Soundbars are great. They’re brilliant for watching movies and immersing you in their worlds, with excellent features like Dolby Atmos and virtual surround sound. Unfortunately, they often fall down when it comes to music, with their signatures tuned for ‘bigger’ applications, leaving them feeling more confused for dedicated listening.
That’s where floor-standing speakers like the Q Acoustics M40 come in. They might not have the surround sound chops of soundbars, but they are imminently more musical and pleasing to listen to in a more diverse range of content. The M40 happen to be a really, really good pair of floor-standing speakers — and they might just be the perfect alternative to a soundbar for you.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A pair of Bluetooth floor standing speakers that can double as TV sound.
- Who is it for? People who want to listen to music as much as watch TV and movies.
- What does it cost? $999/£749/AU$1,999
- What we like: They sound amazing, and the Bluetooth and optical connections are great for getting them hooked up with mobile devices and TVs.
- What we don’t like: It would be nice to have an HDMI port and Wi-Fi connection to really complete the connectivity.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Price and availability
Price $999/£749/AU$1,999
Connectivity Bluetooth, TOSLink optical, RCA
Weight Amplified speaker: 27lb 5oz Passive speaker: 26 lb
Colors Black/White/Walnut
Compatibility iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
Frequency response 38 Hz – 22 kHz
Compare the price of the M40 with the best soundbars, and they stand up very well. For $999, the same price as the Sonos Arc Ultra, you get a more musical experience with greater low-end grunt and better performance for your favorite tunes. You do forgo some of the movie-focused features though, such as Dolby Atmos and an HDMI connection, however, so movie buffs will be better served with the soundbar options. It all comes down to what you need out of your TV audio, and how much time you spend listening to music.
I’d also say the M40 are much better looking than your typical soundbar, with their wooden chassis and clean, black speaker grilles. For the price, there are loads of soundbars and even some other floor-standing and bookshelf-powered speakers. These are a great price-to-performance option, and a fine alternative to the more traditional soundbar.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Design and build
- Sleek, wooden enclosure design
- Stylish cabinet design
- Built-in mesh
I love the way that the M40 look. They have a simple, timeless feel to them with their sleek wooden enclosures and solid black grilles. Those grilles are non-removable as well, so if you’ve got little ones running around the room then they’re less likely to get destroyed.
It serves a sonic purpose too — if you’ll allow me a moment to get a little nerdy, the attachment of the grille to the baffle of the speaker adds strength to the grille structure, so you don’t need as much framing for the grille. What does that mean? Q Acoustics tells us that it “minimises disruption of sound dispersion patterns, while reducing reflections for a smoother sonic performance.”
That’s important because where usually you’d have to remove the grille for very best sound, this permanently attached solution won’t affect the overall signature. Again, a sturdier speaker is on that can hold up for longer, and if it doesn't affect the sound, even better.
Those grilles are fixed to the front of some really nice enclosures. They come in three different colors — white, black, and the walnut wood finish that we’ve got here. The all look lovely, but the wood finish I suspect will be the preferred option for fitting into most living rooms. It’s a classy look, and one that will fit with the rest of your living room, no matter what color wood you've chosen for the rest of your furniture.
Getting them in place takes a bit more work than a soundbar though. They have vibration-mitigating pointed feet, which you’ll want to cover with the included rubber stoppers if you’ve got a wooden floor — they’ll scratch varnished or treated surfaces the moment they go down or move. You have to fit the feet into place too, with the included tools and screws. It’s not hard, but you do have to put a little work into getting them straight and level. Once in place, you won’t have to move them around or fiddle with them again.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Controls
- Useful controls for speaker placement
- Very functional controller
- On-device controls are limited
The controls for the M40 are fairly self-explanatory, but you’ll need to finalize a couple of them before they find their final home. On the back of the powered speaker, you’ll find two sets of different switches. The first switch works out how far away from the wall your speakers are, and whether they’re in the corner. You’ll want to work that out before placing them, and then set the switch accordingly. The second switch decides which side you want to have the powered speaker — which is one of the most useful things I’ve ever seen in a powered speaker. This way, you can have it as close to the power socket as you need, without the need for long, trailing power leads.
Then there are the controls on top of the powered speaker, which let you change the input and the volume. The two side buttons are your volume up and down controls, and then the middle button changes the input between Optical, Bluetooth, and the two RCA connectors. There’s a corresponding color so that you know you’ve got the right one. It should be noted that there are no playback controls on the speakers themselves, which is a shame, but that’s where the controller comes in.
Included in the box is a very solid little remote controls. It turns the speakers on, changes the volume, selects the inputs, and then also controls the playback if you’re connected over Bluetooth. It’s a useful addition, and works very well for all its functions. There’s just one small issue — the HDMI button on the remote might trick you into thinking there’s an HDMI port on the back of the speaker. There isn’t and the button doesn’t do anything. This is likely a holdout from being a generic Q Acoustics remote, and it doesn’t put a dent in the otherwise excellent controller.
One thing to note if you’re using the speakers as a replacement for a sound bar — you’ll have to use the controls on the speakers as well as your TV remote. Because they use an optical port to hook up, there’s no eARC connectivity to control the speakers with your TV remote. Instead, you’ll need to turn the TV on, turn the speakers on separately, and dial in the volume with the speakers' remote. It’s not a massive issue, but it’s not as seamless as a dedicated soundbar.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Connectivity
- Well-rounded connectivity options
- No HDMI or eARC
There are loads of ways to connect to the M40, but there is one glaring omission. There’s the Bluetooth connection that serves wireless duty, and then a series of physical connections on the back. There’s an RCA connection, although bear in mind that if you’re hooking up a turntable you’ll need one with a built-in pre-amp, or a separate pre-amp between the player and the speakers. For other RCA devices, you’ll be fine though.
The port selection is then rounded out fairly well with an optical port, a USB port, and subwoofer out. The former is how you connect your TV, but you can plug in other digital devices like a CD player. That will pass off the digital decoding and signal conversion to the built-in DAC in the M40, which is no bad thing — they’re pretty good at it. The USB port is for plugging in your own DAC, or for other USB-connected players. All of the ports work very well, with no issues getting setup or plugged in.
The benefit of it being plug-and-play means there’s very little setup — just get your devices connected, and away you go. But there is one problem with the ports and connectivity that I’ve found, and it’s a lack of HDMI port. That would make plugging in your TV as plug and play as the rest of the connections, as well as allowing for control with your TV remote. Perhaps one for the next version. There’s no WiFi connection for streaming either, although this is definitely a longer shot at the price. As it stands, the connectivity of the M40 is good, but not perfect.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Sound quality
- Smooth, well-controlled bass
- Shimmering highs
- Rounded, effortless mids
The M40 are very good at pretty much everything you might put them to. They excel at music, of course, given it's their raison d’etre, but they’re also very good at producing a convincing stereo movie-watching experience. Even without a subwoofer, you’ve got the bass extension and presence that puts similarly priced soundbars to shame, although you will go without the requisite Dolby Atmos inclusion that most dedicated options feature.
If you’re willing to go without you’ll get some masterfully crafted audio. I watched the opening scene of Top Gun: Maverick to check how it would handle the scene in stereo, and while slightly less wide than my Sonos Arc Ultra, it had more low-end punch and clearer mids and highs. The fighter jets on the carrier whooshed overhead, the throwback eighties soundtrack every bit as evocative as in the cinema. I did miss the height channel though, so keep that in mind.
Musically though, the M40 wipe the floor with their TV stand-sitting competition. They make for a stunning listen, and thanks to their true stereo operation and the fact you can place them as far apart as you like, their stereo imaging is immaculate. While there’s a lack of Dolby Atmos or spatial audio, they still managed to make my music sound like it was all around you, and despite some slight directionality issues, they made for an immersive audio experience.
I watched the opening scene of 'Top Gun: Maverick' to see how the M40 would handle the scene in stereo, and and it had more low-end punch and clearer mids and highs than the Sonos Arc Ultra.
Dark Fortress’s Pali Aike was cold, calculating and perfectly formed. The impactful kick drum broke through the wall of distorted guitars and screeched vocals, while the highs gave clarity to every hit of a cymbal or hi-hat. It sounds huge, with loads of space around each individual element. It pulls you in, smashes you around, and then spits you out — only so that you can dive back in, ready to see what the speakers might do next.
Travel back to the seventies for Prog Rock masters Yes and seminal hit Roundabout, and you’ll find a performance worthy of the most pretentious genre. The dancing bass is articulate and clear, while the lighter strings are clear and bright. Those nonsense lyrics are layered perfectly over the rest of the mix, and the synths and the other mid-range frequencies bring some movement. It’s fun, it’s funky, and a little silly. What more could you want?
Finally, Twin Temple’s bizarre mix of the occult and doo-wop in Lucifer, My Love is deliciously low-fi, and fills the room thanks to the M40. While recorded deliberately in low quality to ape those from the era that it emulates, there’s still plenty for the speakers to do. The vocals cut through with their fuzz intact, and the bass line progresses with depth and width. The drums are, as you might expect, the clearest part of the ensemble, and kick drum in particular accentuates the performance with some much-needed weight and punch.
Q Acoustics M40 review: Verdict
The M40 are a very good alternative to a soundbar, despite the lack of an HDMI port. They sound amazing for your TV and movies, and while you might not get the spatial audio of a dedicated soundbar, you’ll get loads more bass on tap for those all-important action movie explosions. They might take up slightly more space, but the extra sound is well worth the compromise — and I think they look really nice as well.
For music, the M40 are an excellent all-in-one choice for the discerning listener who doesn’t want a full-fledged HiFi system. The Bluetooth connection is good and solid, while the extra inputs on the back give you some extra options for your other separates like a CD player or turntable. At $999 they might not seem cheap, but you get a lot for the money.
