Q Acoustics Concept 300 speakers stand on spindly alien spider legs

$4,500 per pair gets you crazy-looking stands under normal-looking speakers.

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Ty Pendlebury

Feb. 1, 2019 9:33 a.m. PT

2 min read

q-acoustics-concept-300-silvery-ebony-grill-off-lifestyle — Q Acoustics

Q Acoustics is following up its high-end Concept 500 floorstanders with a model that's even more striking: the Concept 300 stand mount speaker, announced Friday.

The most attention-grabbing part of the 300's design is the new Tensegrity tripod stand, which is a combination of high-tensile wire and aluminum rods. The company says this stand is less subject to vibration than other types of speaker stands, and it is completely isolated from the cabinet by a spring-mounted plate.

We know you're going to ask for it, but Q Acoustics says it's not selling the speaker without the stand.

But the eye-catching stand is only a small part of the overall design, which builds on the techniques used in the Concept 500. The internally braced cabinet is constructed from three layers of MDF, each separated by a film of isolating Gelcore, which converts vibration to heat.

q-acoustics-concept-300-black-rosewood-isolation-base-close-2-detail — The Tensegrity stand attaches to a spring-mounted plate that is designed to reduce vibration
Q Acoustics

The cabinet comes in three finishes: silver and ebony; gloss black and rosewood; and gloss white and oak. It's a relatively large box at 220 by 355 by 400 mm -- another reason why you can't call the speakers "bookshelves."

The driver is a 6.5-inch impregnated paper cone which is accompanied by a 1-inch dome tweeter. The speaker has a claimed frequency response of 55 Hz-30 kHz.

We listened to the Q Acoustics Concept 300 at an event in New York and found that once you were seated in the sweet spot, the speakers imaged beautifully with a holographic central image regardless of the music. While the speakers worked best for vocal performances there was still plenty of bass weight, and the overall sound quality seemed to live up to the expectations set by the design and price.

The Q Acoustics Concept 300 will be available from March 2019 for $4,499 or £2,999. Australian availability is yet to be confirmed, though you can anticipate pricing around AU$6,000.