September 2016


Best Of 2016 Blue Note Equipment Awards

Q Acoustics Concept 40 Loudspeaker
Price: $1200
Click here to read the complete review.

For this year’s Enjoy The Music.com Blue Note awards, Senior Editor Tom Lyle chose the very affordable Q Acoustics Concept 40 loudspeaker. This British manufacturer is hardly a new one in most places within the world, but they are new to North America. And how lucky we are that they're here, because one of their newest speakers is the magnificent Project 40. In his review of the Concept 40, Tom LyleI said, "For $1200, one gets floorstanding speaker with a pair of five inch woofers and a one-inch tweeter, a cabinet that is free of audible resonances, can be driven by a low-powered amplifier, integrated amp, or receiver, is full-range, and performs well-outside its price-class with its rather neutral, musical sound. The Q Acoustics Concept 40 is not only a bargain; it is a darn good speaker."

The drivers in the Concept 40 include a pair of 125mm (about 5") woofers and a 25mm (about 1") tweeter. Q Acoustics brand director Alex Munro states that what sets the 38" floor-standing Concept 40 apart from other speakers in its price range is that "instead of following what other companies do, our design engineers decided to attack head on the big fundamental problem in speaker design, which is cabinet resonance." So, to that end, Q Acoustics uses "state-of-the-art" "ultra-low resonance" Gelcore Construction cabinets. Mr. Munro says this enables the speakers' drive units to "simply play the music, unconstrained by cabinet interference". The Concept 40 is designed with "a cabinet within a cabinet" that aids in cancelling resonance. It is claimed to be very rigid, and "absorbs the kinetic energy (movement) generated within the inner cabinet by the drive units, and disperses this energy by converting it into heat". Senior Editor Tom Lyle admits that when installing the Concept 40 into his system, he was surprised how solidly the speaker was constructed.

Click here to read the complete review.

Previous Annual Blue Note Awards

Product of the Year Awards 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2001