Are you referring to the iloud or the A2+?
I'm thinking more of the name of the website
iLoud completely outclasses A2+ by winning in every aspect. Like bass, size, sound quality, bass, features, bass, does not gather dust as easily and A2's woofer is known to degrade with time, bass, and did I mention bass?
However iLoud also outclasses pretty much the entire industry of small speakers when it was released in ~2017. That's why the scene was taken by storm and there is no shortage of reviews. Googling found 3 reviews with measurements: noaudiophile, audiosciencereview (Not by Amir tho), and Digital Stereophony. Its contribution extends beyond sound quality; It is a good case study of what actually happens when you release a good product - The fame spreads very quickly and keeps on spreading. This is important info, because it tells us that other brands that have appeared for years yet have not caught on, are probably not the hidden treasure that they may appear to be.
To give an idea of how hard it owns the rest of the speakers, take a look at this
10 Desktop Computer Speaker Systems Tested and Compared
https://www.lifewire.com/desktop-computer-speaker-systems-3134570
Some pretty well-known models in the list including Audioengine A2+, Bose Companion 20, Gigaworks T40 Series II, Edifier Luna Eclipse, and some bigger speakers like AV40 and PSB Alpha PS1. The important ones for comparison are just A2+ and Companion 20. T40 isn't from the same price point, and Luna is a size bigger. But no harm reading how all these speakers measure.
A2+ has a hump at ~150Hz and starts losing bass from there.
Bose Companion 20 is the only small speaker with good bass performance, which also explains its dominance in the market. But the treble goes haywire due to cone breakup (No tweeter, so the woofer is trying to produce frequencies too high for it to handle).
T40 has similar bass as A2+, but poor crossover design results in uneven treble.
Luna / Eclipse bass performance is... somewhat ok, but remember it is also a bigger speaker. Also the treble looks like that. So unfortunately I can't recommend it.
The rest of the speakers better perform better since they are bigger. But notice they don't really perform that well. Heck, Bose seems to have the best bass extension out of all which shows why this brand has stuck around for so long despite all the haters it gets. (It also has horrible treble due to saving cost which also shows why it has all the haters.)
And for a long time, these were the best small speakers on the market. Because nobody could create something better. And since there was nothing better, people accepted these as the best. That's why people used Audioengine A2, people used Bose. They are not wrong with their choices.
And then suddenly we have iLoud that goes down flat to 50Hz.
While many small speakers are already starting to drop off at 100Hz.
To illustrate how significant this is: Our ears sense frequencies on a log scale. One octave = do re mi fa so re ti do = doubling of frequency. So from 10000Hz to 20000Hz is one octave. From 20Hz to 40Hz is also one octave.
And iLoud can produce one more octave compared to other small speakers, reaching 50Hz compared to 100Hz.
And it's not just about bass too. The treble is also done properly. Compare iLoud's treble to A2+'s treble which shows some weird dip. In fact, iLoud's overall performance can match some studio monitors, and fact is, iLoud is indeed marketed as studio monitors.
So basically,
- A small speaker
- That produces one more octave of bass than other small speakers
- Is properly designed to have the performance of studio monitors
It is not even a small gradual improvement over other small speakers, it is a big punch in the face. One big punch for the bass and a follow up for the treble.
- USD$299
I'm guessing they still have to fight against bigger monitor speakers, and for portable monitoring if they are too expensive people will just use worst-sounding but tolerable alternatives or slightly-bigger alternatives.
Audioengine A2+ costs ~USD$250-ish. In Singapore, iLoud is actually cheaper because we pay much more for certain USA brands for some reason.
