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
