Q Acoustics 3050i review

Q Acoustics reaffirms its position of pre-eminence in the midrange floorstander market. Tested at £649 / $799

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

The 3050is are full of energy and even better than their predecessors; Q Acoustics has come up with the goods once more

Pros

  • +

    Punchy, musical and subtle performers

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    Large-scale presentation

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    Smart finish

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    Flexible about positioning

Cons

  • -

    Nothing of note at this price

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If your love for bass and big sound is greater than your budget for new speakers, a pair of midrange floorstanders could be just what your living room needs.

But not just any old pair of course. You owe it to yourself to acquire a great pair… such as these Q Acoustics 3050is, for instance.

Regular readers of What Hi-Fi? won’t be surprised to see five stars next to Q Acoustics’ name – not only have both the 3010i and 3020i standmounters in the brand’s 3000i range already bagged maximum stars, their predecessors (the 3050s) are also current Award winners.

Build and compatibility

The 3050is are more evolutionary than revolutionary, in terms of both performance and aesthetic.

For the latter, there is the addition of a fourth colour finish (grey, walnut, white or black) and a chrome bezel around each driver.

But there are some technical advancements over their predecessors. As with the 3010i and 3020i, cabinet rigidity has been improved – P2P (point-to-point) cabinet bracing gives extra support to the parts that require stiffening to make them quieter; the baffle is thicker to support the tweeter and mid/bass driver; traditional terminal panel cut-outs make way for embedded sockets within the cabinet.

MORE: How to build the perfect speaker

The 3050i’s 20mm soft dome tweeter has been decoupled from the baffle via a suspension system to isolate it from vibrations from the two sandwiching 16.5cm woofers.

Unique to the 3050is in the range, however, is their use of HPE (Helmholtz Pressure Equalizer) technology, which Q Acoustics first introduced in its high-end Concept 500 and has since trickled down to this lower price-point.

Essentially, this is a tube filled with damping material inside the cabinet, which aims to absorb energy and reduce resonance.

MORE: Q Acoustics Concept 500 review

Sound

The Q Acoustics 3050i’s performance isn’t short of energy. Echoing their predecessors’ musicality as well as warmth, smoothness and scale, they are also clearer, cleaner and punchier than the company’s previous midrange floorstanders.

We start with the wild groove of Jack White’s Corporation. Its experimental approach feels like it was ad-libbed during a protest march, and the manifold patterns, flitting tempos and stereo interplay make for great tests of timing and rhythmic aptitude.

There’s never a dull moment as the instrumental parts switch between cascading guitar strums and solos, playful bass lines and various African drum patterns, while the vocals consist of shrieks between sparse lyrics.

MORE: How to build the perfect hi-fi system

The 3050is keep it all in check, clocking different dynamic signatures and tracking overlapping instruments in a spacious, orderly soundstage so that nothing feels like a mere footnote. It’s an interesting delivery, and the QAs demonstrate their adaptibility as we jump between genres.

Even with Gas’s Rausch – whose ambient sounds could easily be deemed uninteresting when heard through dynamically flat speakers – the Q Acoustics have the subtlety to pick out textures and discern dynamics without combing over intricacies.

With effortless concentration they ride the piece’s undulating waves of techno beats, taut and punchy and punctual through the 3050i’s woofer. The Q Acoustics’ ability to anchor the deepest, most foreboding notes allows them to communicate threat and peril effectively.

MORE: How to buy speakers and set them up for the best sound

Texas Midlands by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is also a great advert for floorstanders of this calibre, allowing these Q Acoustics to extract greater out-and-out low-end reach than just about any standmounting alternative.

Likewise, the tribal drum pattering in LCD Soundsystem’s How Do You Sleep? reveals the Q Acoustics’ low-end agility in all its glory.

Thankfully that talent doesn’t come at the expense of the higher frequencies.

With Suede’s Filmstar, Brett Anderson’s midrange vocal lifts and lurches between the dense electric instrumental as he belts out his cynical lyrics, while there’s crispness to the leading edges of the tangy guitar lines that reflect the recording’s thorny production.

MORE: Best speaker deals - hi-fi, Bluetooth, wireless

Verdict

The 3050is are a pair of speakers you may only need to hear for a few minutes before wondering which finish will best suit your room.

Q Acoustics has squeezed more performance into its mid-level towers than ever before, albeit at a higher price (the 3050s launched at £500).

In doing so, it has comfortably filled an important price gap between the five-star Fyne Audio F302 (£400) and Monitor Audio Silver 200 (£1000).

With the 3050is, Q Acoustics has reaffirmed its position within the midrange floorstander market. As the 2018 Awards draw ever nearer, it certainly bodes well for the company.

See all our Q Acoustics reviews

What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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