NEWS: Q Acoustics launches Q Active speakers

The design of the speakers looks odd - can't decide if I like it or not. Seems strange having such big units with such small speakers on them. Not a fan of having the large company logos on the front!

The concept is interesting though, with the separate hub and how its setup. Need to read a bit more about it before I can figure it out.

On the fence on whether I actually like these
 
Interesting design. It would be interesting to see where in the range they sit. They're a lot more than the concept 20 plus a decent separate amp so I would expect them to sound somewhere between the concept 20 and 300 in sound quality.

I see a design flaw or inconvenience, each speaker requires a mains cable going into each, meaning its not completely wirefree.

Each of the speakers still have a cable running from each cabinet,.just like having speaker cables, but having a mains cable instead. They would need two power sockets behind each speaker or running to somewhere. Might as well get a separate amp with all the connectivity features. You'd still have a mains cables going into the hub and a cable to each cabinet.
 
I'm not too familiar with Q Accoustics of their range - do you have a view of how it would compare to the monitor audio bronze/silver/gold/plat approach?

I don't think its a design flaw, its just a feature of active speaker - they'd each need their own power supply and cable - don't see a way around that!
 
They must have an odd perception of what 'first' means, as they have already had an active speaker in the BT3. Be nice if they could release a first atmos speaker.

They are a weird looking speaker, and I normally like the Q Acoustic look. Would be interested to see how they sound given the price, as could get a fairly nice setup going the conventional route for the same price.
 
Bet these sound great, I demoed some Cambridge Audio Minx BMR speakers with a sub-woofer in their Home Cinema room, for a small set of speakers they pumped out a great sound stage. These Q Acoustic ones are larger and they probably won't need a separate sub.
 
Bet these sound great, I demoed some Cambridge Audio Minx BMR speakers with a sub-woofer in their Home Cinema room, for a small set of speakers they pumped out a great sound stage. These Q Acoustic ones are larger and they probably won't need a separate sub.
The CA Minx are far from hi fi.

I have demoed them.. Not bad if they are £20 each. They are awful for music. Overpriced.

I had a set of QAcoustics Q AV BMR speakers. Not too bad for movies but for stereo music were truly awful, it was like the difference between an AM radio with poor signal and a clear FM signal. Very muffled.

These new active speakers may be high end..
 
I'm not too familiar with Q Accoustics of their range - do you have a view of how it would compare to the monitor audio bronze/silver/gold/plat approach?

I don't think its a design flaw, its just a feature of active speaker - they'd each need their own power supply and cable - don't see a way around that!
I believe the 3000i range is equivalent to the bronze and concept 20/40 equivalent to the silvers.
 
They must have an odd perception of what 'first' means, as they have already had an active speaker in the BT3. Be nice if they could release a first atmos speaker.

They are a weird looking speaker, and I normally like the Q Acoustic look. Would be interested to see how they sound given the price, as could get a fairly nice setup going the conventional route for the same price.
The BT3 was a powered pair of speakers and not active as far as I know
 
If I've read it correctly, there are two different hubs - one for Alexa and one for Chromecast, and you have to choose which one you want up front. Odd that what I'd think would be a firmware feature has resulted in two separate products, that are presumably incompatible with each other.
 
The BT3 was a powered pair of speakers and not active as far as I know
Forgive me for asking but is that not the same thing? As they both use internal amplification.
 
Forgive me for asking but is that not the same thing? As they both use internal amplification.
True active speakers contain their own amplification inside and operate completely separately from each other. At least that is my basic understanding of the difference. Powered contain an amp in one and the other is a passive one driven by the first
 
True active speakers contain their own amplification inside and operate completely separately from each other. At least that is my basic understanding of the difference. Powered contain an amp in one and the other is a passive one driven by the first
Technically, active means crossover > power amps > speaker drivers; passive means power amp > crossover > speaker drivers.

Powered speakers may have all the connectivity and amplification built in, but they follow the latter topology (which is technically inferior).
 
I see a design flaw or inconvenience, each speaker requires a mains cable going into each, meaning its not completely wirefree.

Each of the speakers still have a cable running from each cabinet,.just like having speaker cables, but having a mains cable instead. They would need two power sockets behind each speaker or running to somewhere. Might as well get a separate amp with all the connectivity features. You'd still have a mains cables going into the hub and a cable to each cabinet.
It could be seen as an inconvenience, but hardly a design flaw. The only way around it would be to have them be battery powered, which for a pair of speakers intended for home use in a fixed location would probably come with greater inconvenience.
 
Interesting design. It’s great to see something a bit different at least.
 
It could be seen as an inconvenience, but hardly a design flaw. The only way around it would be to have them be battery powered, which for a pair of speakers intended for home use in a fixed location would probably come with greater inconvenience.
Then there's no need to pay extra for this design. It would probably be cheaper to buy a good pair of speakers and a separate amp with the connectivity, and achieve as good sound quality.

It would sound the same if the amp(s) is/are standalone rather than built into the speakers, and have one mains cable rather than 3 mains cables and plugs.

In most rooms in uk homes there is only one power point on any single wall.

The hub may send a wireless signal to the speakers but with this system one would need 3 items to be connected to a wall power point.

Most power points accept one or two plugs so an extension cable or power cube (2 to 1 or 3 to 1) would be required.

Its not saving any cabling, possibly more inconvenient than a traditional single amp and 2 speakers solution.
 
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Then there's no need to pay extra for this design. It would probably be cheaper to buy a good pair of speakers and a separate amp with the connectivity, and achieve as good sound quality.

It would sound the same if the amp(s) is/are standalone rather than built into the speakers, and have one mains cable rather than 3 mains cables and plugs.

In most rooms in uk homes there is only one power point on any single wall.

The hub may send a wireless signal to the speakers but with this system one would need 3 items to be connected to a wall power point.

Most power points accept one or two plugs so an extension cable or power cube (2 to 1 or 3 to 1) would be required.

Its not saving any cabling, possibly more inconvenient than a traditional single amp and 2 speakers solution.

It’s worth reading up on the benefits of a proper active speaker design (i.e. a separate, custom matched amplifier per driver, placed after the cross-over). All else being equal this approach should outperform an equivalent passive speaker design by a significant margin, regardless of which amplifier you drive them with.
 
It's still possible to have an active system without the need for 3 separate power cables. There's no need to have the expense of wireless transmission if the amps and hub is in one unit.
 
It's still possible to have an active system without the need for 3 separate power cables. There's no need to have the expense of wireless transmission if the amps and hub is in one unit.

Let's leave the source for the moment as that's a slightly different case. However it's handled, a source will be needed and with that, the power to run it.

In all situations, there will be increased wiring to the speaker cabinet. If the amp is in the speaker (as with ATC or the AE1 Active), you will need mains to amplifier/crossover and signal to speaker. Even if the active crossover and amps for both speakers was in one cabinet (which would be a fairly terrible solution), you'd still need to run speaker cables back to the other cabinet for as many drivers are in use.

If the crossover and amps are external, you need to power to the crossover and amps (and have volume adjustment somewhere in there too). Then, while there is no mains to the speaker cabinet, there will be as many runs of speaker cabling from the amps as there are drivers in the cabinet (we will be looking at a setup that uses this configuration the coming months).
 
Whether passive or active, there will be the same amount of speaker cable if there are separate amps for each driver.

The speaker cable runs can be tied together and can be purchased at different lengths for the room.

Are the mains cables included with these speakers available at different lengths.

This system doesnt cut down on cabling.

It also adds to the cost. The R and D wasnt free and is passed onto the consumer.
 
Whether passive or active, there will be the same amount of speaker cable if there are separate amps for each driver.

The speaker cable runs can be tied together and can be purchased at different lengths for the room.

Are the mains cables included with these speakers available at different lengths.

This system doesnt cut down on cabling.

It also adds to the cost. The R and D wasnt free and is passed onto the consumer.

I really think you’ve missed the point of active speakers. They aren’t about reducing cable clutter, they are about improving performance. When you take into account the cost saving in external amplification they are generally better value too.
 
Well I’ve ordered the new KEF LS50 W2 to trial and hopefully will trial these too. Been fancying Active speakers for ages. Reduce kit etc, ease of use and hopefully great sound quality. Don’t understand some moaning about having to plug each speaker in! This is hardly problematic. The 200s don’t link together with an Ethernet cable, they produce maximum stream of 24/96 kHz. The W2s can similarly be unlinked but with Ethernet they can achieve 24/192 kHz stream.
 
Be keen to hear your thoughts once you've had chance to try them both.
 
Be keen to hear your thoughts once you've had chance to try them both.
I’m told the 200s won’t be available until mid-November? I’m not entirely sure when the W2s will be available? Ideally I’d have both on trial together but I’m not sure that’ll be possible.
 

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