Q Active
Expect The Exceptional
The Q Active Series are available in your choice of stunning finish, in either, Matte White or Matte Black.
Both finishes are flawlessly applied, quietly reflective of ambient light, and will enhance the interior ambience & aesthetic of any home.
Tensegrity Stand
Q Active 200 can be mounted upon its own bespoke stand, which was inspired by our ground-breaking tripod-style Tensegrity stand developed by Q Acoustics for our, without equal, Concept 300 loudspeaker. The Q Active 200 stand minimizes resonance from the floor to the speaker cabinet (and vice-versa) because of the remarkable low-mass, low-reflectivity configuration. Additional to its acoustic benefits, the minimal design of the stand, is the superb visual complement to Q Active 200’s unique appearance. Stands are sold separately.
Q Active Control Hub
The Q Active hub is the heart of the system, and also supports physical formats and converts them into a high resolutions 24bit/96kHz digital file. The hub then streams this high-resolution audio file to the speakers – so any format you want to listen to can be dealt with wirelessly by your Q Active system. Which means high-quality wireless audio performance no matter the source of your music.
Wireless Connectivity
Each Q Active system includes connectivity for Bluetooth 4.1, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and UPnP. Q Active is also Roon Ready.
In addition, Q Active is designed to support your favourite streaming service’s native app – which means simple, straightforward access to the entire planet’s music. Q Active works with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal.
“In short, the Q Active 200 sounds exquisite…Use the Q Acoustic 200 to their fullest as your main living room sound system, connected to your TV, and added to a multiroom setup, and you won’t be disappointed with your investment.”
Stuff, 5 stars
“Q Active 200 is a brilliant system that is packed with acoustic energy.”
Forbes
“Q Acoustics takes a crack at its first powered speaker and knocks it right out of the park.”
TechHive, 4.5 stars, Editor’s Choice Award
“The Q Acoustics Q Active 200 is wireless, powerful, complete - and proves how simple, comfortable and living room-friendly modern music enjoyment can be… purely as a one-room solution, the audio system delivers first-class sound…”
Lite, Editor’s Choice
“The Q active 200 is an impressive pair of active speakers and streaming system rolled into one. There versatility in terms of connectivity is a boon and their flexibility in terms of placement makes them easy to adapt to any room…this is an ambitious system that acts like a rug to knit all your gear into one wireless system.”
Trusted Reviews, 4.5 stars, Recommended Award
“The Q Active 200 was able to quickly captivate us with its musicality after only a few songs…it offers a listening experience that is as special as it is smart. So it really earned our fifth star as well as our warm recommendation! Outstanding!”
Stereo, 5 stars
“Great musicality, those speakers are able to deliver a great sound quality and dispersion, whatever the music…a great achievement from Q Acoustics at that price level”
ON mag, 4.5 stars
“…these speakers are really remarkable in terms of acoustic power and precision…The analog input shows that the system is capable of nuance and complexity…”
Diapason, 5 stars
“…if you’re looking for something that works as cohesively as single chassis all-in-one but delivers a performance across music and film that is bigger and more confident than any of them, this is where you need to start looking.”
AVForums, Recommended Award
Multiroom
Audio Integration
Whether you choose Chromecast built-in, Apple AirPlay 2, or Roon to organize your multi-room music system, Q Active can be seamlessly integrated into to your life. The same song playing all over your home, or different music in different zones, music to follow you as you move around your home, Q Active can be part of your experience.
Voice
Control
If you have an Apple Siri, or a Google Assistant-enabled speaker on your home network, it’s easy to control the volume and playback selection of the Q Active system. Control your Q Active system with your voice or you may also utilize the Google Home app to control your Q Active system.
Your Choice
Of Control
In addition to you choice of voice assistant, Q Active can also be controlled using your favourite streaming apps. With the TV plugged into the HDMI ARC socket on the control hub is CEC-equipped, use the TV’s remote to ‘volume’ and ‘standby’ functions. Alternatively use the mounted volume control features on each speaker.
Stunning High Resolution Sound
Audio can be described as ‘high resolution’ if it consists of a digital audio format of greater than the CD-standard 16bit/44.1kHz. Q Active can support wireless streaming with a maximum source resolution of 32bit/192kHz, whether from its control hub via a smartphone or tablet.
This means any source plugged into the hub will be converted to an information-rich 24bit/96kHz digital format before it’s streamed to the Q Active speakers, and the top tier of any high-resolution music streaming service will be streamed at this resolution too.
The result of all this painstaking and uncompromised engineering is extraordinary musical accuracy and amazing audio quality. Q Active delivers a sonic performance way beyond its price.
Active Amplification
In a traditional, passive audio system there is one amplifier. It drives two speakers, which will have a total of at least four drivers. In the Q Active system, each driver (there are three in each Q Active 200 speaker and four in each Q Active 400 speaker) is controlled by its own individual, specifically selected amplifier.
Using a total of six (or eight) discrete amplifiers, with a total of 280 (or 440) watts of power to drive the Q Active system means each individual driver receives its own carefully regulated amplification. As a result, Q Active is able to control each driver with accuracy and finesse which in short, means Q Active sounds bigger and more precise than you might think possible.
Dynamic Widescreen Sound
Q Active doesn’t look unique simply for the sake of it. Q Acoustics wanted Q Active to deliver a widescreen sound with no compromise in stereo focus or soundstage, and specified Balanced Mode Radiators (BMRs). BMRs allow Q Active to deliver outstanding sound quality across your entire listening area, rather than restricting it to the ‘sweet spot’ of more traditional driver arrangements. And, in addition to this widescreen presentation, BMRs deliver seamless midrange performance. Because they operate all the way down to 150Hz, where they hand over to Q Actives’ subwoofer driver, there is no midrange crossover distortion and, consequently, completely clean and uncoloured midrange performance. Offsetting the BMRs in the Q Active cabinet serves a function, too. It allows for a degree of fine-tuning in your listening room, as it’s possible to position the BMRs to the inside or the outside of the cabinets.
Standard Drivers
BMR Drivers
Powerful, Controlled Bass
The back of an ordinary loudspeaker isn’t usually worthy of discussion. But, as is surely obvious by now, Q Active is far from an ordinary loudspeaker – and that goes for the rear of its cabinet too.
Q Active 200 features a rear-firing 114mm / (4.5in) subwoofer delivering fast, deep and beautifully organised bass. Q Active 400 features a pair of the subwoofers in order to double down on the low-frequency action.
The subwoofers fire onto a fixed ‘Wave guide’ boundary to ensure that the bass response of Q Active is always perfectly controlled – no matter where in your room you decide to position the speaker.
Stunning Ground-Up Design
Rather than attempt to fit one of its existing loudspeaker designs with electronics, Q Acoustics has designed Q Active from the ground up with the express intent of delivering an utterly uncompromised high-resolution audio system that looks as good as it sounds.
Unrivalled Acoustic Engineering
Meticulous attention to detail has produced a compact, high-performance system that makes a distinctive visual statement – but every element of Q Active has been engineered to deliver the best performance possible.
As well as the panoramic, widescreen sound delivered by the BMR arrangement and the deep, controlled bass served up by the carefully specified and positioned subwoofers, Q Acoustics has paid painstaking attention to the way the Q Active cabinet contributes to the system’s outstanding sonic performance.
Balance And Rigidity
‘Dart’ bracing is in both the Q Active 200 and Q Active 400 cabinets to provide essential stiffness to the cabinet and equally helpful mechanical stability to the rear-firing subwoofer units.
In Q Active 400, careful positioning of the two subwoofers means standing waves inside the cabinet that might colour the sound are effectively neutralised to give a powerful linear bass response.
Tuned For Your Environment
Unlike most loudspeakers, Q Active is tuned to perform to its maximum potential no matter where in your listening room it’s positioned. And unlike most loudspeakers, Q Active is remarkably forgiving of less-than- ideal placement. Its driver configuration means it’s one of the most flexible, as well as one of the best-sounding, speakers you can buy at any price.
Speaker Arrangement
Q Actives can be positioned with the BMRs either on the inside or the outside of the cabinets, allowing perfect audio reproduction no matter if you’re sitting close to the speakers or far away from them. There’s a simple switch on the back of each Q Active speaker to designate it as either the left- or the right-hand channel.
Boundary Setting
A second switch allows you to tell the speaker exactly where it’s positioned in relation to the room – close to a rear wall, in a corner, or out in a little free space. This information allows Q Active to fine-tune its low- frequency response in order to deliver the best possible sound no matter the circumstances.
