Q Active 400 Speakers

Wireless Connectivity

Each Q Active system includes connectivity for Bluetooth 4.1, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and UPnP. Q Active is also Roon Ready.

In addition, Q Active is designed to support your favourite streaming service’s native app - which means simple, straightforward access to the entire planet’s music. Q Active works with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal.

The hub comes in two variants, Google "Chromecast built-in" or Amazon "Works with Alexa" enabled*.

*Available 2022

Q Active Control

Available as a ‘Chromecast Built-In’ OR ‘Works with Alexa’ hub*.

Q Active’s hub is the heart of the system and also supports physical formats and converts them into a high resolutions 24bit/96kHz digital file. The hub then streams this high-resolution audio file to the speakers – so any format you want to listen to can be dealt with wirelessly by your Q Active system. Which means high-quality wireless audio performance no matter the source of your music.

* Alexa enabled available 2022.

Multiroom Audio Integration

Whether you choose Google "Chromecast built-in", Amazon "Works with Alexa" Multi- Room Music, Apple AirPlay 2, or Roon to organise your multiroom music system, Q Active can be seamlessly integrated into it.

So no matter if you want the same song playing all over your home, or different music in different zones, or if you simply want your music to follow you as you move around your home, Q Active can be part of your experience.

Voice Control

If you have Google Home, Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri smart speakers on your home network, it’s easy to control the volume and playback selection of the Q Active system. Simply choose which of the formats you prefer - the control hub is available in a choice of either ‘Chromecast Built-In’ or ‘Works with Alexa’* – both can be used with Apple Siri, and then use these mic-equipped smart devices on your network to control your Q Active system. You can also use the Google Home, Alexa app on your mobile to control the Q Active system.

Your Choice Of Control

In addition to your choice of voice assistant, Q Active can also be controlled using your favorite streaming apps. Or if the TV plugged into the HDMI ARC socket on the control hub is CEC-equipped, use the TV’s remote to control functions like ‘volume’ and ‘standby’. Alternatively use the cabinet mounted volume control on each Q Active speaker or the free Q Active Android and iOS app that allows control and customisation of this wireless audio system.

Stunning High Resolution Sound

Audio can be described as “high resolution” if it consists of a digital audio format of greater than the CD-standard 16bit/44.1kHz. Q Active can support wireless streaming, whether from its control hub or via a smartphone, tablet or the like, at a huge native 24bit/96kHz. Q Active can also play 32bit/192kHz audio files from an appropriate source, downsampling them to its native 24bit/96kHz resolution before wirelessly delivering them to the speakers.

The result of all this painstaking and uncompromised engineering is extraordinary musical accuracy and amazing audio quality. Q Active delivers a sonic performance way beyond its price.

Active Amplification

In a traditional, passive audio system there is one amplifier. It drives two speakers, which will have a total of at least four drivers. In the Q Active system, each driver (there are four in each Q Active 400 floorstanding speaker) is controlled by its own individual, specifically selected amplifier.

Using a total of eight discrete amplifiers, with a total of 440 watts of power to drive the Q Active system means each individual driver receives its own carefully regulated amplification. As a result, Q Active is able to control each driver with accuracy and finesse which in short, means Q Active sounds bigger and more precise than you might think possible.

Powerful, Controlled Bass

The back of an ordinary loudspeaker isn’t usually worthy of discussion. But, as is surely obvious by now, Q Active is far from an ordinary loudspeaker - and that goes for the rear of its cabinet too.

Q Active 200 features a rear-firing 114mm / (4.5in) subwoofer delivering fast, deep and beautifully organised bass. Q Active 400 features a pair of the subwoofers in order to double down on the low-frequency action. The reason these drivers are concealed, and the reason they are arranged in the way they are, is all to do with Q Acoustics’ determination to make Q Active easy to position and simple to live with, as well as helping the system sound brilliantly punchy and controlled.

There is a carefully designed fixed ‘Wave guide’ boundary for the subwoofer to fire onto, too, which means the dispersal characteristics of the bass frequencies are always exactly as Q Acoustics prefers. Because the subwoofers fire onto a fixed boundary (the inside of the rear panel), the bass response of Q Active is always ideal, always perfect - no matter where in your room you decide to position the speaker.

Stunning Ground-Up Design

Rather than attempt to fit one of its existing loudspeaker designs with electronics, Q Acoustics has designed Q Active from the ground up with the express intent of delivering an utterly uncompromised high-resolution audio system that looks as good as it sounds.

Unrivalled Acoustic Engineering

Meticulous attention to detail has produced a compact, high-performance system that makes a distinctive visual statement - but every element of Q Active has been engineered to deliver the best performance possible.

As well as the panoramic, widescreen sound delivered by the BMR arrangement and the deep, controlled bass served up by the carefully specified and positioned subwoofers, Q Acoustics has paid painstaking attention to the way the Q Active cabinet contributes to the system’s outstanding sonic performance.

Balance and Rigidity

‘Dart’ bracing is in both the Q Active 200 and Q Active 400 cabinets to provide essential stiffness to the cabinet and equally helpful mechanical stability to the rear-firing subwoofer units.

In Q Active 400, careful positioning of the two subwoofers means standing waves inside the cabinet that might colour the sound are effectively neutralised to give a powerful linear bass response.

Tuned For Your Environment

Unlike most loudspeakers, Q Active is tuned to perform to its maximum potential no matter where in your listening room it’s positioned. And unlike most loudspeakers, Q Active is remarkably forgiving of less-than- ideal placement. Its driver configuration means it’s one of the most flexible, as well as one of the best-sounding, speakers you can buy at any price.

Speaker Arrangement

Q Actives can be positioned with the BMRs either on the inside or the outside of the cabinets, allowing perfect audio reproduction no matter if you're sitting close to the speakers or far away from them. There’s a simple switch on the back of each Q Active speaker to designate it as either the left- or the right-hand channel.

Boundary Setting

A second switch allows you to tell the speaker exactly where it’s positioned in relation to the room - close to a rear wall, in a corner, or out in a little free space. This information allows Q Active to fine-tune its low- frequency response in order to deliver the best possible sound no matter the circumstances.