Technical Specifications

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General Specifications

Type
Powered Bluetooth aptX HD speaker system

Amplifier Type
Class AB

Power Output
150 W peak power total (50 W RMS / 75 W peak per channel), AES

Drivers
5.5″ aramid fiber woofers

1″ silk dome tweeters

Inputs
3.5 mm stereo mini-jack, RCA L/R, digital optical (SPDIF,) Bluetooth aptX

Outputs
RCA variable line-out

Input Voltages
115/240 V, 50/60 Hz manually switchable

SNR
>95 dB (typical A-weighted)

THD+N
<0.05% at all power settings

Crosstalk
<50 dB

Frequency Response
50 Hz-22 kHz ±1.5 dB

Frequency Response w/ Bass Reduction Switch selected
N/A

Analog Input Impedence
48K ohms unbalanced (mini-jack and RCA inputs)

Nominal Impedence
N/A

Input Impedence
N/A

Crossover Frequency
N/A

Protection
Output current limiting, thermal over-temperature, power on/off transient protection, replaceable external main fuse

Power Consumption
Idle: 10 W
Mute: 6 W
Sleep: 4 W

Standby Consumption
N/A

Phase
N/A

Recommended Amplifier Power
N/A

Battery Life
N/A

Battery Charge Time
N/A

Bluetooth Specifications

Internal D/A Converter
AKM AK4396

Internal BT Receiver
N/A

Input Bit Depth
24 bit (padded)

Bluetooth Receiver Type
Bluetooth 5.0

Supported Codecs
aptX HD, aptX, AAC, SBC

Supported Bluetooth Profiles
N/A

Wireless Operation Range
Up to 100 ft (30 m) typical

Input Data Rate
Determined by Bluetooth

Wireless Latency
~30 milliseconds (ms)

USB Specifications

Connector Type
N/A

USB Device Class
N/A

Input Bit Depth
N/A

Input Sample Rate
N/A

Weights And Measures

Dimensions (HWD)
Left speaker (active)
imensions (HWD) Dimensions: 11″ (28 cm) x 7.16″ (18.2 cm) x 7.79″ (19.8 cm)
Right speaker (passive)
imensions (HWD) Dimensions: 11″ (28 cm) x 7.16″ (18.2 cm) x 7.79″ (19.8 cm)

Weight
Left (active) – 17.5 lb (8 kg)
Right (passive) – 12.5 lb (5.5 kg)

Total Shipping Weight
33.5 lb (15 kg)

Shipping Box Dimensions (LWH)
20″ (51 cm) x 15″ (38 cm) x 17″ (43 cm)

Environmental Requirements

Operating temperature: 32 degrees F to 95 degrees F
Non-operating temperature: -4 degrees F to 113 degrees F
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% non-condensing

Materials And Construction

0.7″ (18 mm) thick MDF cabinets with real wood veneer
1″ (26 mm) silk dome tweeters with neodymium magnets
5.5″ (140 mm) aramid fiber woofers with advanced voice coils

Cabinets

To minimize unwanted resonances and distortion, Audioengine cabinets have thick high-resin MDF walls with extensive internal bracing. Heavy internal sound-damping material is used to reduce unwanted sound reflections inside the cabinet. All cabinet edges are rounded which look great and reduce high-frequency diffraction effects on the front baffles. The HD5 cabinet contains tuned, rear-port slots.

Furniture Grade Finishes

HD5 cabinets are available in several handsome finishes, including walnut and cherry veneers as well as satin black and high-gloss white paint, offering a myriad of options for complementing room furnishings. Also included are detachable grills that add further aesthetic advantages as they are firmly held in place with hidden neodymium magnets for a clean look.

Custom Components

Audioengine designs and manufactures our own tweeters, woofers, and other critical components. In other words, these are not “box built” speakers with off-the-shelf parts but custom-designed to our specifications. What we do not fabricate directly in our factory we have made to our designs (parts such as transformers, magnets, and wiring harnesses, for example). The cabinets, drivers, bass port designs, amplifiers, and crossovers are all painstakingly tuned together for each Audioengine model. This, in turn, makes for a much more efficient system that requires much less power than passive speakers and a separate integrated amplifier or similar A/V components.

Based On Studio Monitor Designs

Studio monitor speakers are used by producers and engineers in recording and production studios. They are designed with a theoretical flat frequency response which allows the engineer to create a final mix in such a way that the recorded music will sound good on most other speakers. Although Audioengine speakers are not designed to be up-close “nearfield” studio monitors, we do carry over much of the same higher-end technology, components, and design philosophy for all Audioengine speaker systems.

Efficient Integrated Design

The speaker cabinets, drivers, innovative bass port designs, amplifiers, and passive crossovers are all critically tuned together for each Audioengine model. This, in turn, makes for a much more efficient system that requires less power than passive speakers and a separate integrated amplifier or similar A/V components. We build all this goodness into the left speaker cabinet to make it super-easy to connect your smartphone, tablet, computer, TV, network player or any other audio product.

High-quality Bluetooth Audio

The Bluetooth built into the HD5 powered speakers features aptX HD coding which is an advanced Bluetooth audio codec with very impressive sound. And even if your phone or tablet does not have aptX HD, the HD5 Bluetooth solution is backwards-compatible with SBC and AAC codecs, as well as standard aptX, so you can wirelessly stream music from any Bluetooth-enabled device and still enjoy all your music. High-fidelity Bluetooth aptX HD that really works and sounds great. Here is why:

Extended-range wireless.
Most Bluetooth implementations have very limited range, typically within just one room. But with careful signal management circuitry and antenna tuning, we offer a superior solution that has up to 3 times the range of standard Bluetooth for multi-room use, with no degradation in audio quality.
Most Bluetooth implementations have very limited range, typically within just one room. But with careful signal management circuitry and antenna tuning, we offer a superior solution that has up to 3 times the range of standard Bluetooth for multi-room use, with no degradation in audio quality.

24 bit DAC
The HD5 include an AKM AK4396A DAC, widely known for its low-noise and high-fidelity. The optical input configures the AK4396A as a bit-perfect 24 bit DAC, which will process sample rates up to 192kHz natively. But for Bluetooth the AK4396A is used as an upsampling DAC and will pad all bit depths to 24 bit, achieving a higher signal-to-noise ratio and lower noise floor. Due to the high signal-to-noise specs of the AK4396A, the fact that digital signal is upsampled to 24 bit as well as the added benefit of onboard triple redundancy power source conversion and filtering, the HD5 Bluetooth implementation presents impressive low noise and low distortion characteristics with a noticeable improvement over other Bluetooth devices.

Amplifier Design

The amplifiers in powered Audioengine speakers are located in the left speaker and are a conservatively-rated class A/B analog monoblock design. This is a more traditional speaker/amplifier marriage which provides excellent quality audio and greater flexibility. All circuit boards for the power and preamp sections are vertically mounted for maximum mechanical shock protection.

Driver Designs

Audioengine uses audiophile-quality, ferrofluid-cooled silk dome tweeters with neodymium magnets. Silk tweeters hold up well under high power and the edge-driven design gives very smooth response. The woofers are aramid fiber woven glass composite with rubber surrounds. Aramid fiber is obviously very strong, which means the woofer retains its shape when being driven at high levels. The HD5 woofers are housed in cast aluminum frames which provide high rigidity and increased heat dispersion.

Shielding

Both drivers are directly video shielded and allow the user to place the speakers within a few inches of a video monitor. This shielding also offers protection for hard-drive digital music players.

Headphone Amp Specifications

Headphone Amp Type
N/A

Full-scale Headphone Output Level
N/A

Output Impedance
N/A

Recommended Headphone Impedance Level
N/A

Optical Specifications

Internal D/A converter
AKM AK4396

Input Bit Depth
up to 24 bit native

Sample Rate
up to 192 kHz native

Power Transformers

Power transformers are critical to to high-quality audio performance, especially in the low-end and again, no off-the-shelf parts. Audioengine uses gapless core toroidal transformers which have a tighter radiated magnetic field, translating to lower noise. They are lighter than standard, lower-cost transformers and also generate less heat.

Quickstart Guide

 
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HD5 Quick Setup

Step 1: Connect the speaker wire from the HD5 left (powered) speaker to the right (passive) speaker.

Step 2: Connect the wireless antenna to the HD5 rear panel.

Step 3: Connect the power cable to the HD5 rear panel and plug the other end into an AC power outlet.

Wireless Connection

Step 4: Turn on the HD5 power switch located on the rear panel.  HD5 will automatically go into Bluetooth “pair mode” and the Pair button on the HD5 rear panel should start flashing.

Step 5: On your device (phone, tablet, laptop, etc), turn on Bluetooth and go to Bluetooth preferences.

Step 6: Select “Audioengine HD5” to pair and connect.  The Pair indicator on the HD5 rear panel should be solid.

Play your music and adjust volume levels on HD5 and your device.

Step 7: To add additional devices put HD5 back into pair mode by disconnecting HD5 from your device or by pressing and holding the Pair button on the HD5 rear panel until the pair indicator starts flashing.

HD5 can wirelessly connect to only one device at a time, however it will remember up to six different devices.

Wired Connection

Step 8: Connect one of the included audio cables to your music player (phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc) and the other end to an input on the HD5 rear panel.

Step 9: Play your music and adjust the volume on the speakers and your device to the desired listening levels.

HD6 Setup Video

Troubleshooting

 

HD5 Troubleshooting Tips

The following troubleshooting tips can help diagnose and correct most concerns with the HD5. We have attempted to make this list as comprehensive as possible, so some of these may not apply to your issue, but please go through each tip.

If the power indicator on the HD5 front panel is not illuminated, then try these tips:

  1. Verify that the AC power cord is connected to the speaker rear panel and to a working AC power outlet.
  2. Check that the speaker’s power switch is in the ON position.
  3. Check that the rear panel voltage selector matches the operating voltage in your country or region.
  4. If there is still no power, check the fuse in the rear panel.  If the fuse is blown and needs to be replaced it is important to replace with same fuse type and value.

If the front panel indicator light is on but you are experiencing an audio-related or other issue, try these tips:

  1. Power-cycle the speakers by switching them off and back on using the power switch on the rear panel.
  2. Be sure the speakers are not in MUTE or SLEEP mode (if so, the front panel indicator light will be flashing).
  3. Check that the cables from your audio sources to the speaker are properly connected.  Confirm by unplugging the audio cables and then reconnecting.  Try using as many different inputs and input sources as possible to see if the problem follows.
  4. Check speaker wire connections from the left (powered) speaker to the right (passive) speaker.  Confirm by removing the speaker wire from on each speaker and reconnecting.  Also check speaker wire polarity by verifying that the wires are going to same terminals on both speakers.
  5. Verify that your audio input source components or devices are all powered on and the volume levels are turned up.
  6. If using a computer, verify that the audio output balance setting is centered for the OS and all apps.
  7. Make sure the speakers are not too close to a wall or other obstruction, which could limit bass output.
  8. Decrease the volume level of the audio input source and increase the volume of the speakers.
  9. If you are using a wireless adapter, preamp, or external DAC with these speakers, remove these (temporarily) and connect the audio source directly to the speakers.
  10. If your input source has its own EQ or other sound settings, make sure they are all (temporarily) turned off.
  11. Also try moving the speakers to a different location to see if something is causing interference in the current location.  Something as simple as a wireless internet router, cordless or mobile phone, or halogen lamp near the speakers can all cause interference.

HD5 troubleshooting tips – Bluetooth

  1. Verify that the HD5 is connected to power and the rear panel power switch is turned on.  If you haven’t already, power-cycle your speakers by switching them off and back on.
  2. If your HD5 is already connected to a device via Bluetooth, the Bluetooth Pair light on the rear panel of the left speaker will be on and solid (note that if your HD5 has been idle and not connected to a device for more than 2 minutes, the Pair light will automatically turn off).  Tap the Pair button and it should begin blinking (or pair to your HD5 using your source device, and the LED will go from off to on and solid).
  3. Try playing audio from more than one application on your phone/tablet, or computer.
  4. Check to make sure your source device (computer, tablet, phone, etc) is running the most up-to-date version of software available. For Mac OS users, be sure to check the App store to see if there’s a newer version of Mac OS you could be running.
  5. Try disconnecting from and forgetting the HD5 through your device’s Bluetooth settings, and re-pairing to the HD5.
  6. Try using a different source device with your HD5 to see if the issue follows.  Also be sure to test your HD5 using the analog input as well.
  7. If possible, try your HD5 in a different location to see if something is causing an issue in the current setup.  Something as simple as a wireless internet router, cordless or mobile phone, or halogen lamp near the speakers may be causing interference in your setup.

HD5 troubleshooting tips – remote control

Remote control is not working or remote range is reduced.

  1. Make sure nothing is blocking the remote control receiver, which is in the left powered speaker.
  2. Check the remote battery to be sure it is installed correctly.
  3. Replace the battery with another CR2025 battery
For the full setup guide, download the attached PDF: HD6 Setup Video

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