That unevenness – rather midbass heavy (40–60Hz), lean through the upper bass and lower midband (80–300Hz) and then peaking up somewhat around 1kHz – might call into question its absolute neutrality and hence monitoring suitability and is bound to introduce an element of sonic character.

However, helped by the port output (tuned to 47Hz), bass extension is quite remarkable for such a small loudspeaker, with decent in-room output down to 25Hz. Pair-matching is very good and the amplifier load looks pretty easy to drive too, staying above 4.5 ohms throughout.

Superb time coherence

With just a single terminal pair, the crossover is hard to analyse and the spec describes it as "2-7kHz; non-textbook function". This and the impedance, perhaps imply that the main driver operates to a much higher frequency than usual, while the tweeter just extends the highest frequencies and improves dispersion.

That would also seem to tie in with the subjective experience, as this speaker has a good slice of the sort of character that invariably makes speakers with solitary full-range drivers so charming.

The QM10 might not have the most neutral tonality, but it more than makes up for that with utterly brilliant time coherence, which is essentially a much tougher thing to achieve, especially across a bandwidth that's impressively wide from something so small.

Extreme treble

Crucially, the QM10's limitations pale into insignificance once one starts listening to music, whereupon the realisation dawns that these speakers are exceptionally communicative, expressive and entertaining, to the point where the whole experience quickly becomes seriously addictive.

There has been some comment in the hi-fi press that a couple of listeners were unhappy about the extreme treble and confirmed a minor problem with high-resolution measurements. While individuals should check this for themselves, it didn't trouble our ears, though some lack of ultimate transparency was just audible when using a bright pickup cartridge.

Speech reproduction is not the QM10's forte, as this seems to make its slightly 'cuppy' coloration and mildly 'shut in' character more obvious. But, with all but the heaviest and punchiest music, it really comes into its own, cutting straight to the heart of the musicians' intentions with rare subtlety and delicacy.

The texture of orchestral string sections is very convincing and the flow and emphases of a skilled guitar picker are easy to hear and follow.

Impressive imaging

One might, perhaps, wish for a little more bass authority, punch, grip and dynamic tension, but even here the Guru supplies surprising weight and good agility.

Stereo imaging is very impressive too, especially for a close-to-wall model, with fine central focus and a decent attempt at depth reproduction on appropriate material.

Although it might superficially seem costly, the Guru QM10 represents an excellent choice for anyone who wants to get into the music, while keeping the speakers physically well out of the way.