Q Acoustics Concept 500 Speaker Review & Comments

[Ed Selley]

The champions of affordable speaker design are back and now they have a completely different part of the market in their sights with the Concept 500.
Read the review.

Write your own review for Q Acoustics Concept 500

 

[Paul7777x]

Impressive and a nice, simple looking floorstander.

But WHAT were they thinking with that hideous, Poundland chrome-plastic base.

 

[finkaudio]

But WHAT were they thinking with that hideous, Poundland chrome-plastic base.

Not plastic at all...it's heavy die cast. I know, because I had one dropping on my foot :-(

Best regards

Karl-heinz

 

[ashenfie]

This is pretty serious money and wonder if looks wise it stands out enough. In this price range your looking at more than just sonic performance and build, it needs to bring a bit special to the table.

For example the ATC CSM40 recently reviewed and another uk company says it means business by it looks and does so performance wise too.

 

[High Fidelity]

The champions of affordable speaker design are back and now they have a completely different part of the market in their sights with the Concept 500.
Read the review.

Write your own review for Q Acoustics Concept 500

Look like speakers that Marantz used to demonstrate their expensive new PM-10 amplifier & SA-10 spinner Would like to see a review of the Class D amplifier that uses Ncore 500 modules.

 

[Paul7777x]

Not plastic at all...it's heavy die cast. I know, because I had one dropping on my foot :-(

Best regards

Karl-heinz

I was being a little facetious sir. My bad.

It's still a hell of an eyesore. I'd bet it won't last long on the design.

 

[finkaudio]

This is pretty serious money and wonder if looks wise it stands out enough. In this price range your looking at more than just sonic performance and build, it needs to bring a bit special to the table.

I don't think it has a problem to stand out.....I have it sitting here since more than a year .

But of course now everybody might like the modern approach and prefers the more traditional wooden box like the ATC. In my living room, the C500 works really well, but I use USM and BoConcept and no wooden furniture at all.

 

[finkaudio]

I was being a little facetious sir. My bad.

It's still a hell of an eyesore. I'd bet it won't last long on the design.

That's OK . Have you ever seen the speakers yourself? I have....maybe you wait until enough are in shops and you take a look.

 

[ashenfie]

I don't think it has a problem to stand out.....I have it sitting here since more than a year .

But of course now everybody might like the modern approach and prefers the more traditional wooden box like the ATC. In my living room, the C500 works really well, but I use USM and BoConcept and no wooden furniture at all.

All mine is custom made real wood & leather so different tastes I guess. But here again say a Sonus Faber Venere would look stunning in a more contemporary surrounding. All I am saying this is a tough price sector.

 

[Ed Selley]

I'll go on record as saying the Concept 500 is actually fractionally better finished than the Venere. Which one you believe is the better looking will come down to preference but I'd stress the Concept 500 looks better in the flesh than any of the photos I managed of it.

 

[crabby09]

These would go on my short list if they weren't so shiny! Like, seriously dust/finger print magnet much?

My family home would ruin them =/

crabby

 

[High Fidelity]

These would go on my short list if they weren't so shiny! Like, seriously dust/finger print magnet much?

My family home would ruin them =/

crabby

I agree I find the appearance unacceptable.

 

[Zakblue]

I'd love to hear a pair of these. Owned the Concept 40 and 20 previously and thought they were great. Reading that the 500 has amazing bass (that for me the 20 and 40 slightly lacked) is making me drool a bit lol

 

[High Fidelity]

I'd love to hear a pair of these. Owned the Concept 40 and 20 previously and thought they were great. Reading that the 500 has amazing bass (that for me the 20 and 40 slightly lacked) is making me drool a bit lol

41Hz -6 db not so amazing bass

 

[muljao]

Nice review. I'd imagine no matter how good they are, most would pick other brands just because they are "Q acoustics". I notice a good lot of hifi people on forum dismiss them quite regularly

 

[finkaudio]

41Hz -6 db not so amazing bass

This bass alignment was chosen on purpose and these are real figures, not marketing dreams. It's not complicated to make a speaker that goes down to 20Hz. But first of all, that would ruin the sensitivity and it would also sound horrible. We have chosen a relatively flat earlier roll-off to deal with the extra gain a listening room adds below 50Hz. So 40Hz with flat roll-off in a standard room gives you more than enough bottom end. OK, if you are sitting in an anechoic room of a big size, you might be right. But in a real world room, you will have more than enough.

 

[finkaudio]

Nice review. I'd imagine no matter how good they are, most would pick other brands just because they are "Q acoustics". I notice a good lot of hifi people on forum dismiss them quite regularly

Yeah, that might be true. It's the history of the brand......it started after another British brand that Armour distributed in the UK, went out of business. And the first range called the 1000 range was designed as a replacement. That's more than 10 years ago and as the range was selling well and was improved over and over again in the next 10 years, Q-Acoustic got a name only for entry level speakers. But most of the team members in the UK have previously worked for big players like KEF, TANNOY or Mordaunt-Short (when I met Alex Munro, the Q-Acoustic brand director, the first time, he was the managing director of TANNOY). My own team and the people in the UK are not newbies to High-End, but it's true, most consumers don't know. It's different in Germany. We don't have the big market for entry level or budget speakers, so Concept 20 and 40 got reviewed before the 3000 series and that's why the brand is seen more like a Higher-End_Company. So Concept 500 was the first step - more to follow. It's not getting boring here

 

[finkaudio]

These would go on my short list if they weren't so shiny! Like, seriously dust/finger print magnet much?

My family home would ruin them =/

crabby

I hope you have a chance to see them in a shop somewhere....they are not that bad, but difficult to catch on a photo.

 

[BlueWizard]

They have a heart-attack price tag, but if the other Q Acoustic speakers are any indication, these should sound stunning. I auditioned the 3020 and the Concept 20 and was very impress. They both had crisp detail without being bright. If fact, while they had crisp detail, there were very smooth with very low fatigue listening.

Audio Affair - Q Acoustics Concept 500 Speakers (Pair)

True the bass is not as deep as a person might desire, but in floorstanding speakers, you either need them to go 30hz and below, or 40hz and above. If the speaker are 40hz at -6db, that means they are about 45hz to 48hz at -3db, and that means they would blend very well with a Subwoofer in a Stereo system.

The Q Acoustic 3050 with similar low end specs, had very good perceived bass. Likely that was a bass bump in the response, but the bass, while slightly exaggerated, remained controlled and free of artificial thump or drone. Very good, very well balanced speakers.

Given the price, I would have to expect them to have raised their game significantly. I would love to hear a pair, but the price ...like I said... heart-attack expensive (£3600/pr from one source I checked).

I do like the outriggers; that is, the side extension for stability. I think I like that better than the simple rear extension of the 3050. It looks cool, and I suspect it makes the speakers very stable.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[mainaman]

I havent heard them yet,but i think they look great,they are not big at all and can be bought for 3600 pounds.That's much cheaper than KEF Reference 1,MA Pl200 and many other contemporary premium British speakers.There are probably better speakers for the money in USA,but here is a different story.I dont know of any other dynamic driver speaker with a truly high-end design for that money.

Regarding the bass,it is just 6.5" drivers,so you cant call it a full-range design.But it should be fine with most types of music.There are wealthy audiophiles,who pair speakers like Wilson Alexandria XLF(down to 19.5Hz) with huge subs,but in the real world 40hz is fine.

 

[High Fidelity]

They have a heart-attack price tag, but if the other Q Acoustic speakers are any indication, these should sound stunning. I auditioned the 3020 and the Concept 20 and was very impress. They both had crisp detail without being bright. If fact, while they had crisp detail, there were very smooth with very low fatigue listening.

Audio Affair - Q Acoustics Concept 500 Speakers (Pair)

True the bass is not as deep as a person might desire, but in floorstanding speakers, you either need them to go 30hz and below, or 40hz and above. If the speaker are 40hz at -6db, that means they are about 45hz to 48hz at -3db, and that means they would blend very well with a Subwoofer in a Stereo system.

The Q Acoustic 3050 with similar low end specs, had very good perceived bass. Likely that was a bass bump in the response, but the bass, while slightly exaggerated, remained controlled and free of artificial thump or drone. Very good, very well balanced speakers.

Given the price, I would have to expect them to have raised their game significantly. I would love to hear a pair, but the price ...like I said... heart-attack expensive (£3600/pr from one source I checked).

I do like the outriggers; that is, the side extension for stability. I think I like that better than the simple rear extension of the 3050. It looks cool, and I suspect it makes the speakers very stable.

Steve/bluewizard

A large floor stander speaker if properly designed should not require a sub-woofer.

 

[Zakblue]

41Hz -6 db not so amazing bass

As previous users have mentioned, there's more to bass than the figures. If it was that easy we'd all just get a cheap flat to 20hz subwoofer solution (like svs etc) and call it a day. I've owned a pair of huge flagship floorstander speakers that were -2db at 21hz but still preferred the bass of other speakers that rolled off much before that for the styles of music I listen to (classical, orchestral soundtracks)

 

[High Fidelity]

As previous users have mentioned, there's more to bass than the figures. If it was that easy we'd all just get a cheap flat to 20hz subwoofer solution (like svs etc) and call it a day. I've owned a pair of huge flagship floorstander speakers that were -2db at 21hz but still preferred the bass of other speakers that rolled off much before that for the styles of music I listen to (classical, orchestral soundtracks)

I listen to mostly Classical, my slim TL speakers go down to 23Hz -6dB with a sensitivity of 89dB and no boom as you can get from reflex designs, bass is natural and no sub-woofer needed.

 

[BlueWizard]

A large floor stander speaker if properly designed should not require a sub-woofer.

Nobody really needs a Subwoofer, I certainly don't need one, but LOT OF PEOPLE want one.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Member 778069]

I got to see (but not hear) there at Armour HQ, and have to say the photos do not do them justice.

Also one of the best festures of the 3050 speakers is the stability from the rear outrigger. I can only imagine the design on the Concept 500 makes them even more stable.