Q ACOUSTICS
Q Acoustics has always been about hitting a combination of best performance and best value at each price level. Founded in 2006 in the UK, the brand quickly established a formula that delivered regular award-winners not only in conventional loudspeaker designs but in home cinema and unusual TV audio and soundbar designs as well.
Australia got a global first at the Indi Intermeet, with the five models in the new 3000i series being announced in Melbourne. Adding an ‘i’ has been Q Acoustics’ preferred notation for a full overhaul ever since the 2000 series became the 2000i series back in 2011, and this 3000i series updates the 3000 series of hi-fi and home cinema speakers originally released in 2015. The latest revisions have been made possible by innovations developed for the company’s high-end flagship Concept 500 loudspeaker, notably the Point to Point (P2P) bracing developed in the Concept 500s has been used throughout, increasing internal support in areas of the cabinet that need stiening, including an extra precision-cut top damping panel. The result is enclosures that are exceptionally rigid, says Q Acoustics, improving the focus of the stereo image and giving the soundstage more accuracy. The designs have also been refreshed in four finishes — Graphite Grey, English Walnut, Carbon Black and Arctic White, with chrome rings setting o each driver nicely.
The 22mm treble unit is common across the range — decoupled from the bale via a compliant suspension system, ensuring that the tweeters are isolated from vibrations from the woofer, with dramatically reduced interference, says the company. The $499 3010i and $599 3020i bookshelf models are slightly taller and deeper than their predecessors, with a 100mm bass unit in the smaller 3010i and a 125mm driver in the 3020i. As throughout the range’s bass and mid drivers, these cones are precision formed from impregnated and coated paper aiming for an optimum balance between stiness and self-damping, and teamed with a newly developed low-hysteresis rubber surround.
The $1399 3050i floorstander uses twin 165mm bass units either side of the same 22mm tweeter, while for home cinema configurations there’s also the $499 Q 3090Ci centre speaker with twin 100mm mid-woofers and the same 22mm tweeter, and the slimline $699 Q 3060S subwoofer with a 200mm (8-inch) driver and 150W of Class-D internal amplification.