New cone technology and a shift in sonic character
Floorstanding speakers | £999 | whf.cm/QAcoustics5040
From our point of view, Q Acoustics appears to be a prisoner of its own success. The brand burst onto the scene back in 2006 with a terrific range of budget speakers, and each new generation of that original range has reinforced the company’s reputation as a budget speaker maestro. The truckload of five-star reviews and awards gained over that time have helped too.
The trouble with such success at lower price points is that it has led to a lack of appreciation for the brand’s more upmarket products. The £3599 Concept 500 floorstanders are a great example. These are truly excellent speakers for the money, in many ways better than alternatives that cost thousands more; but, in the UK at least, the retail price is lower now than it was on launch in 2017. Given how much prices have risen across the board over the last six years that tells its own story.
The new 5000 series fills the gap between the budget 3000 models and the more premium Concept range. At launch, it consists of two standmounters, two floorstanders, a dedicated centre speaker and a subwoofer. The Q Acoustics 5040 is the smaller of the two towers, and at 97cm high and just 18cm wide is the right kind of size to slip into most rooms without being obtrusive.
Same shape, different drivers
These floorstanders use the company’s favoured twin-mid/bass-driver-with-a-tweeter-in-the-middle layout, which has produced good results in terms of dispersion and integration in previous models. In the 5040, however, those mid/bass drivers are a brand-new design that uses what Q Acoustics calls a Continuous Curved Cone. This new driver has a geometry that is claimed to marry the rigidity advantages of a standard conical cone profile with the high-frequency break-up characteristics of a more flared design.
The cone material is the company’s favoured impregnated paper and the diaphragm’s diameter is a pretty slim 125mm. In our meetings with the engineers it becomes evident that they are really proud of this design, so don’t be surprised to find it implemented in future models.
The tweeter follows company traditions by being a 25mm soft-dome that is decoupled from the front baffle to reduce any distortions caused by structural vibrations. The three drive units are linked by a relatively simple second-order crossover network that uses metallized polyester film c
