Audiovector QR-1 SE Review
Only slightly different on the outside, quite significantly different on the inside
Verdict
Audiovector may not be the first name that comes to mind when you’re thinking about dropping proper money on a new pair of stamdmounting speakers – but the QR-1 SE are as serious as they come, and demand your attention.
Introduction
If you’re going to have a point of difference, pray that it’s as impressive as Audiovector’s “handmade in Denmark since 1979” strap-line.
Not to be sniffed at, is it? And it’s not as if the company’s expertise begins and ends with construction – there are numerous Audiovector loudspeaker designs that compete, and compete hard, in every respect.
It’s not the only company to give an existing, and well-regarded, model the special edition treatment – but it’s one of the few that keeps the price premium for the hard ‘SE’ work that’s gone on to a reasonable level. So given that Trusted Reviews fully enjoyed the original QR-1, this special edition is bound to be a no-brainer. Isn’t it?
Availability
The Audiovector QR-1 SE standmount loudspeakers are on sale now, and in the United Kingdom a pair will set you back £1350. In the United States you’re looking at $1725, while in Australia you’ll have to part with AU$2600 or something very like it.
It basically goes without saying that this sort of money brings quite a few alternative designs from quite a few deeply credible manufacturers into play. Similar outlay can secure 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 out for them…
Design
- 325 x 190 x 232mm (HWD)
- Available in white, black or walnut finishes
- Handmade in Denmark
It’s hard to get too carried away where the design of a standmount speaker is concerned – there are constraints both where physics and consumer expectations are concerned. So with the QR-1 SE, Audiovector has done the sensible thing – it’s designed a loudspeaker that isn’t going to startle anyone with its appearance but that looks and feels like a premium product at the same time.
At 325 x 190 x 232mm (HWD) the QR-1 SE is of unremarkable-yet-quite-elegant, easily manageable proportions – certainly there isn’t a speaker stand currently offered for sale that won’t be appropriate. And once properly supported, it looks a treat in any of the available finishes – my review sample is in silk white, and is nicely tactile, but I’ve also seen the glass black and real-walnut veneer alternatives and they’re very agreeable too.
Build quality is well up to standard, and the finish is basically flawless. Curved cabinet edges add a touch of visual pizzaz, and if you find the big Audiovector branding on the driver surround or the gold special edition badge beneath it slightly chintzy, well, Audiovector provides diaphanous, magnetically attached cloth grilles to hide them behind.
Specification
- Two-way with forward-facing bass reflex slot
- Air-motion tweeter
- Numerous internal upgrades over the QR-1
Aside from the little special edition badge, nothing about the way the QR-1 SE look will let you know this is a breathed-on, pricier version of the QR-1 loudspeaker I listened to on behalf of Trusted Reviews in January 2023. All the significant changes have taken place inside.
It’s worth ticking off the external features first, though – it shouldn’t take long. At the rear of the cabinet there’s a fairly chunky pair of speaking binding posts that will accept bare wire or banana plugs.
At the front, the QR-1 SE features a gold leaf AMT high-frequency driver inside a brushed and anodised aluminium plate, and behind a gold-plated dispersion mesh that acts as an s-stop. This Air Motion Transformer looks a lot like a ribbon tweeter, but is in fact a very thin pleated diaphragm that acts a little like an accordion.
Below here there’s a 152mm dual-magnet mid/bass driver that’s designed for perfect pistonic performance over several octaves of the frequency band. At the bottom of the baffle there’s a bass reflex slot that’s optimised for smooth and precise air-flow.
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 include new capacitors, designed in-house, in a drive for greater high-frequency detail and clarity, metal-housed resistors to improve heat dissipation and, by extension, high-power precision, and a reworked bass reflex path. There is cryogenically treated internal wiring designed to improve dynamics, and a quantity of Nano Pore damping material to open up the midrange even further than before.
So don’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
- Articulate and vigorous sound
- Open, spacious and properly organised
- Lean low-end presentation
Perhaps it’s helpful to think of it in terms of athletes. You only need to look at the sprinter next to the long-distance runner to understand that each is a specialist that would be out of their depth in the other’s discipline. And so it is with the Audiovector QR-1 SE – it’s rangy and lean where some of its rivals are power-packed and explosive.
This is most obvious where the lower frequencies are concerned. Unlike the original QR-1, which lacks a little bottom-end extension and drive, the QR-1 SE digs quite deep and hits quite hard – but there’s no getting around the fact that other price-comparable designs can dig deeper and hit harder.
Whether or not this is a meaningful issue is a matter of taste – so if you like your bass frequencies to be nicely shaped, properly controlled and loaded with detail both broad and fine, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in the way these Audiovector go about things. If, on the other hand, you want muscularity and (for want of a better word) 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 detailed, just as controlled and just as nicely balanced. Higher frequencies are open and airy, packed with information and given a real sense of attack by that relatively elaborate tweeter arrangement.
And through the midrange, they communicate with real directness – a 24-bit/96kHz FLAC file of King Hannah’s Big Swimmer is delivered 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 use all of the hi-fi/audiophile clichés about the singer being right there in front of you.
Integration of the frequency range is impressive – the QR-1 make their crossover point apparent, but here it’s imperceptible. Dynamic headroom is considerable, too, and the Audiovector are able to put worthwhile distance between quiet and loud just as happily as making the more minor harmonic variations in the tune’s unaccompanied acoustic guitar apparent. And the soundstage they create is open, well-defined and believable – even large ensemble pieces have enough space to express themselves without individual elements getting in each other’s way.
A nominal impedance of 4 ohms means the QR-1 SE are perhaps slightly more demanding where amplification is concerned than some competing designs, and their sensitivity rating (86dB/W/m according to the Audiovector site, 87dB/W/m according to the back of my review sample) needs to be borne in mind too. But as long as they’re part of a sympathetic system, the Audiovector QR-1 SE have an awful lot going for them.
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Should you buy it?
You like big sound from a small(ish) speaker
The Audiovector deliver an open, spacious sound from a cabinet that isn’t necessarily the biggest around
You’re all ‘bout that bass
If prodigious bass output is what you’re after, there are competing models that can service that
Final Thoughts
As fights go, Audiovector couldn’t really have picked a tougher one than the ‘Premium High-Performance Standmount Loudspeaker’ contest – it’s packed with contenders that fancy their chances.
So it’s a measure of just how right Audiovector has got it with these speakers that your ‘PH-PSL’ shortlist has to find room for the QR-1 SE – it would be negligent of you not to audition them.
How we test
We test every hi-fi speaker we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested across several weeks
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
They Audiovector QR-1 SE don’t come with a stand in the packaging, but you can purchase one direct from Audiovector.
Full specs
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
