Audioengine has made a name for itself with powered speakers, but it has now applied itself to a passive model, the Audioengine P4 (AP4). The AP4 looks (and apparently sounds) much the same as the powered A2, but without the built-in amplifier and is designed to function either as a stereo pair or as satellites with a surround sound system.
“The goal was to design a small but powerful bookshelf speaker for people that already have receivers or amps and are looking for the same Audioengine sound and quality in a passive loudspeaker." explained Dave Evans, Audioengine co-founder. “The AP4’s work great with Class D desktop amplifiers, stereo receivers and tube amplifiers.” The AP4 is a two-way, front-ported design, with 4in Kevlar woofers and 3/4in silk-dome tweeters with Neodymium magnets. They’re magnetically shielded, so they can be placed near monitors or TVs and are equally at home whether they’re wall, bookshelf or stand mounted. They alsohave five-way, gold-plated binding posts. They can handle up to 75 watts per channel, have a nominal impedance of 4-8 Ohms and sensitivity is 88dB/w/m. Quoted dynamic range is 58Hz-22kHz.
They’re available now in either satin black or gloss white for £175 a pair, or a special bamboo finish for £230.