Q Acoustics 3020i Bookshelf Speaker Review

[pierre]

Late to the party. For the price&look it is not bad.

 

[MpNormy]

To me, they seem pretty good for the price (in Europe at least)

 

[edechamps]

By the way, @MZKM I think your scores for the 305P are wrong on your ranking lists comparing them to @edechamps 's scores, even taking the differing 'ideal' LFX frequencies used into account.

I don't think so. Loudspeaker Explorer computes ~6.4 (when adjusted according to @MZKM's LFX), consistent with that old source spreadsheet from @MZKM I used to cross-validate my calculations. @MZKM's docs currently display a score of 6.58, a small difference that is presumably caused by @MZKM using correct ER and PIR curves, whereas Loudspeaker Explorer is still using the (wrong) Klippel curves. In other words, it's likely @MZKM's score that's correct, not mine.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Recently I bought their new 3030i.
And For the price I'm impressed.

 

[SynthesisCinema]

Hope we get to see Concept 20 measured, not much more expensive but should be better sounding with more expensive Gelcore cabinet structure and higher quality audio crossover parts & design! There is some measurements for it here:
https://www.pressreader.com/australia/australian-hifi/20140901/281556584000050

 

[MZKM]

They report as using an Anechoic Chamber. .https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=140

It’s only anechoic down to ~80Hz. They rented a larger one down to 20Hz and tried to make a calibration to their measurements lot make it also accurate down to 20Hz. However, it doesn’t work well at all and anything <100Hz should be ignored.

 

[Vuki]

Then why did you warn that it would require a large inductor? For a 1st order (electrical) high pass you would use a large capacitor in series, not an inductor. I think you must have meant a capacitor, because that's what you're using in the schematic you linked. But even the 470 uF shown in your schematic would cause the bass to start rolling off higher than you would want.

It was @ROOSKIE not me.
Regarding capacitor value... it works in combination with bass response in an enclosure. Here is a bit more about it.

 

[hansik]

I've tried Q Acoustics twice because of the great reviews. I've been disappointed twice. I like how they look, but something is really missing for me.

 

[tuga]

But, the Point-to-Point bracing!

I wonder how the older 3020 performs.

Is it the cabinet or the port that is causing the resonance?

 

[ROOSKIE]

Not so sure about that. Here's my little back-of-the-envelope analysis. Stay with me, I want your feedback.

Start with a tweeter 9' up. Sounds high, right? 1 foot from the ceiling. But when I'm standing in the kitchen 15 feet away my ears are only 3.3 feet lower. That means the down angle is only 12.4 degrees. I can toe them down by that much easily, let's say 10 degrees. So I'm actually about on-axis at that location. Of course, the vertical dispersion is critical to give as long a sweet spot as possible. Looking at the M106, the vertical is pretty smooth +/- 20 degrees, so, with a toe-down of 10 degrees, that gives me a cone as close to the speakers as 6 feet and as far away as I like. Horizontally, I can't get much closer than 8 feet anyway, with a 10 degree toe-in.

SPL is the bigger issue, but the M105 is rated to about 106 dB so I reckon 96 dB at the end of the room. OK, let's say 90 sustained. Isn't that loud enough?

Hmmm, the M105 is great speaker for what it is and again it is very small. My JBL 530 had much better bass and in a large room I would want a sub with that speaker. (maybe many folks would still want a sub in a smaller room as well) The M105 did not seem capable of playing any louder than the 530 and in fact the 530 seemed a larger system presenting a bit bigger sound.
That max SPL of the M105 is not going to carry over into the bass region. This is all content depended and as you said earlier you also listen loudly, if you want/need bass in a large room the M105 is not the speaker especially for that price if you have a limited budget.

I don't know for sure but based on the little info I have about you and your situation I recommend a sub-woofer and if the speakers are placed up high a coaxial speaker simply to make it easy. Anything more specific is going to come down to other feedback you receive and some trial and error.
If just want some decent sound as you cook standing in the kitchen that is cool. Likely anything decent will work great.

Just realize that all of the data here and the scores and stuff along that line are based on using the speakers for critical listening in a typical room. If you are not sitting between them and they are in unusual positions that they ultimately were not primarily designed for, their performance may(likely will) be different and all bets are off. You will need to listen and approve personally and you know your space and I really have no idea what it looks like.
Therefore I wouldn't get caught up in the minutia. Just buy a sub to ensure good bass and some decent speakers that you high pass and listen while you cook.

 

[ROOSKIE]

@ROOSKIE Why not call it Coaxial intead of Coaxil ? I know the latter is still valid but most manufacturers just sticks for the first one.

just spelling errors, they will happen

 

[ROOSKIE]

Then why did you warn that it would require a large inductor? For a 1st order (electrical) high pass you would use a large capacitor in series, not an inductor. I think you must have meant a capacitor, because that's what you're using in the schematic you linked. But even the 470 uF shown in your schematic would cause the bass to start rolling off higher than you would want.

Hi yes, that was me. Woops, yes I meant large capacitor. Really just meant that due to component costs it makes more sense for manufacturers to rely on the purchaser to attend to the monitors high pass via the AVR or EQ or some personal method, also allowing the user to choose the frequency.

 

[Djsedaw]

I've got the q acoustics 3050's, wondering what they would test like?

 

[EchoChamber]

I did try the 3020i in my attic home office setup a while back and had the same subjective experience. It was just too bright to be pleasant. Fit and finish was so so, it felt cheap. So I returned it and got the SB Acoustics Micro 2 kit, not as budget friendly, but subjectively better in all respects (it uses the same tweeter as the S400). Needs some assembly though.

 

[stunta]

you are right on the money with rolling off the bottom octave hard and boosting targeted frequencies above that to fill-out a small speaker.

Interestingly enough, Radio Shack/Tandy used to sell a bass-enhancer which was an active LF parametric EQ with a low 20Hz filter (18dB/oct). It was sold specifically to work with their smaller speakers (minimus 7s etc) and was incredibly effective at cleaning up the low end from TT related warp and extreme LF from digital as well as providing useful and adjustable extension.

View attachment 72227

View attachment 72226

They are a very cool little product and frequently appear on eBay for nothing or close to it. It can make a minimus7 sound like a completely different and larger speaker.

This is a really interesting discussion and made me realize that even if I don't have a subwoofer, it could make sense to relieve small speakers from handling low frequency content if it is not going to do well with them. Simple, seems obvious, but to me this is an a-ha moment! Thank you.

 

[napilopez]

I think there's a nice balance between low price and performance + looks. The new 3030i should be a good one. A lot better than this for sure.

Definitely worth going for the 3030i if you can. When I used MZKM's sheet to compute preference scores based on my measurements (shared earlier in the thread), I got a 3.9/6.8 for the 3020i. Not totally sure the cause of the w/sub discrepancy given how close my measurements were to Amir's in this case(I've seen the score swing higher or lower compared to amir's, so it's not just the lower resolution boosting the score), but with the same process the 3030i gets a 5.2/7.5.

It should also be visually evident the 3030i is more timbrally balanced; still has the upper mids scoop but it's less pronounced. Plus of course the better bass extension and power handling afforded by the larger woofer.

Then again, if you don't like the 3020i, there's a good chance you won't like the 3030i either since they do still seem to have the same 'house sound.' even if the flaws are less pronounced in the latter.

 

[fordiebianco]

I've tried Q Acoustics twice because of the great reviews. I've been disappointed twice. I like how they look, but something is really missing for me.

Q-Acoustics Concept 40 owner here. Also owned the 2020is. What do you think is missing?

 

[hansik]

Q-Acoustics Concept 40 owner here. Also owned the 2020is. What do you think is missing?

I had the much cheaper 2020i and Q ACOUSTICS Concept Center. Great finish. But... lack of detail, presence (won't talk too much, this is a measurement forum hehe). Never heard the Concept 40.

 

[fordiebianco]

I had the much cheaper 2020i and Q ACOUSTICS Concept Center. Great finish. But... lack of detail, presence (won't talk too much, this is a measurement forum hehe). Never heard the Concept 40.

That's funny: compared to my KG4.5's they seem almost clinical. Only thing coming from the Klipschs is that voices suddenly seem much more anaemic.

Oh well, it's all psychoacoustics anyway

 

[hansik]

That's funny: compared to my KG4.5's they seem almost clinical. Only thing coming from the Klipschs is that voices suddenly seem much more anaemic.

Oh well, it's all psychoacoustics anyway

I had Klipsch also twice, wanted to like it, but also no love. Funny, that were the only brands i couldnt really like, 2 brands hyped very much. I've had Canton German speakers which were quite good and some I'm still using.
For my main home theater set i've been using QSC cinema speakers (great) and soon will upgrade (=disease) to JBL 4722's. I'm addicted to the dynamics of horns.

But I know Klipsch has some very good (mostly old) speakers. Probably your Q Acoustics could be good too