Comments from a GTAA member on the Q3s:
There unique
combination of coherence, tonal balance,
organic neutrality, bass quality,
extension and 3D imagery, is already
apparent straight out of the box. I
cannot wait to hear them when they are
broken in and fed with more power.
The pinpoint imaging, and gigantic
soundstage based on our arbitrary
speaker position, is better than the
Revel Salon which they replaces. The
problems which we thought will always be
present (bay window, glass windows)
seems to have walked away on their
own. It goes to show you how a rock
solid cabinet will do to the sound.
These speakers completely disappears,
even when they were not on spikes !
And speaking of the disappearance
act, I believe it this is one trait
which ALL of us should strive to
achieve. It is one of the most
important component of a proper sounding
system, which if absent, represent a
fundamental problem in the very
foundation of a system.
Like Aleks said earlier, I was not
expecting this type of organic natural
presentation, a.k.a Northern European /
Scanadian sound, to come out of North
American speakers. I have been
disappointed so many times before:
Wisdom Audio, Wilson Maxx, Alexandria,
Kharma. The sound I heard last night
certain puts the Q3 in the “natural,
smooth, organic” mid range category the
likes of Vienna Acoustics & Dynaudios,
straight out of the box too !
Sure you can have a GOTO horn or horn
compression driver which will sound more
real & lively on a Saxophone, or the
transparency of a ribbon Maggie may
offer more crisp airiness, but taken as
a whole with coherence and tonal balance
in mind, you cannot beat cabinet cone
speakers. And what a BOX we have ! It
is almost concrete like.
Surely the Verity Sarastros can
produce a silky airy and open top end,
but the Sarastros suffers in terms of
coherence and tonal balance with obvious
gaps in between frequencies.
Then I have to say something about
the bass. Many people evaluate bass
strictly based on “Abundance”, ignoring
the “Quality” and “Texture” of the
bass. Many speakers can give you
Abundance – Vandersteens, JBLs, DunLavys,
Duntech, etc........ But very few can
give you QUALITY AND TEXTURE, bass which
is well defined, tight and sufficient.
That is too say BOOM BOXES are easy, but
QUALITY AND TEXTURE is difficult to
have. That is where the Q3 surpasses
all other competition.
