Audioengine Color of the Year Kit Review: Bright Look, Good Sound

$866 $857 at Audioengine Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story Rating: 7 /10 Open rating explainer Information WIRED Cohesive, pleasing color design. Speakers are compact and powerful. Simple setup and connectivity. Bluetooth capability works well across the suite. TIRED The turntable's tonearm doesn't feel high-end. There's no discount for buying this bundle as opposed to each individual piece. The artist Wassily Kandinsky said, “Color is a power that directly influences the soul.” But in the realm of home stereo gear, the color wheel gets minimal airtime, with equipment typically available in scant options: silver-faced classics, wood-grain boxes, all manner of modern reflective piano black, and not a whole lot else. Not so with Audioengine, which has painted a neat little world with its annual Color of the Year kit: a suite of home audio components, including laptop speakers, a subwoofer, a turntable, and speaker stands. Each year, the brand drops a new edition of the series in a different color; in the launch year of 2024, a dusky matte blue; in 2025, a subtle metallic green; and now in 2026, a lustrous and smooth egg-yolk yellow. Having a home audio system in such an unusual color palette is, to me, irresistibly joyful; whenever I look at these stereo components, I can’t help but smile. And the tech holds up, too. After months of testing the suite, I was colored impressed. Straight out of the box, it's a great option for music lovers who value the look and sound of their home stereo setup. Four Pops of Color Photograph: Jordan Michelman The anchoring component of the Color of the Year suite are the A2+ Gen 3 Wireless Speakers . At 6 inches tall by 4 inches wide, they’re sized like laptop speakers—and get high marks for that purpose as WIRED’s top pick for computer speakers —but that’s really just the start of what they can do. Alone, the speakers pack enough power for a small home theater. They're also easy to integrate into a bigger system, thanks to their included stereo mini-jack inputs, USB inputs, and both stereo RCA inputs and outputs. To make the sound quality more targeted, place the A2+ speakers atop the included DS1M Desktop Stands , and angle them 15 degrees up toward your ears. This year, Audioengine expanded its Color of the Year suite to include a color-matched Bluetooth turntable in collaboration with Crosley. Called the C6, it's a manual two-speed machine with a nice, heavy steel platter and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plinth. It's Bluetooth-enabled and features a built-in preamp that lets you directly connect your A2+ speakers—wired or wireless—without a need for additional components. Photograph: Jordan Michelman My favorite part of the Color of the Year suite is the S6 Powered Subwoofer . At 10 inches by 8.7 inches, the compact, front-firing form factor lets you snuggle it into various spaces that wouldn't work for a larger, bottom-firing subwoofer. This is a class D sub with a frequency response down to 33 Hz and an adjustable crossover down to 40 Hz that helps your system sound complete, lifting the bass and rounding out the listening experience. Color Connection The ease of setup is one of the major draws for the Audioengine suite. Plug in the A2+ speakers, link them together using the provided stereo cables, and turn them on. You can connect the speakers via Bluetooth, or plug in other components via the stereo inputs. It’s as basic as home hi-fi gets. Photograph: Jordan Michelman Linking the Crosley C6 turntable using Bluetooth is similarly seamless. The A2+s have an intuitive Bluetooth pairing mode that starts up when you turn on the speakers, indicated by a flashing Pair button on the back. From there, turn on the turntable, make sure it’s in the “line” position (by using the turntable’s built-in preamp), and the C6 instantly searches for the A2+s. Once the two units connect, the flashing button on the back of the speakers will turn blue, as will the Bluetooth indicator on the turntable. Connecting the subwoofer was likewise a cinch: Connect an RCA cable to the back of the A2+s in the RCA output, then run that to the audio input on the back of the S6 subwoofer. Once you connect, you’ll want to tweak the sound and presence of the subwoofer, and once you’re happy with the dial-in, the subwoofers will go up and down in volume, in lockstep with the A2+ speakers. Each Audioengine product also came with a QR code that launched a step-by-step setup process, which I found especially helpful for dialing in the sound for the woofer. (The Audioengine YouTube channel is also a wealth of information.) In Living Color After several colorful, music-filled months of testing the Audioengine kit, I found the system to be versatile, though not without its limitations or opportunities for upgrades and tweaks. Right out of the box, the speakers, subwoofer, and turntable looked fantastic and sounded pretty nice. The A2+ speakers were shockingly nuanced and detailed, considering their small size, with Primus and Frank Zappa records showcasing slashing guitars and Paul Chambers and Bill Evans jazz albums providing a sophisticated soundstage. These speakers also worked great for home gaming and laptop use. The subwoofer did wonders when connected to the A2+ for elevating the home-theater experience. The growling lion and car-chasing monkeys in 1995's Jumanji were vivid and lifelike. Photograph: Jordan Michelman Being able to transition from home stereo to computer to home theater is versatile and fun. It means there’s always a way to incorporate these products into your home. If there’s a weak link in the Color of the Year kit, it’s the turntable—but even that is pretty strong. The aluminum tonearm leaves something to be desired if you’re accustomed to higher-end units, but the C6 worked well for me and will suit the needs of most casual listeners. There are several similarly priced Bluetooth-enabled turntables on the market, so out of curiosity I swapped in a Sony PS-LX3BT and noticed no significant difference in terms of sound. What those other turntables lack is the aesthetic unity and the satisfaction of having your entire system kitted out in a unique colorway. Mostly, I just love how this canary-yellow gear looks together. It offers equal parts interior-design pleasure and home audio performance. The price is incredibly competitive across the entry-level home stereo space, and the ease of use and setup feels intuitive and user-friendly for novices. If color influences the soul, then the union of color and music stands to be a source of deep satisfaction—and I’ve found it here. (If you don't want the entire suite, you can buy the components à la carte without a penalty—there's no price break for the bundled suite.) Power up with unlimited access to WIRED . Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that's too important to ignore. Subscribe Today . $866 $857 at Audioengine