A generation apart: Kanto ORA is the newer design, against a 2017 model. Newer is not automatically better, but the older one is more likely to be discounted or near run-out.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Bass | A | Audioengine HD5 digs deeper - 55Hz against 70Hz. |
| Built-in power | A | Audioengine HD5 has the bigger amplifier (100W vs 50W RMS). |
| Connections | A | Audioengine HD5 adds digital inputs. |
| Size | depends | Kanto ORA is easier to place; Audioengine HD5 is bigger, which usually goes with fuller bass. Your room decides. |
| Expandability | depends | Audioengine HD5: a sub output; Kanto ORA: a sub output. |
| Price | B | Kanto ORA is cheaper - $349 against $549, about 36% less. |
A Audioengine HD5 B Kanto ORA
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both speakers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
The usual trade-off: Audioengine HD5 measures better, Kanto ORA costs about about 57% more% less. Whether that gap is worth the money is the call only you can make - and in a normal room it is often smaller than the numbers suggest. If a subwoofer is in your plans, the bass gap largely stops mattering - you would be crossing over above 70Hz anyway, which makes the cheaper Kanto ORA much easier to justify. In a large or open-plan room, Audioengine HD5 has the cabinet volume to fill it more easily; in a small room, near a wall or at desk distance, Kanto ORA is the easier speaker to get right.
And remember what a spec sheet cannot show: how each looks in your room and whether the finish suits it, what dealer support and warranty are like where you live, and how they actually sound to you. If you can hear them first - ideally with your own music - that will tell you more than any number above.