Q Acoustics 7000 Cinema review

It’s rare that a set of home cinema speakers will impress us before we’ve even switched them on, but Q Acoustics’ 7000 5.1 cinema package certainly made us sit up and take notice. From the moment each satellite is lifted from the box, the gorgeous design, superb construction and high quality materials are all clear signs that this is a premium product.

The speakers are machined from aluminium, making them incredibly tough but also surprisingly light. The metal finish has been polished and painted glossy black, which can easily attract fingerprints, but the pair of cloth gloves included in the box will help perfectionists keep their equipment looking its best during installation.

At roughly 1.5kg each, the satellites won’t put too much strain on their very clever mounting mechanisms – each speaker’s integrated stand can be rotated from free-standing to act as a wall or ceiling mount, making the 7000 system one of the most versatile we’ve seen. Cables are channelled through a hole in the base of each stand, so wires can be hidden away from sight. The subwoofer also hides its cables behind a backing board, which doubles as a firing plate for the 250mm speaker driver.

The subwoofer is, unsurprisingly, far heftier than the speakers, and is constructed of 25mm MDF but given a gloss finish to match. Most subwoofers fire downwards or outwards against whatever surface they are placed against, which could be carpet, wood, metal, plaster or concrete, but with a uniform backing plate, Q Acoustics’ engineers should be able to fine-tune the acoustic qualities of each subwoofer more precisely. This essentially means slightly improved clarity at higher frequencies in the sub-bass range, and bass response that sounds the same no matter where the subwoofer is placed in a room – excellent news for anyone that likes to hide their equipment out of sight.

A subwoofer cable is provided in the box, but you’ll need to buy a spool of speaker wire before using the 7000 Cinema – this gives you the flexibility to position each satellite where you like, but you’ll have to factor the extra expense into the overall price of the system.

Once we’d finished admiring the speakers and started testing, it was immediately obvious that the 7000 makes music and films sound absolutely fantastic. Stunningly clear mid-range, crisp highs and powerful bass filled our test chamber, without a hint of distortion even at very high volumes – your neighbours will be complaining long before you reach the maximum capacity of these speakers.

Casino Royale’s opening scene proved to be an excellent test, with its combination of subtle spoken detail and intense action. We could make out the quietest elements of a scene, even when the action was exploding on screen. With the subwoofer crossover set to 100Hz, bass response was simply fantastic – without interrupting speech or overpowering the satellites, there was enough rumble to shake our test chamber at maximum volume.

Many home cinema systems cater to films, but often ignore the more delicate frequencies needed for music. The 7000 Cinema has none of these issues, creating pitch-perfect audio no matter what source material we played. All music tracks sounded fantastic, but classical and acoustic songs stood out above any other speakers we’ve tried this year.

If you genuinely care about audio quality, the difference the 7000 Cinema system can make to your home theatre setup is staggering. You’ll certainly need to be a home cinema fanatic to consider an £800 set of speakers, but the spectacular sound, fantastic design and clever mounting mechanism easily make this the most versatile home cinema system we’ve seen.