A ‘DYNAMIC
WIDESCREEN
SOUND’
MEANS
YOU’LL
ALWAYS
BE IN THE
SWEET SPOT
from £1500 / qacoustics.co.uk
How peculiarly attractive... like
Benedict Cumberbatch or Serge
Gainsbourg or something.
If you say so, but yes, the first ever
active speakers from British brand
Q Acoustics are definitely quirky
and we like them – especially
perched on those geometric wire
stands that, Q says, are inspired by
the 1951 Festival of Britain’s Skylon
structure. Only shame is they’re an
additional £349 per pair.The Festival of Britain? Is this a
Nigel Farage thing? In fact, what
are festivals?
Feels like forever since our ears
were bleeding next to a main stage
sound system, doesn’t it? Still, at
least you can save the money you
would have spent on tickets and
wet wipes and get some proper
speakers for your home. The Q
Active 200 (out November) and
floorstanding Q Active 400 (out
January) claim to offer a ‘dynamic
widescreen sound’, meaning you’ll
always be in the sweet spot.So better than a festival sound
system, then?
In a way. And because they’re
active all the important bits are
self-contained, so there’s no need
to worry about heaps of cabling
or bulky external amps, let alone
gruff Glaswegian security guards.Are they loud? I lost most of my
hearing listening to DJ Jeff Mills in
a techno tent.
They should be, with each speaker
housing two 2.25in BMR drive
units, a rear-firing 4.5in sub and
six discrete amplifiers with a total
power output of 280W. The Active
400 packs the same main drivers
as the Active 200, but adds a
second sub and two more amps
for 440W per unit.Are they as smart as they look?
They can be configured with
Google Chromecast built-in or
Works With Alexa, plus there’s
Siri and Google Assistant; they’ll
connect with Bluetooth, AirPlay 2,
Roon and Spotify Connect plus all
the big streaming services; NAS
drive support is included, as is
HDMI ARC or optical input for your
TV; and they’re good for hi-res
audio. So... well, yes, they are.Q ACOUSTICS
Q ACTIVE 200