Q Acoustics’ formerly-Award-winning floorstanders are down to their lowest price thanks to Black Friday

Q Acoustics 5050 floorstanders with Black Friday tag

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

In the market for a formidable pair of speakers for a shade over £1000?

The five-star Q Acoustics 5050 are easily up there with the best floorstanding speakers we've tested in the last few years. In fact, we like them so much they picked up not one but two What Hi-Fi? Awards in 2024 thanks to their excellent clarity, insight and sense of rhythmic drive.

The flagship pair in Q Acoustics' 5000 range of speakers, the 5050 are a step up in size and cabinet volume compared to their five-star 5040 siblings, using a single 25mm soft dome tweeter and twin 15cm mid/bass drivers to outstanding effect.

During testing, we found these extremely satisfying towers serve up a classy sound with plenty of scale and thrust, offering the best of both worlds by balancing clarity and insight with strong dynamics and impressive bass.

In our Q Acoustics 5050 review, we said they produce “a generous soundstage that is well-focused and nicely layered” and “they never sound confused and manage to keep hold of a multitude of instrumental strands without losing track of the musical whole.”

The speakers are rear-ported, but they aren’t overly fussy about room positioning and manage to summon “some of the most controlled and articulate bass that we have heard from a tower at this level”.

One tiny thing to consider is that we think their tonal balance is a touch forward, so you'll just need to bear this in mind when pairing the speakers with any partnering electronics.

We feel that Arcam’s A5 (or subsequent A5+) integrated or Cambridge Audio’s similarly-priced CXA81 are good starting points for amplification, while similarly talented sources such as the Arcam CD5 CD player, Rega Planar 3 record player or Cambridge Audio CXN100 should be considered.

Get it right and you'll be enjoying five-star speakers at a knocked down price. With £180 off at Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks and Peter Tyson, you really can't lose.

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Harry McKerrell is a senior staff writer at What Hi-Fi?. During his time at the publication, he has written countless news stories alongside features, advice and reviews of products ranging from floorstanding speakers and music streamers to over-ear headphones, wireless earbuds and portable DACs. He has covered launches from hi-fi and consumer tech brands, and major industry events including IFA, High End Munich and, of course, the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. When not at work he can be found playing hockey, practising the piano or trying to pet strangers' dogs.

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