Audioengine HD6

Mostly heard as near-neutral with some warmth. SECRETS found the voicing remarkably neutral over the analog and optical inputs, SoundStage! hears it broadly neutral with a touch of midrange warmth, The Absolute Sound hears a warmer, slightly darker balance it liked, and an owner comparing it with KEF's LSX II LT calls it more warm/accessible. likehifi hears a mid-forward balance that lacks a monitor's honesty. A minority of owners call it muffled or muted; one heard it 'coming from the box' on a desk with a subwoofer. Amazon's sound mentions run 91 positive to 33 negative.

“The HD6’s tonal balance was broadly neutral, if with a touch of midrange warmth.”

SoundStage! Xperience

“In tonal balance, the HD6 offers a forgiving, ear-coddling midrange—a warmer, slightly darker balance that was effective at conveying big sound from a small box.”

The Absolute Sound (stands, 2 ft from walls)

“die mittleren Frequenzbänder sehr vordergründig, wohingegen Bässe und Höhen etwas hinten anstehen müssen”

likehifi.de (AUDIO TEST)

“Compared to HD3s the sound "feels" more muted, and feels like it's coming from the box.”

r/audiophile owner (desk, with S8 sub)

Generous for a 5.5-inch woofer. SECRETS, on a credenza in a small office, heard extension 'way beyond' expectations; Sound & Vision on stands heard tuneful, punchy bass; SoundStage! heard it full without bloat; Snazzy Labs says most won't need a subwoofer. The Absolute Sound hears a little extra upper midbass (80–150 Hz) with usable extension to 50–60 Hz, and CNET found the definition only so-so. What Hi-Fi wanted more kick, and Z Reviews heard too little low end for the driver size. An owner unhappy with the bass on an open shelf found it much better on a desk.

“–3 dB @ 57 Hz, –6 dB @ 46 Hz”

Sound & Vision Test Bench

“the bass extension and definition are way beyond anything I would have expected”

SECRETS of Home Theater & High Fidelity (credenza, 8 ft)

“Bass response was largely very good, if a little overly enthusiastic in the upper midbass.”

The Absolute Sound

“the Audioengine’s low-end kick isn’t quite up to the task”

What Hi-Fi?

A strength. What Hi-Fi calls the mids particularly eloquent, SECRETS hears a neutral, precise midrange with voices slightly forward, ON-mag hears present, substantial voices, SoundStage! a hearty, full-blooded midrange and CNET midrange detail. likehifi hears the midrange pushed forward at the expense of bass and treble, and Snazzy Labs found the midrange bias a little overwhelming even as a self-described mid lover.

“Mids are particularly eloquent”

What Hi-Fi?

“Les aigus sont doux et ciselés, les voix ont de la présence et de la matière.”

ON-mag

“Instrument separation is good and vocals are very well presented.”

Snazzy Labs

Sources split, roughly evenly by weight. Everyone hears a soft, relaxed top end; they disagree on whether it works. The Absolute Sound, Sound & Vision and What Hi-Fi hear it as a deliberate, well-judged voicing that is easy to live with, and ON-mag calls it smooth and finely etched. SECRETS wanted more sparkle (mostly over Bluetooth), CNET calls treble clarity average, Snazzy Labs heard cymbals suppressed behind the midbass, and two owners returned or considered returning their pairs over 'muffled' highs — one of them with the speakers wall-mounted above ear level and angled down.

Usually wide and deep. Sound & Vision heard a huge, spacious soundstage with width and depth on 24-inch stands, SECRETS heard incredible depth, CNET heard sound beyond the cabinets' outer edges, ON-mag and likehifi praise depth and spatial placement, and an owner found the stage opened up once they set the pair in an equilateral triangle. SoundStage! found it intimate rather than spacious on a desk and in a small living room, and The Absolute Sound heard a ceiling over the stage next to its ATC reference.

“the speakers projected a huge, spacious soundstage into my room, with a sense of width and depth that no single-box speaker can muster”

Sound & Vision (24-inch stands)

“The HD6 wasn’t the most spacious-sounding speaker; instead, it produced an intimate, midrange-focused sound.”

SoundStage! Xperience

“Recently I read about creating a equilateral triangle between them and my listening seat. That opened the soundstage.”

r/BudgetAudiophile owner

The clearest point of agreement. SECRETS calls the imaging top notch, The Absolute Sound and SoundStage! hear a strong, stable centre image even at high volume, What Hi-Fi and likehifi hear each element precisely placed, and even Z Reviews, otherwise critical, found the imaging very good. An owner who moved up from the HD3 feels the separation of instruments on the stage.

“Imaging was top notch as well.”

SECRETS of Home Theater & High Fidelity

“It also creates a strong center image, crucial to the cinema experience in the absence of a true center channel.”

The Absolute Sound

“they have very good imaging”

Z Reviews

Good rather than analytical. What Hi-Fi praises its precise, insightful nature, likehifi hears a very detailed picture and Geekanoids a large amount of detail. SoundStage! hears less ultimate resolution than pricier speakers, made up for by a velvety sound, and The Absolute Sound heard a little less presence and transparency than its ATC reference. Snazzy Labs found the speakers revealing enough to reward a better external DAC, and an owner who moved to KEF's LS50 Wireless found those somewhat clearer.

“What the HD6 lacked in ultimate resolving ability it made up for with a velvety sound.”

SoundStage! Xperience

“their precise, insightful nature”

What Hi-Fi?

Plays loud and punchy for its size in small and medium rooms. CNET felt its dynamic punch, SoundStage! pushed it louder than Dynaudio's Xeo 2 without hearing compression in a small-to-medium living room, Sound & Vision heard it fill a room, and likehifi heard it come alive when pushed. SECRETS ran out of volume in a large theater room, The Absolute Sound says not to expect full timpani impact, and What Hi-Fi wanted more punch and energy. Z Reviews, at a desk, found the tweeters became painful above moderate volume.

“Bass definition was only so-so, though I did feel (literally) the HD6’s dynamic punch was awfully good for a small speaker.”

CNET (24-inch stands, 3 ft from the wall)

“I nonetheless felt comfortable pushing the HD6 louder than the Xeo 2, through which I heard some mild compression”

SoundStage! Xperience (small-to-medium living room)

“I quickly found the upper volume limit with the HD6’s in the big room”

SECRETS of Home Theater & High Fidelity (large theater room)

“as soon as you do the tweeters hurt everything hurts”

Z Reviews (desk)

Fairly forgiving, but give the rear slot port some room and aim the tweeters at your ears. What Hi-Fi heard it clean and balanced near or far from walls, and Snazzy Labs found it less placement-sensitive than most and good on a desk. Sound & Vision used 24-inch stands about 9 inches from the wall and warns against putting the pair hard against a wall or deep in a bookcase; Z Reviews found it flat and dull against the wall and better free-standing, and an owner found it poor on an open shelf unit and much better on a desk. The owner who heard 'muddy highs' had the pair wall-mounted above ear level, which replies blamed first.

“the HD6 are not as sensitive to placement as other speakers, and they sound good in suboptimal conditions”

Snazzy Labs (desk)

“sounding clean and balanced near or far from walls”

What Hi-Fi?

“they're up against the wall they just felt flat and dull”

Z Reviews (desk against a wall)

“I moved them to my computer just today and they sound a lot better.”

r/audiophile owner (from an open shelf to a desk)

No reviewer reports hiss or hum, but a few owners do, mostly from the setup. One owner's constant static stopped once the powered speaker was moved out from under the TV, another heard white noise only with cables in the aux and RCA inputs at once (all inputs are live and mixed together), and a third still had static and hum after Audioengine replaced the amplifier.

“Yeah when I moved the primary speaker out from physically underneath my tv it stopped.”

r/BudgetAudiophile owner

“the only instance that I got a weird white noise coming out of the speakers was when I connected cables both to the aux and the RCA IN connections at the same time”

r/BudgetAudiophile owner

“Audioengine shipped a new amp for me, to replace the one in the speaker and the problem persists.”

r/BudgetAudiophile owner

A complete system with a few gaps. Reviewers like having amplification, a DAC, optical, analog and Bluetooth inputs and a subwoofer output in one box; SoundStage! found the Bluetooth flawless and Amazon's Bluetooth mentions run 22 positive to 8 negative. Snazzy Labs says the Bluetooth sounds terrible next to a wired source, and SECRETS heard a duller top end over Bluetooth. The gaps reviewers list are USB and Wi-Fi, and Z Reviews objects that there are no tone controls and no input selector — all inputs play at once.

“its Bluetooth functionality was flawless in execution”

SoundStage! Xperience

“you'd never want to use Bluetooth because quite frankly, it sounds terrible”

Snazzy Labs

“On regrette juste l'absence d'une entrée USB Audio pour un ordinateur.”

ON-mag

“you don't get to adjust the bass and treble you don't get to do any Corrections on them”

Z Reviews

Simple to set up and live with. SECRETS had it running in a few minutes, The Absolute Sound found pairing devilishly easy, SoundStage! gives it top marks for usability and several reviewers praise the solid aluminium remote; Amazon's setup mentions run 16 positive to 2 negative. Sound & Vision and SoundStage! note it is large for a desk (SoundStage! used a 60-inch desk), likehifi found the supplied banana plugs loose in their sockets, and Z Reviews disliked mixing every input with no way to switch between them.

“The whole set up took just a few minutes.”

SECRETS of Home Theater & High Fidelity

“Audioengine’s new flagship earns top scores for usability.”

SoundStage! Xperience

“A bit too large for desktop use”

Sound & Vision

“dass die Bananenstecker etwas lose in den Buchsen hängen”

likehifi.de (AUDIO TEST)

Sources split along the loan-unit/owner line. Every reviewer praises the cabinets and finish — SoundStage! found zero imperfections, Snazzy Labs calls the fit and finish top-notch, SECRETS stoutly built — and Amazon's build and reliability mentions are mostly positive. Owners years in report the same fault again and again: the digital inputs fail, so optical and Bluetooth play from only the left speaker or not at all while the analog inputs still work. Audioengine has offered a revised Bluetooth I/O board as a $50 do-it-yourself repair, and one owner found replacement parts out of stock for months.

Sources split. At $749 the 2016 press called it a bargain as a complete system: SECRETS an excellent deal, The Absolute Sound hard to beat, SoundStage! an easy recommendation, and a Stereophile show report a genuine high-end product at the price. Snazzy Labs and Z Reviews prefer cheaper studio monitors and powered speakers (an Event 20/20, a Swan M200), a Redditor points to the cheaper Vanatoo Transparent Zero measuring better, and an owner who got a pair free wouldn't have paid $700. An owner who moved to KEF's much pricier LS50 Wireless heard them as better, but not by the price difference. Amazon's value mentions run 22 positive to 12 negative.