Having established itself as a highly credible entry level to mid market brand Q-Acoustics has rather rashly gone and built a high end loudspeaker. This is fabulous news for the canny audio enthusiast but is tricky terrain...

Q Acoustics has been building well-respected budget speakers for a decade now, but the Concept 500 is the showcase for what the company can do when the gloves are off. These are high-end floorstanders, aiming to blow your socks off with their sound quality.

Incredible scale and width of soundstage; Beautiful clarity through the treble and upper-mids; Still sound good at low volume; Good value compared to rivals

Need plenty of space behind

The Concept 500s prove Q Acoustics can compete at all levels. They're superb speakers for the money We think these are among the most impressive high-end speakers we've heard in recent years.

Insight; Strong dynamics; Excellent bass performance; Refinement; Unfussy nature

Nothing of substance

The Q Acoustics Concept 500 is a 2.5-way floorstanding speaker. In terms of driver layout and complement, it is extremely similar to the that Steve...

Exceptionally accurate yet unfatiguing sound; Easy to setup in room; Easy to drive; Superb build and finish

Rather large

What happens when a successful entry-level speaker brand goes upmarket HFC finds out

This year, Q Acoustics has been all about its new 3000i range, but the big news at the end of 2017 was the arrival of the flagship Concept 500 – their most advanced and costliest loudspeaker yet. We take a closer look.