Now, the sound... The Q-1 amp is quite smooth (it really is a hi-fi amp, in spite of its somewhat shallow dynamic range), it never throws up spikes or any kind of distortion. The large red box on top of the amp houses its adapter coil, and a large power supply is usually a sign of a well-built, stable amplifier. Which the Q-1 is. But: the Q-6 really will need something like the Q-2 amplifier, with its better dynamic range and smooth valve overtones.
Partly because of the rather unusual sound signature. The Q-6 have a tonal balance much like AKG K-271 Studio headphones: airy, open midrange, sparkling, wide-open highs, and contoured bass. No bass boom or bloom. To bring out the most of this ambiental detail and bring out the dramatism and impact in music, the Q-6 will need an amplifier with a wide dynamic range. Warm valve overtones will also help the Q-6 magic.
The "ambiental" tonal shift is even more towards high frequencies and high midrange than the K-271S' sound signature.
In the speaker system world, there's one maker whose systems were the exact opposite of this tonal balance: Kenwood.
Kenwood's famous for mini- & midi-systems with boomy, blooming bass, and barmy high frequencies. Part of which is due to their amplifiers. The speakers are cleaner in frequency response; lion's share of the colouring is done by Kenwood system amps. Also, Kenwood seems to favour diffuse field (DF) EQ, with serious rolloff past 12 KHz, which is "CD-favouring" as it conceals the coarseness of high frequencies in CD audio (less than 4 samples/cycle past 11025 Hz). The DF EQ though makes speakers conceal space and distance. Everything sounds as if it were "right here in the room"; the bookshelf Kenwood speakers here smear and blur high-frequency reverberation and the more delicate instruments in mixes (high frequencies provide spatial cues, and are essential to precise instrument separation).
Unlike the Q-6. The Q-6 make all echoes, all reverberation, all airiness come out. Tangerine Dream's "Stratosfear 1994" was stunning. It really sounded like stratosphere (and like "Stratosfear"). Vangelis' music was as magical as it has to be, even though it lacked a tiny bit of warmth (which the Q-2 hybrid amplifier ought to provide!). Even the bass-and-drums-heavy Lain Cyberia Mix CD was very inspiring and atmospheric. Enya's latest CD was also wonderful. But, conventional rock doesn't sound that stunning: the Q-6 prod high midrange and high frequencies over bass and low midrange, and this can push forward hi-hats and the higher frequencies of distorted/overdriven guitars.
By the way of which... The Q-6 are somewhat critical of material. In part this is due to sensitivity: all artifacts and noise which are usually masked on lower-sensitivity speakers will not be hidden. They'll show what there is. So they will make the screechiness and attack defects in lower-quality MP3 and even some CDs come out.
Because of the tonal balance towards clarity, towards high frequencies and the higher part of midrange, the Q-6 can produce some interesting effects. They may not sound as loud as they really play, as there's no impactful, tactile bass for reference. Enya's latest seemed to be relatively mute as it played, but people had to raise voices to talk. Because of this the Q-6 are also ideal office or bedroom speakers: there's a lot of clarity at low volume, unlike the boomier conventional speakers. And, of course, they have a rather different soundfield.
Conventional speakers project a relatively "plain" soundfield in front of them, much like a flashlight, in cones. There's a "sweet spot" between two speakers' sound cones where the soundstage is most lifelike, most detailed. The Q-6 have circular soundfields. Sound is fired by the drivers into metal cones, which reflect/diffuse the sound around them.
The metal cones are the secret to Q-6 ambiental soundstage - both the rich high frequencies (the metal cones might even generate some additional overtones that compensate for MP3 files' lack of harmonics) and soundstage width. A German reseller calls the Q-6 "3-D field" speakers, which they really aren't though, as the soundstage has a "mute area" created by the speakers' boxes, but this area is relatively small. Because of this the Q-6 "sweet spot" isn't as defined; they're not as critical to location as conventional speakers. Of course sitting close to and between the speakers will produce a better result than sitting in the next room, but the difference in location is less than with conventional box speakers.
