British audio specialist Q Acoustics has just announced a new flagship model in its 5000 stereo and home cinema loudspeaker series.
It's called the 5050 and it is the largest speaker in the entire range, sporting dual 6-inch mid/bass drivers – the biggest in the series. Q Acoustics promises the floorstanding 5050 "will fill even the largest listening rooms with dynamic and natural sound".
Q Acoustics' own C3 (pronounced 'C-Cubed') Continuous Curved Cone profile features in the mid/bass drivers, a design taken from the company's flagship Concept series (see our Q Acoustics Concept 300 review for more on that), but in a new housing. Although we should note, it's not the most affordable model to feature that C3 driver tech; that would be the new (five star) Q Acoustics M40 HD, a new entry in our best stereo speakers buying guide, alongside the slightly older Q Acoustics M20 HD.
Back to the 5050 though, and that mid/bass driver uses "substantial magnets" coupled with large voice coils in a bid to increase motor strength. The claim? Q Acoustics says the 5050 is able to muster a "50% increase in power handling and control over a comparable driver with 25.4 mm voice coil". And that's quite the statement.
Opinion: it's big, it's beautiful, and it should be given room to operate
The 5050 sits alongside its series siblings, which are all passive speakers – Q acoustics recommends an amplifier power of 25-150W to partner the 5050. The range comprises the 5010 bookshelf speakers (although I prefer the term 'standmount speaker', since no speaker will perform at its best when placed in a bookshelf), 5020 standmounts, 5040 floorstanders and 5090 center-channel.
As with the rest of the 5000 series, the Q Acoustics 5050 come in a choice of four finishes that should work with most living spaces, including Satin Black, Satin White, Santos Rosewood and Holme Oak.
The 5050 also comes with solid aluminium stabilisers for your flooring and its low-profile speaker terminals should keep all cables relatively tidy – plus it means the speaker could probably be placed slightly closer to a rear wall if needed.
'What of its tweeter though?' we hear you cry! Of course. This driver unit is hermetically sealed, says the company, and mechanically isolated (floating) from the baffle. The inner chamber of the speaker is also vented (to help with distortion through those bass registers) with a lower crossover point.
To help the 5050 navigate the substantial internal pressure multi-large-driver floorstanders simply have to handle, each tower features four Helmholtz Pressure Equalisers (HPETM) tubes. Lastly, Point-2-Point internal bracing should aid in further nixing any low-level resonance.
The Q Acoustics 5050 is available now, priced at $1,999 / £1,299 / €1,699 (which is around AU$2,510).
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