Q Acoustics CONCEPT 300 B-GRADE Silver/Ebony Bookshelf Speakers (Exc Tensegrity Stands)

Introduction
Since its founding in 2006, Q Acoustics has built an unrivalled reputation for designing, engineering and manufacturing innovative, high-performance and class-leading loudspeakers at every price-point. This ongoing and concerted demonstration of excellence has all led to Concept 300.

The brief for Concept 300 is simple, yet staggeringly ambitious. Build on the runaway success of the floorstanding Concept 500 and deliver a standmounting alternative that’s at once more affordable, of utterly uncompromised performance and of stylish, understated elegance.

There follows a brief explanation of just how Q Acoustics has made this happen and, by extension, why Concept 300 represents the state of the loudspeaker art in the 21st century.

Design
The days of performance being the be-all and end-all of a loudspeaker are long gone. Aesthetic considerations are perfectly valid and, to this end, in the Concept 300 Q Acoustics has designed a high-end, high-performance loudspeaker that’s unshowily sophisticated and able to interact discreetly with any interior design vocabulary.

On the outside, numerous lacquer coats produce a high-quality gloss finish which is combined with real-wood veneers. This results in a cabinet that manages to be clean and understated at the same time as being of obviously high perceived value.

The uncluttered look of the cabinets is further enhanced by innovative drive unit mounting. Both the tweeter and mid/bass driver are fixed, from behind, by strong spring-tensioned retaining bolts which negate the need for any exposed bolt-heads on the speaker face.

At the rear of the speaker, Concept 300 features an over-specified terminal panel which is designed to resist vibrations from the cabinet. It’s equipped for bi-wiring (or bi-amping) via its electrically isolated terminals - these can accept bare wire, spade connectors or 4mm banana plugs.

P2P™ Bracing
The intelligence of the design of the Concept 300 cabinet is evident in its use of P2P™ bracing. Q Acoustics is able to measure the performance of the cabinet structure at a microscopic level and identifies the precise positions that require support.

So the P2P™ targeted cabinet-bracing method means the cabinet has exactly the support it needs, and no more. In this instance, a long and involved analysis of a problem results in a simple and brilliantly effective solution.

Dual Gelcore™
Having dealt with lower-frequency vibrations using P2P™ bracing, Q Acoustics then negates higher-frequency cabinet vibrations using its bespoke Dual Gelcore™ technology.

The Concept 300 cabinet is comprised of three individual layers, each separated by a non-setting gel - the gel acts rather like a high-tech and extremely effective gasket. Any stray high-frequency vibrations are converted into heat which dissipates within the gel.

Driver Units and Crossover
Q Acoustics has taken its proven (and acclaimed) driver technology from the Concept 500 floorstanding speaker and enhanced its performance to perfectly match the requirements of the Concept 300’s smaller cabinet.

The mid/bass driver is a 165mm impregnated/coated paper cone with very low resonance thanks to its high-performance rubber surround. It sits in front of a large (35mm) glass fibre voice coil and equally substantial ferrite magnet. The result is midrange and bass response that’s as punchy and dynamic as it is poised and eloquent.

Above it, the 28mm high-frequency driver, made of super-fine strands of coated microfibre, is decoupled from the speaker cabinet using a rubber gasket. This protects the tweeter from sending or receiving unwanted vibrations and allows it to be mounted close to the mid-bass driver. This improves integration with the larger driver - and the very subtle horn-shaped profile to the tweeter’s front plate allows perfect impedance-matching with its environment without colouring performance.

Results
A combination of rigorous engineering, uncompromised industrial design and aspirational aesthetics makes Concept 300 the most fully realised loudspeaker Q Acoustics has yet delivered. In combination with the equally meticulous Tensegrity stand, Concept 300 represents a step-change in loudspeaker design and a redefinition of what is possible at its price.