"Overall efficiency is ~89/90dB. I would not recommend SET amps less than a 211 but p/p EL34 will work nicely. That said, these speakers really like solid-state amplifiers. At the show we're using class D and the sound is really amazing."

Apple wood veneer for the Warsaw premiere.

Here we see the twin Qualio/Cube exhibits. Both practiced less-is-more morale. Ancillaries were simple, layouts/setups real-world intimate rather than enormous. If it took more to make good sound, many households would simply opt out. As is, neither of these speakers are exactly Boenicke W5 small. Unlike a number of current Marchisotto models with single or paralleled 6½" woofers, Qualio went with one bigger woofer then extra broad. That still demands a cosmetic commitment.

Some could have hoped for maximally narrow with smaller woofers firing out the sides like early Audio Physic. Best shockwave impact in the bass simply demands line-of-sight woofers and the IQ seems groomed for that more immediate snap. Its high woofer mounting also minimizes the amount of floor bounce we'll encounter. As Hifi Pig wrote about their maiden showing in Warsaw, "these were a cracking pair of loudspeakers and up there with some of the very best I have ever encountered in a show environment. Dynamics, bass and very clear and detailed."

By November 3rd, "some updates. We survived the show where visitors mobbed us. So many loved the speakers. Now we wait on some final production parts like steel frames to mount the acrylic baffles to the cabinet—the prototypes used aluminium—and some lesser items like custom-foam shipping protectors. But if you agree, we can send the demo set next week." After sorting out delivery specifics like boxing and palletizing to insure that saying yes didn't equate to feckin eejit come pickup time, I happily agreed. That's because Grzegorz came up with a crafty solution to work with our storage-shy digs. He'd forego crates to just use thick foam panels in waterproof wrapping. The foam would come apart to store. Spare clingfilm would reassemble ship-shape for collection. The composite mini pallet could store outside. This speaker wasn't named IQ for insane quandary after all. I'd personally fancy the classic German ivory when Daimler-Benz still dominated the taxi market. For review purposes of course, Indian Apple veneer or outré orange wouldn't even factor save to briefly report on their execution. So it's worth repeating that Qualio entertain custom requests, hence their 'starting at' pricing for a few standard finishes. Special colors in satin or gloss demand a €250/400 surcharge. Standard wood veneers go to €6'350, exotic species to €6'950/pr. Stick to paint for the very highest signal-to-coin ratio.

Final specifications for this visiting Polish intelligentsia would be 102×38.5×31.5cm HxWxD, 32kg/ea., 4Ω, 30Hz-31kHz and 89dB. The AMT comes in at an unexpectedly tall ~8kHz on a 2nd-order slope whilst the Satori widebander adopts shallow 1st-order entries/exits on either end. It meets the Satori woofer at a high 600Hz. The woofer enters on another 2nd-order filter.