The split into two brands is well thought out. Widebander fans have plenty to choose from Cube's catalogue while Qualio is for those who don't hold a grudge against multi-ways and want results without bleeding their bank account. Since most parents don't wish to see their kids fight to the death, these two brands don't compete on topology, coin or distribution. At first glance it could seem that Cube Audio are more upscale due to higher prices but that's misleading. They're available through usual retail channels based on distributors and resellers. Qualio sell direct. If these dots don't connect for you, let me spell it out. Today's IQ would sell for roughly thrice through regular distribution channels. Now it'd compete head-on against Nenuphar for a likely questionable marketing strategy. Yet the math applies nonetheless. It's a reminder for those who'd consider today's IQ too pedestrian for their wallets. Occasionally widening such a narrow view is the actually smarter play. A lower price doesn't necessarily translate to lesser performance.

Grzegorz delivered my loaners personally to insure flawless arrival. His curiosity about their performance in my room also factored. Each speaker nested between two large foam cradles wrapped in foil inside a cloth bag. Acrylic baffles with pre-installed drivers, bolts and extra resistors stored in separate boxes. Paying customers get these contents inside two robust crates. Past unpacking, quick assembly was next. Each cabinet got four footers in the bottom while as many hex bolts on top locked the translucent acrylic baffle into position via curved steel brackets. A short umbilical terminating in a quality Oyaide XLR connects the dipole drivers to their enclosure's XLR receiver. The entire procedure took two of us maybe 10 minutes and was a very intuitive breeze.

Each IQ measures 102 x 38.5 x 31.5cm HxWxD and weighs 32kg. Most adults will manage without help. Further specs list a 3-way design, 4Ω nominal impedance, 89dB sensitivity and 30Hz–31kHz response. Although these numbers don't suggest a dastardly load, in his review Srajan coined Qualio's IQ a current cunt. That's a spot-on nickname indeed and we'll get to that in a bit. The IQ is a rarely seen hybrid of ported bass plus dipole radiators to achieve a particular sound. These means then dictated the form factor which I think brilliantly sets it apart from the industry's usual box speakers. Grzegorz & Marek knew all too well that playing it conservative on looks wouldn't have cut it.

The IQ incorporates a 9.5" Satori woofer from Danish/Indonesian SB Acoustics which works to 600Hz on a 2nd-order slope while its stablemate 6.5" Satori midrange with cellulose cone runs shallow 1st-order end stops at 600Hz and 8kHz.  Although SB Acoustics market their 6.5-incher as a classic mid/woofer, Grzegorz explained that it proved excellent on wideband duty without a box. Mundorf's dipole AMT tweeter enters at 8kHz on another 2nd-order filter. The crossover comprises Mundorf EVO/EVO-oil caps for the AMT and 6.5-incher which then adds wax ribbon coils while the woofer sees Mundorf electrolytic capacitors and Jantzen copper air coils. Internal wiring is copper litz exclusively. Just above floor level the rear sports a large round concave terminal plate thermo-formed from 7mm-thick ABS aka acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Twinned WBT terminals sit recessed inside to not protrude beyond the cabinet which eliminates all shearing risk during transport. Thoughtful, that. Our speaker cables connect to the lower terminals, the pair above wants to see a resistor that pads the tweeter. You decide on its value. My loaner arrived with the optional 5-value resistor set for +1, 0, -1, -2 and -3dB tweeter loading. These Mundorf resistors use bananas and are color-coded so plug'n'play. They make a noticeable difference and the default 0dB setting suited me best.