I'm trying to decide what would be the best use of my money. I recently purchased a pair of Audioengine A5's, and I like them quite a bit. However, I recently became aware of the NHT M-00's, and I could probably afford a pair of those if I stretched my budget. The way I see it, I have two options. I could keep the A5's, add an Onix X-Sub, and call it a day. That would probably make for a pretty sweet 2.1 system. Alternatively, I could return the A5's and buy the M-00's, which I would imagine perform at a somewhat higher level than the A5's. I couldn't use my X-Sub in that setup, but that's not a deal breaker for me. It would probably be a long time before I could afford a subwoofer for that system though.

What do you guys think I should do?

BTW, I have two sources: a Rega Apollo and an Apogee Duet.

The M-00's aren't guaranteed to be better. I'd stick with what you got and like.

I use the A5's at work and am constantly surprised by how good they sound as "near-field" monitors. Why do you feel the NHT's would outperform the Audioengines?

Edit: Beaten by the Duster.

I can't say I that I have any concrete reason to believe that the M-00's would outperform the A5's. NHT seems to be a pretty well-regarded outfit, and I thought that the higher price tag might mean something SQ-wise. Of course, Audioengine is a great little company too and the A5's have certainly garnered their fair share of accolades. BQ between both speakers seems to be pretty similar.

I guess that I'm thinking that the NHT's might have a better price-to-performance ratio than the A5's. Based on what I'm seeing so far though, that's probably a misconception on my part.

Well, not so much a misconception so much as not guaranteed to be an upgrade. The AudioEngine is already a pretty damn good value. See here for example.

A5 - bass reflex - cheap speakers with good marketing

M00 - closed enclosure - less bass extension, better sound quality

I prefer closed speakers, so I vote to get rid of the A5.

Have you actually heard either one of these? Or are you reading off the spec sheet?

A5 - bass reflex - cheap speakers with good marketing

M00 - closed enclosure - less bass extension, better sound quality

I prefer closed speakers, so I vote to get rid of the A5.

The A5s sure as fuck don't sound anything like cheap speakers to me. Audioengine's marketing also targeted way below their actual performance level, imo. I mean, they were marketed against the fucking Apple HiFi.

The A5s are fine. Find a more rewarding outlet for the upgraditis, would be my advice.

I'm going to stick with the A5's. Thanks for the help guys!

So, now what are you going to buy with all that money you just saved?

I ordered a mini to mini cable and a length of speaker wire from Enigma Audio for my A5's.