Q Acoustics Q Active 200

Q Active 200 can be specified with a bespoke stand. Inspired by the ground-breaking Tensegrity stand developed by Q Acoustics for its high-end Concept 300 loudspeaker, the Q Active 200 stand minimises resonance from the floor to the speaker cabinet (and vice-versa) thanks to its remarkable low-mass, low-reflectivity design. And in addition to its acoustic benefits, the stand’s minimal design is the perfect visual complement to Q Active 200’s unique looks

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Your Choice Of Control

In addition to you choice of voice assistant, Q Active can also be controlled using your favorite streaming apps. Or if the TV plugged into the HDMI ARC socket on the control hub is CEC-equipped, use the TV’s remote to control functions like ‘volume’ and ‘standby’. Alternatively use the cabinet mounted volume control features on each Q Active speaker.

Voice Control

If you have an Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, 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. Simply choose which hub you prefer – the hub that works with Amazon Alexa or the hub that is compatible with Google Assistant-enabled devices with Chromecast built-in. Both versions of the hub can be used with Apple Siri.

With any of these 3 features, you can control your Q Active system with your voice. You can also use the Google Home app or Amazon Alexa app to control your Q Active system.

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. The hub comes in two variants, one that works with Amazon Alexa† or one that is compatible with a Google Assistant-enabled device with Chromecast built-in™.

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.

*Note stands extra if required