Q Acoustics Concept 20
FOR Seamless presentation; clarity; pleasing refinement; build and finish; terrific stands AGAINST Those stands aren’t cheap (£200) but are key to hearing the 20s at their best
It’s been more than five years since we first tested Q Acoustics’ Concept 20s, so, if their Award-winning status doesn’t hint at their talent, the fact we’re still talking about them really should. And they’re now even more affordable.
In simple terms, the Concept 20s are essentially the old Award-winning 2020is with a better cabinet. The drive units are the same – soft-dome tweeter with carbon fibre and ceramic-coated paper mid/bass – as is the crossover, bar some minor tweaks.
Splendid isolation
The tweeter remains decoupled from the front panel to reduce any (sounddegrading) vibration from the mid/bass that might spoil the high frequencies.
The Concept 20 enclosure uses a box-within-a-box idea, where the inner and outer enclosures – both made of 10mm MDF panels – are separated by a compliant compound called Gelcore.
The Gelcore helps to dampen any panel resonances, turning that unwanted energy into heat. No, the Concept 20s didn’t get noticeably hotter after a long listening session – certainly not hot enough for us to notice.
The idea behind the cabinet design is to silence the enclosure, leaving the sound coming from the drive units alone. The smart-looking speaker terminals are mounted solidly on a metal plate, just below the rear-firing reflex port.
Q Acoustics has designed dedicated stands for these speakers. At £200 a pair, these supports seem expensive, but we can’t find any alternative that does the job better or represents better value.
Placed on their stands, positioned clear of the back wall, and angled in slightly towards the listening position gave the best results in our room.
A rare consistency
The Concept 20s sound all of a piece – seamless in fact – and have a consistency of character from the deepest bass upwards that’s rarely heard at this (indeed any) price.
The presentation is clear, articulate and subtle yet has the punch and attack to satisfy, even when we listen to the likes of The Dead Weather’s 60 Feet Tall. There’s a measured hand with rhythm, but changes in pace and the underlying momentum of the music is easily heard.
It’s the transparency that impresses most, though. Q Acoustics’ claims regarding that cabinet ring true: there really is the feeling that the enclosure isn’t contributing much to the final sound at all. The result is a high level of precision, excellent definition and the ability to play complex music without a loss of organisation. The Concept 20s are immensely composed, even when pushed hard, and can fill most rooms with a scale and volume of sound that seems scarcely credible from such a small cabinet.
Another benefit of that cabinet design is stereo imaging: these speakers are brilliantly precise, throwing out a huge soundstage populated by pleasingly focused instruments. With the cabinet not contributing a great deal to the sound, it’s hard to pinpoint the physical location of the speakers within the sound image.
Such is these Q Acoustics’ spread of talents that they sound at home with all types of music. They have the insight and finesse to deliver Beethoven’s
Moonlight Sonata with real grace, while being more than happy to charge along to the likes of Eminem. How much difference does a cabinet make? When it comes to the Concept 20 we’d say a massive amount.
We’ve long been fans of these standmounters, and, with their asking price down at £300, they only feel more of a steal five years on.
“The presentation is clear, articulate and subtle yet has the punch and attack to satisfy, even with the likes of The Dead Weather’s 60 Feet Tall”