Audioengine P4 Premium Passive Bookshelf Speakers
A high-performance bookshelf speaker pair with the same great looks and sound as our powered speakers. Experience the signature Audioengine sound and quality but without our built-in amplifiers. Beautiful, small, and affordable, P4 is the perfect choice for your living room, bedroom or office and an ideal surround speaker for use with other Audioengine speakers in your home theater or stereo system.
Why passive speakers?
The P4 passive speakers are full-sounding bookshelf speakers in a satellite-sized package. The goal with P4 was to design a small but powerful bookshelf speaker for people that already have surround receivers or amplifiers and are looking for the same Audioengine sound and quality in a passive loudspeaker.
Already have an amplifier?
"If you already have an power amp or don't want to give up that big surround receiver then the P4 is for you. The P4 has excellent bass response for its size, which is evident when used either as stereo speakers or as satellite surround speakers in your home theater setup. P4 sounds great sitting on stands, on a bookshelf, or mounted on a wall using the integrated threaded inserts which are compatible with most wall or ceiling mount bracket systems."
Part of the Family
Audioengine active and passive speaker models share a similar "voicing" and overall tuning so that you are assured a matched system no matter which of our speakers or Audioengine wireless adapters you decide to add to your system.
Versatile
The P4 passive speakers are perfect for digital hybrid amplifiers (Class-D, Class-T, etc.) as well as most stereo receivers, integrated amps, and tube amplifiers. The P4 has a 4 ohm impedance rating but will sound great when connected to almost any receiver or power amp with 4, 6 or 8 ohm speaker output impedance.
Hear the Difference
The Audioengine P4 sets a new level of quality and easy setup. Mount a pair on a wall or stand as surround speakers in a home theater system or place them on a shelf or table for a compact stereo setup. Even if you're not an audio enthusiast we guarantee you will still hear a difference!
Features
4" 2-way passive, front ported design
Hand-built and custom finished cabinets
5-way gold-plated binding posts
Silk dome tweeters and Kevlar woofers
Magnetically-shielded
Excellent performance for music and movies
Wall mount, stand or shelf placement
Works with
Digital hybrid amplifiers (Class-D, Class-T, etc.)
Stereo and surround sound receivers, integrated amps, tube amplifiers
Whole-house music systems such as the Sonos ZonePlayer 120
What's in the box
(2) P4 Passive Speakers
(2) Drawstring Cloth Speaker Bags
(2) High-density foam isolation pads (attached)
(1) Setup Guide
(1) Product line brochure
The same signature sound of the award-winning P4 wrapped in rock solid and beautifully hand-finished bamboo. Bamboo is an excellent alternative to hardwoods and the dark bamboo used for the Audioengine P4N cabinets is not a stain, but achieved through a specialized heating process. As the wood is pressure heated, the sugar compounds inside the bamboo are "carbonized" which in turn darkens the bamboo to a rich caramel color. Awesome sound, great looks, eco-friendly, and panda-safe.
P4N Eco-friendly features
Made from renewable and sustainable solid bamboo - no veneers
No stains or paint used - naturally "carbonized" finish sealed with hand-rubbed water-based satin polyurethane
Other green facts and features
Audioengine products are now 100% lead-free and meet the EU's RoHS initiative
All speaker cabinet materials use environmentally-friendly binders and resins
Formaldehyde-free adhesives are used in our cabinet assembly
All Audioengine products meet ENERGY STAR requirements in standby mode
Limited use of plastics in our products
Easy-to-recycle packaging
Type: 2-way passive, front ported design
Sensitivity: 88dB (2.83v@1m)
Frequency response: 58Hz-22kHz
Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms
Crossover Frequency: 2.8 kHz
Amplifier Power: 10-125W per channel
Drivers: 4" Kevlar woofers 3/4" silk dome tweeters
Enclosure: Solid Carbonized Bamboo
Inputs: Gold-plated, 5-way binding posts
Magnetically Shielded
Weight (each): 2.75 kg (6 lbs)
Total shipping weight: 7.25 kg (16 lbs)
Dimensions (each): 228 (H) x 140 (W) x 165 mm (D) (9 x 5.5 x 6.5")
Shipping box dims: 330 (H) x 460 (W) x 228 mm (D) (13 x 18 x 9")
Finish Options: Satin Black, Hi-Gloss White, Solid Carbonized Bamboo
Wall or Ceiling Mount
The P4 speakers include two standard 1/4" threaded inserts on the rear panel and another insert on the bottom of each P4 cabinet for attaching a speaker mount or bracket. We recommend using products by companies such as OmniMount or Sanus. Before installing mounts or brackets make sure you consult all documentation and carefully follow the installation instructions.
Custom Built
Audioengine designs and manufactures our own tweeters, woofers, and many other critical components. In other words, these are not "box built" speakers with off-the-shelf parts but entirely custom-designed to our specifications. What we do not fabricate directly in our factory we have custom-made to our designs. The cabinets, drivers, bass port designs, and crossovers are all painstakingly tuned together for each model.
Drivers
Audioengine uses audiophile quality, ferro fluid cooled, silk dome tweeters with Neodymium magnets. Silk tweeters hold up well under high power and the edge-driven design gives very smooth response. The woofers are Kevlar woven glass aramid composite with rubber surrounds. Kevlar is obviously very strong, which means that the woofer retains its shape when being driven at high levels. The speaker materials and construction are robust enough to stand up to some serious thrashing, so speaker grills aren’t needed. In other words, we did our homework on the speaker drivers and they will sound and look great after many years of use.
Cabinets
To minimize unwanted resonances and distortion, Audioengine cabinets have thick high-resin MDF walls with extensive internal bracing. Heavy internal sound-damping material is used to reduce unwanted sound reflections inside the cabinet. All cabinet edges are rounded which look great and reduce high-frequency diffraction effects on the front baffles. The P4 cabinet contains tuned, front-port slots.
Shielding
Both drivers are directly magnetically shielded which allow you to place the speakers within a few inches of a video monitor. This shielding also offers protection for hard drive-based digital music players.
Can I use the P4 passive speakers with the Audioengine S8 sub?
To use the P4 speakers with the S8 you would need an amp, like our N22, to supply power to the P4 speakers and connect to the S8.
Why don't the P4 speakers have built in amplifiers similar to the A2 and A5 active systems?
The P4 came about from requests from customers that already have our powered speakers and/or have a music system and needed speakers but wanted the same Audioengine sound from a passive speaker.
Is the bamboo version a veneer and does the P4 bamboo version sound better than the black or white finished cabinets?
The P4 enclosure is made of solid carbonized bamboo, not a veneer. The bamboo cabinets were tuned to sound the same as the MDF speakers, but the density of bamboo will give it natural acoustic advantages over MDF material.
What amplifiers work best with the P4?
The P4 is a very efficient speaker and designed to work well with digital hybrid amplifiers (Class-D, Class-T, etc.) as well as most stereo receivers, integrated amps, tube amplifiers, and whole-house music systems such as the Sonos ZonePlayer 120. Check out our N22 amp for a great setup.
The P4 is rated at 4 ohms but my receiver has speaker outputs listed as 8 ohms. Will the P4's work with my receiver?
The lower the speaker impedance, the more current (amperage) your amp or receiver will need to provide, but most separate power amps have more than a sufficient power supply and power amp sections for driving 4 ohm loads with ease. In fact many amps will perform better with a 4 ohm load as opposed to 8 ohms if their design is robust enough to supply the extra current. A quick web search will bring up more information on this subject.
P4 Troubleshooting Tips
- Make sure all of your connections are complete and all of your cables are in working order, test two or three different audio cables.
- Check your speaker wire to make sure it is connected well, and is the proper polarity (Red to Gold, Black to Silver) on both ends.
- Use as many different input sources with your amp as possible to see what happens.
- Swap your left and right speaker to see if the issue remains in the same channel or follows the speaker.
- Remove any preamps, conditioners or wireless devices one at a time.
- Test your speakers in a different location or with a different amplifier to see if something is causing interference in the current location or setup. Something as simple as a router, cordless / mobile phone, halogen lamps, etc. near the speakers may be causing the issue.
Sound & Vision - P4 Review
"The upside of the P4 is its spatiality, which is a pretty tough trick for a desktop speaker to pull off."
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Surfbits - P4 review
"I have no doubt that you'll be impressed with the build and the quality of the Audioengine (P4) speakers."
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Audiophiliac - P4 Review
"The P4 really shined with playing music. I can imagine it'll be a hit with up and coming audiophiles."
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Digital Home Thoughts - P4 Review
"These passive speakers are capable of producing big sound without taking up much space. After a couple of hours with the P4's, I switched my system back to my Wharfdale EVO2's and honestly felt the little P4's met the performance of the larger, free standing Wharfdales."
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Audio Video Revolution - P4 Review
"There's a lot to like about the P4s. These mighty mites excel at reproducing voices and instruments in space. Bright highs and uncluttered midrange are two of the speaker's greatest strengths."
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What Hi-Fi? - P4 Press
"The P4 is designed as a high-performance bookshelf speaker with the same looks and sound as its powered brethren."
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Positive Feedback - N22 + P4 Review
"If you're looking for a desk top system that will give you great musical satisfaction for a long time with no hassle, you can't go wrong with the N22 desktop amplifier and the P4 passive bookshelf speakers..."
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MacTech - N22 + P4 Review
"They worked impressively and the audio quality was vibrant and clean."
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Electronista - N22 + P4 review
"If you want a compact, dedicated amplifier and a pair of small, yet powerful, bookshelf speakers that can compete with some genuinely expensive audiophile-grade equipment, the N22 and P4 make a great team."
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Digital Reviews - N22 + P4 review
"If you are looking for a fairly portable amplifier for your speakers, go for the N22."
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Connect Reviews - N22 + P4 review
"We were impressed with the sound quality they were pumping out, specifically the bass reproduction and lack of distortion at high levels of volume."
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Hartford Courant - N22 + P4 review
"As a headphone amplifier, the N22 is way ahead of the average audio-video receiver."
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MacNN - N22 + P4 review
"The sound is warm without being overdone, which is really what we'd hoped for in such an audio system."
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The Gadgeteer - N22 + P4 review
"Since the N22 and AP4 are really made for each other, the sound is powerful, clean with no noticeable listening fatigue over hours of use."
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Gadget Review - N22 + P4 review
"Without a doubt, the N22 amp is a smart choice for anyone looking to augment their current audio situation."
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In The Face News - N22 + P4 review
"We can not come up with one thing that we would change about the N22, its powerful, compact, and easy to use."
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Stereomojo - P4 Review
"The cute, amplifier-friendly P4 has a relatively smooth frequency response and clean spectral decay, bringing performance up a notch from its rivals."
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Goodsound - P4 Review
"Like the A2, the P4 is a great speaker and an incredible value."
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Affordable Audio - P4 Review
"P4’s ability to give a strong near-field presentation making them an excellent choice for the small home office."
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Electronic House - P4 Review
"It’s heartening to find a company that takes the time to design and build speakers that sound great, look great and are solidly built..."
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Maximum PC - P4 Review
"The P4s delivered superb performances with every piece of music we asked them to reproduce..."
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![Audioengine product brochure 2016 [en].pdf](/static/frontend/images/icon_pdf.gif){kind=icon}
Audioengine product brochure 2016 [en].pdf
