REVIEW

sense. And, after all, isn’t this why we pay large sums of money for our audio kit? The reverb at the end of Buzzcocks’ What Do I Get sounds natural and the way the instruments are faded into this reverb is excellent and makes you appreciate that, actually, these recordings aren’t quite as amateurish as folklore would have you believe. Bringing the original punk movement full circle, I give the new The Damned record (Darkadelic) a virtual spin (it’s excellent, by the way) and I have the same feeling of immediacy and a “live” recording – it’s not and Darkadelic is a more spectacular production than those earlier recordings. However, much more is going on production-wise in Darkadelic than the earlier stuff I mentioned, but the Qualios never lose that sense of dynamic engagement and sense of space in the recording. This latter point is particularly evident on the final track of the album, Roderick with its pomp and gothic orchestration and piano stabs. The scale of this final record is portrayed magnificently by the Qualio speakers with the room being filled with music and the band laid out before me wide, deep and with a height that belies these relatively short loudspeakers.

Lee Perry’s From The Secret Laboratory holds a special place in my heart; it was one of a collection of CDs I swapped for a Korg MS10 synthesiser many years ago and is a wonderful mash-up of dub reggae with a good dose of house and techno vibes mixed together by the masterful Adrian Sherwood. Needless to say bass plays a big part in this record and for me it’s important that the bass is well-represented, deep and tight. The Qualios deliver in spades and do EXACTLY what I want from a loudspeaker in the bass department; tuneful and moving enough air for me to feel it. You do get bungs to tame the bass port should you need it, but I preferred these speakers without them, though it has to be mentioned that I have bass traps in the corners of this room. I don’t recall who it was but someone had mentioned that they had heard the Qualios at a show and that they found the bass somewhat lacking – I don’t get this statement at all and can only assume that the speakers weren’t particularly well set up! To my mind, the bass produced by these is in keeping with the rest of the speaker - it is balanced and doesn’t dominate. I listened closely to this record (and it’s a record I have played dozens and dozens of times over the year) and I can honestly say that the Qualios present it as well as I have ever heard it. I sort of want to say that the Qualios remind me of our Avantgarde DUO XDs in their presentation, and I do think this is a valid comparison, though with a slightly reduced sense of scale. If you don’t have the space for DUOs or even UNOs, then give these a listen and I don’t think you will be disappointed. One of the things I did pull from carefully listening to this record was the clarity of Lee Perry’s vocal throughout and I have to say that I found the midband presentation on this record to be easily on a par with our LS3/5As, though, of course, it’s more filled out to the bottom end with the Qualios. A fabulous experience that I’m glad I will be able to reproduce as and when I like as these are likely to be a permanent fixture in this system for a long while to come. Are they a final speaker? I don’t know as I haven’t heard them all, but if we were ever to downsize and be allowed only one set of speakers, then I can say that these would be on a very short shortlist.

Upping the tempo a bit and playing a tune that I’m currently hammering when I’m DJing (sadly only in the house for the moment) I put on Disco Biscuit by Disco Biscuit from the early 90s and crank the volume up a bit. Bass is fast and rolling, vocals are panned both left and right and then central depending on where you are in the tune, and that nagging funky guitar sample is clear as a bell. Yep, these can throw a bit of a party when they have to too, but I’m pretty sure this kind of music wasn’t high on the list of priorities when the guys were voicing them. The thing is, the reality is that a good loudspeaker should really be able to play anything that you throw at it and still perform well.

Anyway, probably more in keeping with the kind of music that the Qualio guys used when designing these speakers I thought I’d play some gabber! Not really, I thought I ought to play some jazz as it’s the law when reviewing anything that purports to be audiophile. However, the album I chose to single out for these speakers was the somewhat maligned Doo-Bop by Miles Davis. It’s kind of Miles Davis meets laid-back hip-hop beats and if you don’t know it then you should search it out! The speakers get the languid production qualities of this record over very nicely. Yes, there’s detail and whatnot through the mid-band with the rap vocal on The Doo Bop Song being forward and central ( I assume this is correct) and with Miles’ horn floating above and slightly back in the mix (again, I assume this is correct). The snare and hats are incisive and cut through the mix and the bass is presented as tuneful and low. There’s a lot going on in this track with a persistent sample of a piano going on pretty much throughout and the Qualios get this small detail across without it being lost in the mix. And that’s sort of the thing with these speakers; you get the whole as a coherent and properly presented mix, but should you want to listen into the tune (as audiophiles tend to like to) then you can do that too.

OK, I did play a bit of Gabber (early Gabber (or is it techno) in the form of Vicious Delicious and their wonderful Hocus Pocus tune of the Mix Hard or Die compilation from the early 90s. Yep, these speakers don’t have a problem with this stuff either with the full detail of the tune coming through. This may just seem like a load of noise, but there’s detail in things like the snap of the snare sample and the effects that are added to it and the bass kick that is deep and sort of hollow sounding but at the same tight. At around 4’20” the bass kick has something DEEP put underneath it and the Qualios don’t miss a beat. It would have been easy for this to throw the rest of the track right off and things to become all confused and a bit much. In this setting and without turning up the wick too far the Qualios come across as a monitor-like speaker. Turn up the volume a couple more clicks on the remote and they retain their composure and just get louder. On the English Muffin tune that follows that classic hoover sound (it’s not a hoover, it’s a Roland Juno) comes across properly and with all the necessary elements that make it up.

Switching the style again, I really ought to have finished writing my notes by now but I can’t help but keep listening to this system, I pop on the excellent 11:11 by Rodrigo and Gabriela. The dynamics of these speakers and the way they react to changes in playing style and volume shines out. These are a fast loudspeaker that respond immediately to shifts in the music and in doing so they engage you. Every tap on the body of the guitars and every detail in how hard a bottom e string is hit comes across in the presentation.

Niggles

Finger smudges on the Perspex are inevitable so keep the microfibre cloth handy.

Looks are going to divide but I really like them.

Selecting the different resistors for the tops is a bit