Audioengine N22 Desktop Audio Amplifier | Premium Speaker & Headphone Amplifier | 22 WATT/PER Channel | 3-Year Manufacturers Warranty

Spartan elegance and high value in a small package! MY JOURNEY: I have a sound system for my back deck (hot tub / barbeque area) that is kept in a weather proof outdoor enclosure under the eave...like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E9DPDQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage * That sound system had a DIFFERENT BRAND of amp (which shall remain nameless), an awful amplifier designed for marine use. That "other" amp sucked, no high frequencies, flabby bass, etc. I was determined to get rid of it. * For my needs, I have primarily analog inputs (high quality separate FM tuner and a blu-ray / CD player. I was set on finding a 50 Watt per channel RMS into 8ohms high quality mini amp and a mini 4 channel mixer (occasionally relatives come over with their iPOD for parties). After going through 2 defective mini-mixers and trying a mini-PA amp, I started re thinking my needs. I only really needed 3 inputs. Much as I didn't want to give up tone controls and wanted more power, I took a chance on this amp. THE GOOD: > It's well built, looks cool. > Gold plated NICE, STURDY speaker posts that I believe accept banana plug aside from regular wire. The two inputs are "always on" (i.e. ready for input). > STEREO PRE-AMP OUTPUT that tracks the gain knob (for future expansion). > 22 Watt AB class amp (8 ohms) that sounds great > Headphone output which mutes the speakers (for if I want to read on our back deck at night using headphones without disturbing neighbors. THE "sorta" BAD > No tone controls > Only 22 watts per channel (8 ohms) > I have to run the volume at 80 - 90% to rock out, but it's fine for moderate/background levels at 1 o'clock position - WITH INEFFICIENT SPEAKERS! > Not recommended for people wanting CONTINUOUS UBER HIGH Sound Pressure Levels with visceral deep bass, i.e. certain metalheads and rap / electronica lovers. If you want it loud enough to feel in your gut all the time you'll probably want to look elsewhere. I'm guessing you would either be frustrated with this amp or you might roast it trying to drive large (12" or over) heavy magnet speakers that could drop into low impedance ranges. Now, with smart planning (and additional expense), you COULD use this as the front end for a beefier system using the speakers from this as your "fill" - just make sure that the downstream "Mack truck" system has it's own, separately manageable, gain controls and EQ so you can balance what takes the beating in your system. WELL GUESS WHAT? > This 22 watt per ch. amp produces ample volume for my purposes with inefficient 6.5" two-way (outdoor, made to look a "rock" cabinet) speakers (Sensitivity 86db). [Test music examples: Crowded House - "Farewell TTW" Live, Pink Floyd "Dark Side", ABWH - 1st album] > The amp has a "mellow", rounded audiophile sound with good soundstage - the highs are certainly there, every so slightly recessed but IT DOES NOT CUT MY EARS TO PIECES. > No hiss that I can find. I feel it will improve with "burn in" (most solid state electronics improve or settle into a final sound after 40 - 100 hours of use. I have repeatedly found this to be true over the years). OTHER GOOD NEWS: > My other worry was about quality control. AudioEngine must have seen the older forum complaints from various about the volume knob feeling unsmooth, scratchy/cheap because the unit I received DOES NOT have that problem. The travel of my volume knob rotation is very smooth and it's * NOT * "cockeyed" in any way. > For large get-togethers, I augment my system by sending the Line Out to a large boombox I have which doubles my bass radiating area - the sum total of the two systems is provides very satisfying coverage on an 18 X 22 foot deck. > The smoothness of this system is less likely to offend my neighbors. (Some of perceived annoyance is distortion - aside from unawareness and bad manners, which I do not practice. It amazes me how many people brag online about being able to offend their neighbors with their stereo. For the 3 or 4 parties a year I have, they are made aware of in advance and I encourage them to contact me - good relations). > TIP: YOU COULD INCREASE "OOMPH" (VOLUME OUTPUT) BY CHOOSING SPEAKERS with 92 db or higher sensitivity. > With my Sony dynamic headphones, it blasts my ears off. No problems there. WHY I CHOSE THIS: SIMPLICITY: > It seems odd, but you'd be surprised at how the simplicity of the "one knob" (and no input switch choice decision to make) is appreciated on a visceral level. It's like my old Corolla: I JUST TURN THE DAMN THING ON AND IT WORKS! No Decisions. High Quality sound. In this complicated world, I love it. I have 3 other stereos that all involve choosing settings (Dolby or DTS, surround ambience, crossover cutoff, input choices.) None of that here. Whew. What an oddly freeing experience! Especially for my back deck chill-out system. BUYING A NAME WITH A REAL SUPPORT NETWORK: I seriously considered buying one of the TriPath 80 watt per ch. amplifiers for $200.00. I think they are probably great in most cases. What swayed my decision: After problems with 3 different previous attempted hardware solutions, (new Rolls or used eBay purchase Furman mixer, used mini-PA amp), support became a crucial issue for me rather than an afterthought. I CAN ACTUALLY --> FIND <-- THIS VENDOR AND GET SUPPORT IF THERE'S A PROBLEM. I don't have to ship this to China or try and hunt down a support network. And yes this is probably made in China like everything else these days. Once you experience aggravation, the idea of a support network and customer service moves up to become 30% of one’s purchase decision. Now, down the road, I may buy 2 more speakers and take a chance and try purchasing a Lepai type amp to drive a 2nd set of speakers off the Line Out. For now, this is the "anchor" of my future system and I am quite happy with what I have. --> THE MORAL HERE: > Once I let go of my obsession with wanting a tone controls and high wattage, I found this exactly fills the bill for this purpose: high quality casual listening system. > The amp itself sounds so good YOU DON'T NEED TONE CONTROLS if your source is high quality. iPod users can use their internal software EQ to tweak things as a workaround. --> SUMMARY: VERY PLEASED! Sage advice: Just accept the simplicity my son! Accept that you can simply turn something on without fiddling and it will fulfill your needs! ahahaha. I will report back on how it sounds after full burn-in later. ************************************************************************************************************** ADDENDUM - HIGH QUALITY (Name Brand) ALTERNATIVES TO CONSIDER: Emotiva Mini-X - nearly same price, 1 less input NAD D 3020 Rave reviews, over 2X as much money, 1 less input PS Audio "Sprout" Rave reviews, 4X as much money 4 inputs _____________________________________________________________________________ GENERIC SAFETY NOTE RE ** ANY ** OUTDOOR SYSTEM: When in the hot tub, I manage my input devices (i.e. make radio station or CD track number choices) with their own, respective wireless remote controls. It should be obvious: Don't manage this or ANY powered audio system DIRECTLY from a hot tub or while you are wet. That would be unsafe. Just sayin'. Also, give your components adequate ventilation. I bring my audio components in for the winter come late October as my component case is unheated and I don't want capacitors and circuit board solder connections to freeze, but that's just me. UPDATE 10/18/2015: My external power supply for my N22 unit died after only 2 months. I contacted Audioengine support and explained symptoms and all the various ways I had tested it. They sent me out a new power supply at no cost. Sent it regular shipping speed (took like 6 days). I plugged it in and the blue power light went came on in the main unit. I will have to fully test it later, haven't had time to hook it all back up. I love this unit enough that I am going to chaulk it up to one bad part. Audioengine sells the power supply on their site for (if memory serves like $19.00 + shipping). I am pleased that they made things right at no cost to me (except doing without it for a week). I'm also pleased that they make the replacement power available on their website at a reasonable cost.

This amp, with my Cambridge Audio Minx Min 22's & subwoofer, is the competent answer to all my monitoring needs. Photo shows couch-side setup for Mac desktop, music enjoyment, TV, movies & recording monitors. Very nice warm, clean, clear audio which avoids the harsh, fatiguing sound of many class D amps used by many. This one is a no brainer! Highly recommended.

Audioengine N22 (ampli) + Audioengine P4 (enceintes) + Audioengine D1 (DAC) L'ensemble fournit un son d'une très grande qualité musicale. Y compris dans les basses. Sans doute les A5+ sont-elles plus intéressantes pour le Home Cinema. Mais pour la musique, les P4 sont mieux ! Il y'a moins de basses, le son est plus clair. Je suis TRÈS satisfait. Enceintes : super Ampli : super. On peut même faire jouer source 1 et source 2 en même temps (pas besoin d'appuyer sur un bouton pour passer de l'une à l'autre) DAC : plus l'ordinateur est pourri, plus ça change tout ! Avec ça le son est bon, très bon, incontestablement meilleur que quasi partout où vous irez. Pour le DAC, si vous utilisez linux il vous faudra un "sound server" tel que "pulseaudio" (il est installé par défaut sur la plupart des distributions). En effet, la carte son du DAC n'accepte qu'une seule source à la fois (=pas possible d'émettre du son simultanément dans deux logiciels différents).

Great product

As a desktop amp this is a fantastic item. The sound quality is excellent and the build quality of the device is very nice indeed. I would have liked to have the option of maybe mounting it sideways but the stand is a built in item so that isn't an option but Im very happy with the look and the ease of use.