For the money A-5's are a great value. A (significant) step up would be the Quad 12L's actives. However, these are two to three times the price (used). With the Quads you also have to spend on long RCA cables, since you need to provide each speaker with its own line level signal. In all fairness, the Quads are on a different league, both in sound and appearance. Just my $.02 since I have a pair of both.
What compares to the AudioEngine A5
I am looking for something similar to what the audioengine A5 offers for bigger sound than TV speakers can provide, but don't want a massive system with 7 channels. Just looking for bigger, cleaner sound. Audioengine is the only product I've found that fits this bill, but was hoping there were more options. Thanks in advance.