Bookshelf Speakers — Q-Acoustics Concept 30

The Concept 30 is a two-way stand-mount from Q Acoustics, the London-based brand of Armour Home, and the smallest model in the second-generation Concept line launched alongside the Concept 50 floorstander and Concept 90 centre. It takes cabinet technology and design cues from the flagship Concept 300 and Concept 500 and pairs them with new drive units designed for the series.

Key specs that matter

It uses a 125 mm (5 in) mid/bass driver and a 25 mm (0.9 in effective) tweeter, both new designs for the Concept 30, 50 and 90. Frequency response is 54 Hz to 30 kHz, sensitivity is 87 dB and nominal impedance is 6 ohms, and amplifiers of 25 W to 100 W are recommended. The cabinet measures 319 x 180 x 284 mm (H x W x D), with a weight of 7.9 kg per cabinet.

Engineering and use context

The cabinet uses Gelcore construction, first introduced in the original Concept, where a non-setting gel between two layers of cabinet wall converts high-frequency vibration from the drivers into heat. Point-to-Point bracing, first used in the Concept 500, stiffens only the internal areas that need it against low-frequency vibration, rather than filling the cabinet with general bracing. Both drivers are mounted on a stiff 3 mm aluminium front plate attached to the cabinet with pretensioned studs, which gives the correct acoustic seal while limiting structural coupling. The tweeter is hermetically sealed and floated from the baffle, protecting it from pressure and resonance generated by the mid/bass unit. The speaker sits on an isolation base, a variation on the Concept 300 design, made of two plates separated by suspension spheres that decouple the cabinet from external vibration. The crossover is mounted on this base, away from the magnetic fields of the drive units and from microphonic pick-up. Finishes are black, silver and white.

Pairing

The Concept 30 is a moderate load that most integrated amplifiers handle without difficulty. The bi-wire terminals allow separate runs for the treble and bass sections. Q Acoustics offers the FS75 stand to position the cabinet at seated ear height. Because the isolation base decouples the cabinet, the speaker can also sit on a solid sideboard or shelf. In a surround system, the Concept 90 centre and Concept 50 towers complete a matched layout with identical tweeters across the front.

Alternatives

Q Acoustics' Concept 50 adds a tower cabinet to the series, with two mid/bass drivers and HPE tubes.