MX are decent, though can be improved significantly. Slightly recessed mids and relaxed treble presentation. The bass on the MX is sensitive to placement, but is reasonably accurate with minimal overhang
 
have recommended it to some friends , and they sounded good in isolation at their houses. vocal trance sounded good on them, but bass levels were tuned more for the punch than sheer volume of the bass.

Personally, I listen to very old-ish 60's/70's/80's country which is either recorded or remastered to sound very harsh. so i need all the warmth and laid-backness i can get which i dont expect from any 2.1 i can afford. There really is no point for me looking for detail :ashamed:

Of course , then there are the more recent unplugged/acoustic stuff which sounds like heaven :D
 
i have both - the ae and the mx. in my opinion, the mx handles bass much better than the ae - due to the sub of course. as far as the mids and the treble are concerned - not much to differentiate between the two. the best option is to listen to both using the same source, and decide for urself. :)
 
Would you guys consider it a considerable upgrade, going from an ATP3 to MX5021s? I am mostly upgrading for the extra bass.

Is there any other considerable 2.1 speaker upgrades with that comes for around 6 ~ 8K?
 
Thanks guys. So I am kinda doubting that the AE2s are worth the 4k premium over the MX5021.

@Sangaram - How much did you spend to mod your MX5021 ?
 
Parts cost me about 600-800 bucks, and about 6 hours of work including pulling it apart and putting it back together. I buy my bits in bulk quantities though, so in smaller orders it may be a bit more than that.

The MX *needs* the mods, IMO, to sound up to scratch. I listened to it stock for about two years, as it was a casual rig for me. The mods make it totally capable of being used as a monitoring setup, the mids are that good. In stock form they're a bit recessed. I prefer a slight midrange bias in my setup. The bass is already tight, the mods improved the reach but not the volume of bass. I didn;t fiddle with it much, TBH. Was OK as it was for me.

The AE2s have an artificially inflated low end response. This was measured and proved by John (Atkinson) who later went on to praise the overall linearity with that exception, which would cause distress at higher output (not something you would encounter frequently). They would seem to produce a lot of bass, but that comes at a price. I would rather use EQ if required, and that one issue has steered me away from the AE2s.
 
I dont know why people complain of not enough bass on the MXs. I turned the bas from zero to just 2 dots, with main volume in 25-30%, whole room was shaking :S
 
Forget what Chaos n Greenie's talkin abt.. Those ppl belong to a different genre called 'Audiophiles'.. :P

Well, in comparison to how floorstanders sound, even the MXs bass shud be boom..
 
@Techhead

How long did the AE2s take to break-in? Mine are coming in day after tomm :hap2:. Just ordered a pair.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom