I own a pair of these (in walnut), for what they are, they are fine, and they look nice on my desk. But, for the price, if you just want some decent, compact, powered speakers, Audioengine's own A2+ are possibly a better value (particularly if you already have a decent desktop DAC, or have no need for the HD3's 3.5mm out, etc.) - vs the A2+, there's not really any differences in frequency response and both speakers share the same...