Q Acoustic Concept 500 - Review

Backstory for those who don’t know the drama of the Bigman80 system.

Today I feel an overriding sense of relief.

After being forced (by the horrid room interaction) to sell my beloved Mordaunt Short 880’s a few months ago, I have been adrift on a plateau of OKAY speakers.

OKAY may seem like a strong description considering the caliber of speaker that have been here. Such well revered classics such as the Yamaha NS1000M’s, Modern-ish Naim Ovator 400’s & KEF LS50’s have graced the listening room. While i am happy to say the Yamaha’s were easily my favourite out of all of those, even the might of the Yamahas paled in comparison to the 880’s, The Heco Celan GT 702’s & one of my favourites from another system….the JMLabs 926 Electra’s.

It’s a level change that I was not convinced the Yamaha’s could bridge, even with new XO’s, and I wasn’t prepared to pay to find out.

The issue I had with the yams was the bass driver. IMO it climbs way too high into the midrange and causes a midrange hump type of effect. It distracted from a tweeter and midrange driver combination that was utterly devoid of colouration. The Tweeters and the mids are utterly neutral, maybe too neutral for some, but I really appreciate how good those two units are. Troels Gravessen's replacement XO’s correct this issue of the midrange bloom caused by the woofer, apparently. Of course, all of this could be down to some sort of room interaction and therefore would not be the same experience for others in their system and rooms.

Over months, Angus (Phonomac on AOS) and I theorised about what the next move for my system could or should be. A planning session to move the whole setup into a converted garage seemed highly likely, but the magnitude of all the work I would have to do elsewhere, prior to being able to convert the garage, I knew I had to change the plan.

I will make that move, but I didn't want to be without the right sound for 3 years while i was doing it.

The failed attempt with the Naim Ovators actually gave me a lot of hope of being able to put a speaker of that physical size in the room. The Ovators lack the level of transparency I require. The bigger issue was the bass. I don’t think I have ever heard a speaker make bass sound so flat and devoid of mass. Odd in the LF

However, there was no overpowering of the room. FINALLY….. Some HOPE.

It wasn’t a match made in heaven though and according to the forumites, they fare much better with Naim amps. That's never going to happen here, so they were shunted out within a week.

Back to square one.

When Angus and I were talking about speakers some 6 or so months ago, I mooted the possibility of trying the Q Acoustic Concept 500’s. Angus’s usual disdain for the majority of speakers I suggested didn’t appear, he seemed quite ok about them. They were now firmly on the radar.

I think i read every review, watched every Youtube video and digested any information i could find on the Concept 500’s. £2500.00 for a used pair represented a significant investment and to have never heard a pair and to have never tried a pair in my speaker killing room…….well, it was a squeaky bum moment when i sent the eBay offer in.

Three offers swiftly rejected by the cash hungry B*****ds at Peter Tyson followed. Why they have the “make an offer” facility activated when they have no intention of accepting any offers is beyond me.

I decided i couldn’t spend the money on them. It was just TOO much.

Then they dropped the price to £2399.00……..BOOM….BUY IT NOW! Lol

Strange how a little discount pushes you over the edge. Fair play to Peter Tyson, they got their price and delivery was swift. Next day. No complaints from me.

The Arrival

The speaker arrived in coffin sized boxes. Seriously, I'm saving these bad boys for a “low cost eco-burn and scatter” at some point in the future.

Getting the speakers out was a huge PITA. They weigh 40kgs, the boxes slid all over the place….OMG….nightmare.

Eventually, with my spine barely hanging by a thread, I had them out and in position.

Looking at them, the finish is absolutely boutique level. They are immaculately finished and the deep black gloss seems to go on forever. A quick wipe over with the cleaning cloth to remove my hand prints and I was ready to fire them up.

The Listening

Seeing as I was like a kid on Crimbo morning, i left the stock jumpers in place. A big no-no, but i hadn't made any of my OCC ones and i just wanted to see what they did straight out of the box.

I put on a few tracks and they sounded good. VERY good, but i was still missing that open window into the soundstage. IT was close, closer than i’d been for months but not quite.

I cut them a bit of slack. They were cold and they needed to warm up. I left some music on and just tried to get them to misbehave. The bass did reverberate a little, so i took the bungs and pushed the middle out, making them look like a donut.

In they went, and as i sat listening to “Gimmie Some Truth” i could tell things were starting to open up.

A few very enjoyable hours passed and I decided it was time to put some heavy duty copper links in, instead of the jumpers provided.

This is proven ground as far as i am concerned, so it should come as no surprise that i noted immediate and obvious improvement to LF detail, delineation was improved and so too was the space in the soundstage. More snap in the drums, and less reverberation in the room.

I took the bungs out and listened to a few tracks, but felt I still preferred the donuts in place.

Forgetting I had some OCC in the garage, I listened for another couple of hours. The soundstage and imaging is totally detached from the speakers, and that apparition effect we managed to get out of Macca’s system was happening here...just not quite as obvious. Likely due to space to evolve.

The one thing that kept coming to me was macca’s words about how his system is pin sharp, and I wasn't totally convinced i was there. Maybe a few more hours to warm up…..maybe a different DAC?…...then i remembered my OCC stash…..Lets make some proper jumpers for them.

OCC and the journey to the GODS!

It doesn’t seem to matter where I stick this stuff in the system, it never lets me down. Once again it did not fail me. Literally, within seconds of listening the sound was crisper and cleaner. Bass was tighter, HF had better extension and detail was improved too.

NOW we are hitting those levels i have been chasing for the last 6 months.

The Q 500’s are absolutely seamless in all ways. The balance and even handed response from top to bottom is without emphasis in any section. I watched a review where the reviewer suggested they were just not noteworthy for anything. I for one won’t be listening to a word he says in future.

The Q’s are entirely noteworthy for being completely stunning. They achieve this by the best method possible…..camouflage. They are big units, but it’s like they vanish the second any music starts.

They don't exist when music is playing. They don't imprint themselves on the sound. They don’t colour anything. They don't pull your attention towards them in any way, and THAT is what the very best speakers do.

Listening to almost anything in my library, they brought out everything in the recording, but not at the expense of anything. It’s so hard to explain.

I intend to do some critical listening over the next few days, so I will try and put a more specific/detailed breakdown of them together.


The 50 hours mark

We're now nearly 50hrs into owning the Q's and as per my previous experience, letting them get up to room temp and settle down is starting to show a lot of reward. 

I spent some time today making sure I had the speakers level, all connections were tight and secure and that I had toe-in spot on. 

I subjected them to some of my most crucial tracks. You know the ones. The kind that if you can't *feel* them, then whatever you have put in to the system has to be replaced. 

I felt a little uneasy hitting them with this kind of material so early on, but they have really hit the ground running.My best test track for this is "The Beatles - A Day In The Life" I've gone over this before, but it's not about SQ. It's about the way it was recorded and how it is reproduced by the system and ultimately, from the speakers. I have heard systems butcher this. It's not an easy feat to nail this.

Having left the system simmering for an hour or so, I decided to play the track. 
 
Any feeling of concern was swiftly dispelled and in its place was awe. The Piano sounded utterly vibrant and realistic in tone and harmonics. As soon as Lennon started singing, I knew that the rest of this track was going to be "a moment" I'd remember in my HIFI journey. It was. Startlingly intimate then moving to grandiose as the orchestra chimed in. In my time as an audiophile, I haven't heard it ever sound as good as it did today. 

Obviously, I am already a huge fan of these speakers. I was also aware that my enthusiasm for them may already be swaying my opinion. "They can do no wrong" is not how any piece of kit should be viewed.

So I pulled out the big guns........"Cartel" Greatest (only) demo recording session tapes. Yes, the band I was in was called Cartel, and yes.....these are the big guns, because I was there.  Not only playing the guitar, the bass and whatever else we needed, but I helped record and mix down the tracks too. 

The first one I played was a simple vocal over rhythm guitar track, with the accompanying instruments pulled right down in the mix. It was the singers (Kerr) first take, so it's pretty rough. I'd already recorded three guitar parts and the bass player had done his bit too. Vocals next and then the drummer (when he bothered to turn up) would do his bit.
All of this was done in a huge purpose built shed in the bass players garden in Low Hill - Wolverhampton. It was a simple control room and a second room for the recording to take place. It may have been simple, but it had great kit in it, and he knew what he was doing. 

I started the track and got a shiver down my spine. Kerr (singer) was there. 100%. My memory of that day was ignited, and we were back in "The Shed" recording that track. I went through the whole of that session, or at least the tracks  I still have, and it was like being there. 

Kerr's voice. I couldn't get over it. 

The Q's revealed everything, the finger slides on the guitar, the technique I use when I play. I mean, I KNOW how I play, but it was odd to hear how I play so accurately replicated through a HIFI system. It was like my memory of that session was playing back through the speakers.

Like they had streamed it directly from my brain and tuned it to how my ears heard it on the day, and my brain remembered it originally. 

Seriously, I have never had an experience like that in my life. Then there was the guitar I used to record another track. Nylon strung, big body, fat neck. Wow, it was uncanny how accurately it replayed it. 

I had a J200 at the time too. Used on multiple tracks, and you could hear when I swapped from the J200 to the Taylor. I still own the Taylor and playing it today (different strings) was eerily close to the recording. 

I took a bit of a break, as hearing the past so vividly had scrambled my brain a bit. Returning to King Crimson and the like, I was just in awe of how good these Q acoustics are. I am literally looking forward to hearing them again. I woke up a 6am thinking about what I was going to play today. That's how enjoyable my system is with these on the end of it. 

In regard to whether any of this listener experience would translate into another system or not, I just don't  know. All I can say is, in the last 50 hours, not only have I got back to the level I was at with the 880's, I think I have surpassed it by some distance. Likely to do with the other changes I made since the 880's left, but I can tell you this, based on what I have heard here so far, I would not consider swapping the Q's for ANYTHING else I have heard anywhere, at any price.

I think they are that good. 

Are they perfect? Well, that's unlikely. I am sure in a different environment, against a proper full range speaker of equal quality, there would be differences.

However, in a domestic setting such as mine and that of countless others, that have issues with bass, lack of space or reverberation all over the place.......they are the speaker I'd recommend.  They are quite prominent and draw your attention visually in the room. They don't "blend in" as they are pretty tall, but even on the spikes, the bass is under control with the bungs used to good effect. 

Soundstage is wider than the outer edges, scale is excellent and depth is great too. I suspect even better in a larger room. 

They are not cheap, but I have to say that they are worth every penny I spent. Fantastic speakers.