Verdict
Audiovector may not be the first name that come to mind when you ’re thinking about cast proper money on a new couple of stamdmounting speakers – but the QR-1 SE are as serious as they do , and necessitate your attending .
Pros
Cons
Introduction
If you ’re go to have a point of difference , beg that it ’s as impressive as Audiovector ’s “ handmade in Denmark since 1979 ” strap - line .
Not to be whiff at , is it ? And it ’s not as if the company ’s expertise begins and end with construction – there are legion Audiovector loudspeaker system designs that vie , and compete hard , in every respect .
It ’s not the only company to give an existing , and well - regard , framework the special edition treatment – but it ’s one of the few that keep on the price premium for the concentrated ‘ SE ’ workplace that ’s gone on to a sensible degree . So given that Trusted Reviews in full enjoy the originalQR-1 , this special edition is bound to be a no - brainer . Is n’t it ?
Availability
The Audiovector QR-1 SE standmount speaker are on sale now , and in the United Kingdom a pair will set you back £ 1350 . In the United States you ’re expect at $ 1725 , while in Australia you ’ll have to part with AU$2600 or something very like it .
It essentially pass away without pronounce that this sort of money brings quite a few alternative designs from quite a few profoundly believable manufacturers into frolic . Similar outlay can fix you a pair of KEF LS50 Meta , or PMC Prodigy 1 , or Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 … and the list goes on . Which means the Audiovector QR-1 SE have their work cut back out for them …
Design
It ’s hard to get too carried aside where the aim of a standmount speaker is touch – there are constraints both where physical science and consumer expectation are refer . So with the QR-1 SE , Audiovector has done the sensible affair – it ’s design a loudspeaker that is n’t run low to startle anyone with its appearance but that looks and feels like a premium product at the same clock time .
At 325 x 190 x 232 mm ( HWD ) the QR-1 SE is of unremarkable - yet - quite - elegant , easily manageable dimension – certainly there is n’t a verbalizer standpoint presently propose for sales agreement that wo n’t be appropriate . And once in good order digest , it looks a goody in any of the available conclusion – my review sample distribution is in silk bloodless , and is nicely tactual , but I ’ve also seen the glass ignominious and real - walnut tree veneer alternative and they ’re very consonant too .
Build calibre is well up to standard , and the finish is fundamentally flawless . curving storage locker edges add a touch of visual dynamism , and if you receive the vainglorious Audiovector branding on the driver surround or the gold special edition badge beneath it slimly chintzy , well , Audiovector provides gossamer , magnetically attach cloth grilles to enshroud them behind .
Specification
apart from the piddling special variant badge , nothing about the way the QR-1 SE look will let you know this is a breathed - on , pricier interlingual rendition of the QR-1 loudspeaker I listened to on behalf of Trusted Reviews in January 2023 . All the significant change have taken place inside .
It ’s deserving ticking off the external features first , though – it should n’t take long . At the rear of the cabinet there ’s a fairly chunky distich of speaking binding posts that will accept bare wire or banana tree plugs .
At the front , the QR-1 SE features a gold leaf AMT high - frequency driver inside a brushed and anodize aluminium scale , and behind a Au - plated dispersion mesh that play as an sulfur - diaphragm . This Air Motion Transformer look a great deal like a ribbon tweeter , but is in fact a very slender pleated midriff that act a niggling like an piano accordion .
Below here there ’s a 152 mm dual - attraction mid / bass driver that ’s design for perfect pistonic performance over several octaves of the frequency band . At the bottom of the baffle there ’s a freshwater bass reflex slot that ’s optimize for smooth and precise air - period .
So yes , it ’s visually very similar to the QR-1 – but inside the SE , Audiovector has gone to town . Changes and upgrades over the older model admit new capacitance , design in - house , in a drive for neat high - absolute frequency contingent and clarity , metal - housed resistors to amend heat dissolution and , by extension , high - power preciseness , and a reworked bass part reflexive itinerary . There is cryogenically treated internal wiring designed to improve moral force , and a quantity of Nano Pore damping material to unfold up the midrange even further than before .
So do n’t go thinking that Audiovector has glued a little gold badge to the front baffle of the QR-1 and left it at that …
Sound Quality
Perhaps it ’s helpful to suppose of it in terms of athletes . You only need to look at the sprinter next to the longsighted - distance contrabandist to understand that each is a specialiser that would be out of their profundity in the other ’s field of study . And so it is with the Audiovector QR-1 SE – it ’s lanky and run where some of its competition are power - packed and explosive .
This is most obvious where the small frequencies are concern . Unlike the original QR-1 , which lacks a short bottom - end extension and drive , the QR-1 SE excavate quite deep and hits quite hard – but there ’s no getting around the fact that other terms - comparable design can moil deeper and hit hard .
Whether or not this is a meaningful issue is a matter of taste – so if you care your bass part frequencies to be nicely influence , properly hold in and loaded with detail both broad and fine , you ’ll receive plenty to enjoy in the manner these Audiovector go about things . If , on the other hand , you need brawniness and ( for want of a good Scripture ) wallop from your loudspeakers , there ’s every chance you ’ll find the QR-1 SE somewhat on the svelte side .
Throughout the rest of the frequency range , the Audiovector are just as detail , just as controlled and just as nicely balanced . high frequencies are heart-to-heart and aerial , packed with information and given a real horse sense of attack by that comparatively elaborate tweeter arrangement .
And through the midrange , they pass along with real directness – a 24 - bit/96kHz FLAC file cabinet of King Hannah ’s Big Swimmer is render with positivity , an absolute stack of detail regarding tone , texture and mic technique made apparent , and the sort of immediacy that means it ’s very , very tempting indeed to employ all of the how-do-you-do - fi / audiophile clichés about the vocalizer being right there in front of you .
Integration of the frequency range is telling – the QR-1 make their crossover point plain , but here it ’s imperceptible . Dynamic headway is considerable , too , and the Audiovector are able to put worthwhile length between quiet and loud just as jubilantly as making the more small-scale consonant variations in the tune ’s unaccompanied acoustic guitar apparent . And the soundstage they create is open , well - defined and believable – even large ensemble piece have enough blank to express themselves without individual ingredient get in each other ’s way .
A nominal resistivity of 4 Ohm mean the QR-1 SE are perhaps slightly more demanding where amplification is concerned than some competing purpose , and their sensitivity evaluation ( 86dB / W / m according to the Audiovector site , 87dB / W / m according to the back of my review sample ) needs to be tolerate in nous too . But as long as they ’re part of a sympathetic system , the Audiovector QR-1 SE have an awful passel going for them .
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Should you buy it?
The Audiovector deliver an open , broad audio from a cabinet that is n’t necessarily the biggest around
If prodigious bass end product is what you ’re after , there are competing models that can service that
Final Thoughts
As fight go , Audiovector could n’t really have piece a tough one than the ‘ Premium High - Performance Standmount Loudspeaker ’ contest – it ’s pack with contenders that fancy their chances .
So it ’s a touchstone of just how right Audiovector has fix it with these verbalizer that your ‘ PH - PSL ’ shortlist has to find elbow room for the QR-1 SE – it would be negligent of you not to try out them .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every Hawaii - fi speaker we review thoroughly over an prolonged period of clock time . We practice industry - standard tests to compare feature right . We ’ll always differentiate you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
Find out more about how we essay in ourethics policy .
FAQs
They Audiovector QR-1 SE do n’t fare with a standpoint in the promotion , but you may buy one verbatim from Audiovector .
