Q Acoustics 3050c 5.1 with Q SUB100 review

Q Acoustics makes a long-awaited return to our home cinema testing room with its new 3050c 5.1 speaker package.

Built around components from the recently introduced entry-level 3000c series, this surround sound system inherits crucial driver technology and design cues from Q Acoustics’ higher-end ranges.

The brand has built an impressive reputation over the years for delivering massive, room-filling sound in both the hi-fi and home cinema senses, so expectations are high for this new surround sound package.

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We’re also eager to see how trickle-down speaker technology performs in practice; top-tier engineering doesn’t always mesh seamlessly with mid-range components, after all. So, how does the 3050c 5.1 package perform?

Price

Q Acoustics doesn’t officially sell the system it's provided us with as a complete set, though it has given us a combined price of £1,896 / $3,506 for this package. It does sell an identically named pack on its website and through other retailers, though this comes with a different subwoofer, so we expect the performance to be different.

The package we’ve been supplied comprises the 3050c floorstanders (£749 / $1349 per pair), the 3010c bookshelf surrounds (£249 / $479 per pair), the 3090c centre channel speaker (£229 / $399), and the Q SUB100 active subwoofer (£699 / $1199). The widely available pre-bundled package swaps the Q SUB100 for the 3060S subwoofer, and costs £1626 here in the UK.

Competition at this price sits squarely with the Award-winning Bowers & Wilkins 606/607 S3 speaker system, which is currently available at various retailers for around £1950, down from its original price of £2496.

The B&W package has proven to be an issue for Q Acoustics before, as it edged out the 5040 5.1 package at our 2023 Awards – who doesn’t love a rematch?

Build & design

The 3050c 5.1 package is a good-looking and well-built collection of speakers. They sport smooth corners and metallic embellishments, resulting in a modern, high-quality look that should blend nicely into many living rooms or home cinema environments.

Our system is in the Satin White finish, though you can also buy the speakers in Satin Black, Claro Walnut, or Pin Oak finishes. All colourways come with a unique champagne-gold baffle surround surrounding the drivers, which gives them an elevated look. The speakers also include magnetic grilles in the box.

The 3050c are a pair of mid-sized floorstanders, measuring 102 x 32 x 32cm (hwd, including spikes and stabilisers), and the 3010c are a very compact set of surrounds at 25 x 16 x 25cm (hwd).

Though it's the 3090c that surprises us most; at just 16 x 43 x 22cm (hwd), it’s one of the smallest centre channel speakers to cross the threshold of our home cinema room in recent memory. The Q SUB100 also keeps things relatively compact at 35 x 35 x 38cm (hwd).

The 3000c family sports a multitude of design features aimed at improving sound. All components feature rear ports, and Q Acoustics has implemented its P2P (Point to Point) bracing system throughout the range for enhanced rigidity, aimed at “improving the focus of the stereo image and giving the soundstage more accuracy than ever before”, according to Q Acoustics.

Specific to the 3050c floorstanders is the inclusion of HPE (Helmholtz Pressure Equaliser) tubes, which are fitted inside the speakers to nullify internal cabinet pressure and improve frequency response, all in the pursuit of eliminating unwanted standing waves and colouration.

Features

Core to the 3000c series is Q Acoustics’ C3 Continuous Curved Cone driver design, which first debuted in the 5000 series speakers; namely the Award-winning 5040 floorstanders.

Found here in the mid/bass drivers, the proprietary speaker design reportedly touts the “bass performance advantages of a traditional straight conic cone with the midrange and high-end control of a flared cone”.

Similarly, the tweeter design for this range also takes inspiration from the more expensive 5000 series speakers. The high-frequency drivers within the 3000c series are hermetically sealed and mechanically isolated from the baffle, which Q Acoustics says will prevent “internal pressure modulations from within the cabinet and from the adjacent mid/bass driver”.

The floorstanding 3050c sandwiches a 22mm tweeter between dual 14cm mid/bass drivers in a vertical arrangement. The 3010c surrounds and 3090c centre channel share the same tweeter, paired with a single 10cm driver in each surround speaker and a symmetrical, dual-driver layout flanking the tweeter in the centre speaker.

Moving onto the subwoofer, the Q SUB100 (and for that matter, the whole of the Q Sub range) is touted to be more powerful than the Q12 subwoofer included with the 5040 5.1 package. It sports a 25cm driver, a claimed peak amplification power of 500W, and a clever source detection system that can distinguish the input type (whether that’s a stereo amplifier or a multi-channel home cinema receiver) and level to adapt bass performance.

Sound

Good looks and an extensive feature-set only tell a small portion of the story; it’s the sound performance that we care most about.

We have the 3050c 5.1 package hooked up to the Award-winning Marantz Cinema 30 for our testing. While this amplifier is undeniably overkill for a speaker package of this price, its revealing sound and plentiful power should help us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of this system.

We also have the Bowers & Wilkins 606/607 S3 speaker package on hand as a reference, and we’ve raided our library of reference 4K discs to assess performance.

Starting with F1: The Movie, the 3050c 5.1 is off to a flying start. The energy and pace of this speaker system are immediately evident, resulting in an exciting, almost nerve-wracking sound during the tense 24 hours of Daytona race at the beginning of the film. As cars overtake daringly and spin out in a spectacular display of carnage, the Q Acoustics’ agility is a clear asset.

The 3050c 5.1 also does an excellent job of putting us in the middle of the action. The cohesion between the front and surround channels is excellent, ensuring there are no noticeable gaps. As such, the surround speakers are also integrated well, meaning we’re not made aware of them in a distracting way.

The sense of space and height is also a highlight of this system. The voices of David Croft and Martin Brundle as they commentate over races have a genuine sense of height, and the wide, enveloping soundfield puts us squarely in the centre of the action.

Moving onto Dune: Part One, we watch the sequence in which the Atreides family survey the spice desert from the air. The voices are clear and crisp, making dialogue easy to understand, and the thunderous drums that command the soundtrack flex the Q SUB100's muscles with a strong leading edge to each strike, and a touch of tonal variety that sprinkles in some texture and life to the rhythmic beats.

Switching our testing disc to Marvel’s Thunderbolts, we use the sequence in which the anti-heroes escape a facility in the desert with the mysterious Bob. The speaker system’s positive attributes are perfectly suited to this sequence; its agile and exciting nature makes the fight sequences feel wonderfully intense, and the talented subwoofer brings a hefty dose of bass to a big explosion and a flurry of gunshots.

However, this scene also affirms a shortcoming of the package, specifically the centre channel. While the majority of the system works in harmony to create a cohesive and cinematic sound, the centre channel feels like it's the only component at odds with that.

Voices sound too narrow and boxed in, making us acutely aware of where they’re coming from. While this does aid vocal clarity, it also means that voices don’t feel particularly well integrated into the greater mix. They also sound tonally quite flat, which makes the snide jabs thrown from one team member to another feel as though they’re lacking in character.

This package has a clear tendency to sound lean. The agility and crispness that are, in a vacuum, two positive attributes can also result in the 3050c system sounding a bit too forward and, at times, slightly insistent. It’s lacking a touch of warmth and naturalness that the Bowers & Wilkins 606/607 S3 5.1 system brings to the table.

This is felt most when it comes to music. Switching to Pure Direct for some stereo content, we find that Maggie Rogers’ Dog Years, Bon Iver’s There’s A Rhythm and Phoebe Bridgers’ Lost Boys all come across as slightly shouty, despite all being fairly soft-sounding tracks.

That said, we can’t dispute the 3050c’s detail and timing, as both are excellent when we listen to music through them.

Verdict

Q Acoustics has launched another eye-catching and exciting-sounding home cinema package that is sure to appeal to those who want a 5.1 system that is bursting with energy. While we feel that it can sound a bit too lean at times, and we wish that the centre channel paired better with the rest of the system, we still think that there is plenty to like here.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 4
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package

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