Q Acoustics 3020 speakers -- My Insight

zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Mercy, my guess was wrong on the 3020 crossover -- I wanted to try and get a better look -- so I opened the back of the other speaker.

It has 3 coils, 3 caps, and 4 resistors -- rare for a speaker at this price. The 3rd cap is hidden in the picture -- also a picture of the cross-brace, bigger than normal -- pictures will be sideways.


 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Mercy, my guess was wrong on the 3020 crossover -- I wanted to try and get a better look -- so I opened the back of the other speaker.

It has 3 coils, 3 caps, and 4 resistors -- rare for a speaker at this price. The 3rd cap is hidden in the picture -- also a picture of the cross-brace, bigger than normal -- pictures will be sideways.


Looks like a 3rd order X-over from what I can tell. I agree that is impressive at this price point. The components look to be of good quality too. But, only measurements would validate that. Ziegl you are much braver than me as I would never open speakers up unless there was a true need for it. Thanks though as I like looking at your pics!


Cheers,

Phil
 
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zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Looks like a 3rd order X-over from what I can tell. I agree that is impressive at this price point. The components look to be of good quality too. But, only measurements would validate that. Ziegl you are much braver than me as I would never open speakers up unless there was a true need for it. Thanks though as i like looking at your pics!
It looks 3rd order with some type of compensation or shaping -- above my knowledge.:)
 
D

Dennis Murphy

Audioholic General
It looks 3rd order with some type of compensation or shaping -- above my knowledge.:)
It's probably 3rd order electrical on both drivers (two coils and a cap for the woofer, two caps and a coil for the tweeter. The woofer may have a resistor in front of the cap, the tweeter a resistor in front of the coil, and two resistors for the tweeter L-pad. That should produce 4th order acoustical slopes. I could name some expensive monitors that could take a lesson from this.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
It looks 3rd order with some type of compensation or shaping -- above my knowledge.:)
Yeah maybe Dennis can chime in or TLS. They both seem to have the X-over thing solved......LOL!!!!! Edit: Looks like Dennis already has. Thanks Dennis! :):):)


Cheers,

Phil
 
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Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Great writeup Zieg. You really make me want to check out those digital phase speakers you have.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
It is hard to zero in on the chart -- however from what I can find, the QA 3020 looks to measure nice -- and they do overall sound good to me

 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I tested the QA 2020i and while I like them, they were not competitive enough for my preference. However with the current views and hype on the 3020, I decided to take them for a shake-down test. I bought them at the current sale price of $260.99 a pair.

I ordered the walnut finish, it does look nice, however not high-end looking. However, the overall looks of the speaker is nice compared to most of the average budget-friendly looking speakers. The cabinet is good and above average compared to the competing price points -- however the cabinet is not over-all as solid as the QA 2020i and there is one cross-brace in it -- and it is also shorter in depth and a little lighter. Regardless of what QA says, costs came into this decision. There is a new tweeter in the 3020 with a ring radiator around it, and they seem to have blended some type of kevlar mix into the woofer, but on the outside the 3020 woofer tends to look much like the 2020i one. Not real easy to look at the crossover, however it seems to have 3 coils, 3 resistors, and 2 caps (1 cap being poly). The coils also seem to look budget friendly to me. There is some poly-batten inside, however it seems to be less than the 2020i

Some songs that were played,

Joan Osborne -- War
Joan Osborne -- How Sweet It Is
Joan Osborne -- Why Can't We Live Together

Dave Brubeck -- Take Five

Willie Nelson with Nora Jones -- Hit The Road Jack
Willie Nelson with Nora Jones -- You Are My Sunshine

Sade -- No Ordinary Love
Sade -- Kiss of Life

Chris Botti with Sy Smith -- The Look of Love
Chris Botti with Lucia Micarelli -- Emmanuel

Yo Yo Ma -- The Mission

Vickie Yohe -- Reveal Your Glory

Movie -- Passengers

The overall star of the 3020 speaker is the tweeter, it is really nice for the price. The woofer is a good one. In the QA 2020i the woofer was better than the tweeter. Their seems to be a good transition between the woofer and tweeter and one does not over-take the other. There is some bass but not a lot. However what bass you do get is not timid or shy.

With Take Five it is a good test to see if the speakers are really forward sounding and bright. The 3020 is not really forward or bright, they are also not warm, or so called lush or sweet sounding. They are more on the neutral side and somewhat realistic and robust sounding. The stage is still a little upfront, but not offensive. It does not take a lot of power to drive them, they were not voiced with low sensitivity to enhance more bass.

Joan Osborne and Nora Jones tend to have a raspy type voice, and there voices came across nice -- the sign of a good clean tweeter and woofer. There was no harsh or edginess with Sy Smith's voice or Chris Botti's trumpet. Drums have authority and cymbals sound realistic and not artificial. The speakers pick up good detail and you can hear some delicate notes. However, they still lack some inner detail and nuances -- as they do not have the higher resolution of some of the higher-end speakers.

Lucia Micarelli's violin sounded good with no harsh or edginess and with good detail. However, I am still missing some of the vibration with string instruments. Piano is rich and detailed. Sade who also seems to have some type of a raspy voice came across good and smooth. Yo Yo Ma on the cello was rich and nice and pleasant to listen to.

Soundstage and imaging on the 3020 is one of the best for the price -- and it is wide. There is some depth, but still lacking some depth. The central image is better than the 2020i. The sound of the 3020 is voiced to be open, spacious, and wide -- and off-axis seems to be really good. There is some nice air with these speakers. The sound is coherent but I would like it to be more cohesive.

Now as far as the bass it is decent and it has some growl with the notes it can hit and is tight in that area -- however, it feels like the woofer is looking for more air -- like the woofer is a little too big for the box. In a taller and deeper box there would be some lower notes and depth.

With movies and TV, they are rich smooth and detail sounding with some good dynamics -- and will give an overall nice experience. The speakers will hold up in a medium size room as they are not timid.

Compared to the 2020i, the QA 3020 is more realistic and natural sounding, where as the 2020i is more artificial sounding. Compared to the likes of the Definitive SM55, HTD Level Three, the former Cambridge S30, the current Sony Core; the QA 3020 is a step above for me. I also prefer them over the former Martin Logan ATF Encore speakers. I will also take the QA 3020 over the former PSB Image series that I use to own, as well as the likes of Infinity Beta, Polk RTi, and NHT Classic Two. However the JBL Studio 530 is still above the QA 3020.

Overall I still tend to prefer the Digital Phase as far as bass, and higher resolution. However, before I set up the QA 3020 I put out some feelers on Craiglist to sell the Digital Phase, and today someone wants to buy the Digital Phase. Well, I still have the Snell K7 with the Seas drivers, and they are still my favorite in house speakers.
So it looks like the QA 3020 with be going on my owner's list. Are they Great - no. However, they are really good for the price and I would be surprised if they did not overall measure around +/- 2 db from 200 to 10 khz -- there is nothing that really jumps out and annoys me.

Now on a scale of $1 to $300, I rate them 8.5 on a level of 1 to 10

Here are some slide-view pictures for those who are interested -- also a couple next to the Digital Phase
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php...7;start=167078
Great review! You packed a ton of good information - Every time I thought of another question, I re-read your review, and like Ragu, "it's in there"!

I am wondering if you have heard the New Philharmonic AA's or the JBL lsr-305's and would comment on comparison.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Great review! You packed a ton of good information - Every time I though of another question, I re-read your review, and like Ragu, "it's in there"!

I am wondering if you have heard the New Philharmonic AA's or the JBL lsr-305's and would comment on comparison.
Not the current Phil AA, but the original AA and the modded Cambridge S30 he did for me -- those 2 seem to be a little more linear -- however, I prefer the soundstage and imaging and air of the QA 3020 a little more -- the QA is a little up front, but not a real issue for me, as Take Five by Dave Brubeck was not annoying to me.

I have not heard the Lsr 305 and I am not really interested in them, and some say there have been some resonance issue. However, I may buy the JBL Studio 220 for testing.
 
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speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Not the current Phil AA, but the original AA and the modded Cambridge S30 he did for me -- those 2 seem to be a little more linear -- however, I prefer the soundstage and imaging and air of the QA 3020 a little more -- the QA is a little up front, but not a real issue for me, as Take 5 by Dave Brubeck was not annoying to me.

I have not heard the Lsr 305 and I am not really interested in them, and some say there have been some resonance issue. However, I may buy the JBL Studio 220 for testing.
Ziegl, I would like to know how the JBL 220's do when compared to the 530's? Selling off my 530's may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, mistakes I ever made. But, do know that they went to a good home.:):):) Personally, I would take the 530's over the 305's any day of the week. Yeah, the 530's are that good inmho.


Cheers,

Phil
 
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KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Ziegl, I would like to know how the JBL 220's do when compared to the 530's? Selling off my 530's may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, mistakes I ever made. But, do know that they went to a good home.:):):) Personally, I would take the 530's over the 305's any day of the week. Yeah, the 530's are that good inmho.


Cheers,

Phil
Yeah, I suspected that the 530's were better than the 305's (530's cost more and do not include amps, but both share ties to the M2 wave guide design if I am not mistaken).
I still can't believe JBL discontinued 530 w/o having a viable replacement available. It often seems that a speaker gets removed from the market about the time its reputation is being cemented!
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Ziegl, I would like to know how the JBL 220's do when compared to the 530's? Selling off my 530's may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, mistakes I ever made. But, do know that they went to a good home.:):):) Personally, I would take the 530's over the 305's any day of the week. Yeah, the 530's are that good inmho.
I expect the Studio 2 series to be a step down from the Studio 5 series -- but may still be competitive with the QA

However, it is possible that I may grab a Canton bookshelf speaker -- however, their cabinets seem to be light.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Yeah, I suspected that the 530's were better than the 305's (530's cost more and do not include amps, but both share ties to the M2 wave guide design if I am not mistaken).
I still can't believe JBL discontinued 530 w/o having a viable replacement available. It often seems that a speaker gets removed from the market about the time its reputation is being cemented!
JBL is famous for doing dumb things -- and it is rare to find that speaker on Ebay from a USA seller -- that speaks of how good they are.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Yeah, I suspected that the 530's were better than the 305's (530's cost more and do not include amps, but both share ties to the M2 wave guide design if I am not mistaken).
I still can't believe JBL discontinued 530 w/o having a viable replacement available. It often seems that a speaker gets removed from the market about the time its reputation is being cemented!
I agree Kurt. But, the 305's were also good. At least for what I gave for them. They did sound much improved once placed off of my desktop and onto some stands. I also added some Mo-Pads that seemed to help as well. But, I have always thought the 530's were a rather significant step up to the 305's. As mentioned, selling off the 530's may be the biggest mistake that I have ever made in all things audio. But, we all live and learn. As such, mistakes are going to happen! :):):)


Cheers,

Phil
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
JBL is famous for doing dumb things -- and it is rare to find that speaker on Ebay from a USA seller -- that speaks of how good they are.
Yeah, have not seen any 530's refurbished either. There is a seller on Audiogon selling the 530's in Cherry for like $700. He will NOT come down as I already tried. The seller is not located within the USA. Seems like he is in Japan if I remember correctly. Was told shipping would take at least 2-weeks to receive. Funny thing is, however, is this seller only appears every so often.


Cheers,

Phil
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Yeah, have not seen any 530's refurbished either. There is a seller on Audiogon selling the 530's in Cherry for like $700. He will NOT come down as I already tried. The seller is not located within the USA. Seems like he is in Japan if I remember correctly. Was told shipping would take at least 2-weeks to receive. Funny thing is, however, is this seller only appears every so often.
That would be Japan.:)

My 530's also went to a good beneficial place -- I would like a pair again sometime -- however, they are still under the Snell K7 which use to list for around $1350

Right now my budget friendly retail preference is the QA 3020 -- I am just trying to maybe throw something against them for around $300, which also includes mark-downs and close-out prices -- for now I marked the Emotiva B1 off the list, because I do not want to pay around $30 Tennessee tax.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
That would be Japan.:)

My 530's also went to a good beneficial place -- I would like a pair again sometime -- however, they are still under the Snell K7 which use to list for around $1350

Right now my budget friendly retail preference is the QA 3020 -- I am just trying to maybe throw something against them for around $300, which also includes mark-downs and close-out prices -- for now I marked the Emotiva B1 off the list, because I do not want to pay around $30 Tennessee tax.
Ziegl what hurts the most is that I got my 530's brand new for only $330 shipped! The 220 C center was only $230 more shipped! Got both for $560! What the heck was I thinking? Oh wait, evidently I wasn't at all!!!!! :(:(:(


Cheers,

Phil
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Not the current Phil AA, but the original AA and the modded Cambridge S30 he did for me -- those 2 seem to be a little more linear -- however, I prefer the soundstage and imaging and air of the QA 3020 a little more -- the QA is a little up front, but not a real issue for me, as Take Five by Dave Brubeck was not annoying to me.

I have not heard the Lsr 305 and I am not really interested in them, and some say there have been some resonance issue. However, I may buy the JBL Studio 220 for testing.
They look like they'd make some good desktop speakers.
 
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