New Q Active 200 and Q Active 400 from Q Acoustics

[thewas]

https://www.qacoustics.co.uk/activerange

Interesting that they use BMRs in a small vertical array assisted by woofers, so a kind of F.A.S.T. (= full range and subwoofer assisted) array.

 

[Absolute]

Woe, this looks intriguing! I'm a fan of Q Acoustics for some reason even though I've never owned one. The press material shows wider dispersion due to the BMR drivers, any truth to that?

 

[thewas]

BMR drivers really don't beam as much as similar sized conventional drivers in the upper frequency range where the transmitted wavelengths are smaller than the driver dimensions but in my experience cannot also be compared with really good tweeters.

 

[Soniclife]

BMR drivers really don't beam as much as similar sized conventional drivers in the upper frequency range where the transmitted wavelengths are smaller than the driver dimensions but in my experience cannot also be compared with really good tweeters.

I've not heard a BMR sound great, so far, if they crack the tech it will be a wonder driver. They have always sounded murky, only ever heard them in passive designs, DSP active might change all that.

 

[Soniclife]

4.5" sub driver(s), bizarre. Why so tiny.

 

[Matias]

Would love to see their spins.

 

[LearningToSmile]

I love the aesthetics of the small ones, particularly with these stands. Wonder how they'll perform, I appreciate all non standard designs.

Probably won't be cheap either way because I tried seeing if they sell those stands on their own and they're $999 a pair.

EDIT: Actually never mind, the $999 ones are different stands, though they're also called Tensegrity stands?

 

[q3cpma]

Always glad to see Hi-Fi manufacturers trying to break the passive mold, especially with this much creativity.

Subwoofer (high excursion) 1 x 114mm (4.5in)

Now that's a good joke. Even with Genelec Ones or Devialet tier woofers, it's just way too small.

No USB input

AKA will only work on Windows/MacOS with their proprietary drivers.

No tweeter

The pair of BMR having to cover 150 Hz to 20 kHz sounds like a recipe for disaster.

It's a bit like that ridiculous Sony cube monitor "thing". Interesting, but I'm pretty sure measurements will be a sorry sight.

 

[Vini darko]

Well they talk the talk do they walk the walk?

 

[Ilkless]

I've not heard a BMR sound great, so far, if they crack the tech it will be a wonder driver. They have always sounded murky, only ever heard them in passive designs, DSP active might change all that.

Naim Ovator? I found it had a congested, murky sound. The Phil BMR did the right thing to exploit its properties in the midrange only. Another issue, which is something I think Dennis Murphy also pointed out, is that BMRs are pretty much all built to a very tight budget for installation/consumer markets, and corners are inevitably cut. I don't think there's even any BMR that's an earnest attempt to put performance first, let alone an all-out assault on the limits of the topology. It's the same problem as we see with Devialet/Apple/Google - the best tech on the market is going to stuff with compromised packaging built to exceedingly-low prices at huge scale. Given how great a well-engineered conventional widebander can be nowadays, a BMR could be the next step up.

 

[Soniclife]

Naim Ovator? I found it had a congested, murky sound.

Yes, I've heard a few others are shows I cannot remember the name of as well. Those Naim BMR speakers were truly awful, even the top of the range active ones in their own factory dem room, truly head scratchingly bad.

 

[snowball]

https://darko.audio/2020/10/q-acoustics-readies-q-active-200-q-active-400/

has pricing info.

200q: £1499/US$1999/€1999 per pair

FS75 stands: £349/US$499/€419 per pair

 

[napilopez]

Here's the whitepaper, by the way. Was disappointed to see that unlike the whitepapers for the Concept 500 and 300, there are no frequency response measurements at all. Too much text spent talking about features, too little about science and performance.

Even with Genelec Ones or Devialet tier woofers, it's just way too small.

To be fair, they're only claiming a -6dB point of 46Hz on the bookshelf. Seems reasonable enough.

 

[q3cpma]

To be fair, they're only claiming a -6dB point of 46Hz on the bookshelf. Seems reasonable enough.

That's the same as a 8030C, guess it's doable, though I'm skeptical.

Didn't notice at first, but what is going on with that nonsensical woofer waveguide thing? At 150 Hz, wavelength is around 2.3 m, it'll be omni way before that. It's just a way to be able to put it against the wall with no airflow issues, right?

 

[Adam Bernau]

Well, let´s wait for the measurements.. I have actually designed and produced active speakers of similar construction, with bigger 4,5 inch BMR driver fullrange, playing down to 300 Hz, and bass section with TB speakers 5 1/4 subwoofer and Wavecor 7 inch passive radiator. The BMR drivers have certain wow effect, and some qualities, but...
but the mentioned wide-dispersion is not exactly true, or it is actually very non-linear, and difficult to adjust in crossover or DSP.
This is also in my opinion the reason why the Naim company was not very sucessfull with it. The driver that i am using in the Virtuoso speakers
is the same as used in Rega RS10 speakers as midrange only.
Here is a link to my design, if you want to have a look
https://www.gravelli.com/en/product/audio-en/virtuoso/

 

[napilopez]

That's the same as a 8030C, guess it's doable, though I'm skeptical.

Didn't notice at first, but what is going on with that nonsensical woofer waveguide thing? At 150 Hz, wavelength is around 2.3 m, it'll be omni way before that. It's just a way to be able to put it against the wall with no airflow issues, right?

Eh, the Phantom Reactor does 18Hz at usable SPLs with a pair of 3-inch woofers, anything is possible
Q acoustics has cabinet size going for it; it's about the same height and width as the genelec but four inches deeper. So certainly doable.

 

[Soniclife]

It's just a way to be able to put it against the wall with no airflow issues, right?

That's what I assumed, it might be also to enable airflow for cooling the electronics.

 

[Adam Bernau]

That's the same as a 8030C, guess it's doable, though I'm skeptical.

Didn't notice at first, but what is going on with that nonsensical woofer waveguide thing? At 150 Hz, wavelength is around 2.3 m, it'll be omni way before that. It's just a way to be able to put it against the wall with no airflow issues, right?

Yes, i think that this is just a redirected port for exactly this reason, not a waveguide, since it works bellow 300 Hz..

 

[Adam Bernau]

Eh, the Phantom Reactor does 18Hz at usable SPLs with a pair of 3-inch woofers, anything is possible
Q acoustics has cabinet size going for it; it's about the same height and width as the genelec but four inches deeper. So certainly doable.

More like around 30 Hz, with compression algorithm cutting it volume dependently (see picture) And it is twin 4 inch long throw subwoofers in each. But anyway, very impressive for its size,

 

[Adam Bernau]

I've not heard a BMR sound great, so far, if they crack the tech it will be a wonder driver. They have always sounded murky, only ever heard them in passive designs, DSP active might change all that.

They are actually using TEBM46C20N-4B from Tectonic Elements, so i would not expect any wonders..
https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/297-2157--tectonic-temb46c20n-4b-2-spec-sheet.pdf