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“Spider-Man Remastered” Launches On PC

Spider Man Remastered Launches On Pc

Spider Man Remastered Launches On Pc
Sony Interactive Ent.

Insomniac Games’ “Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered” has been released on PC with a new launch trailer for the title also available.

Reviews for Nixxes Software’s PC port of the game which launched four years ago on PlayStation (with this remaster launching two years ago on PS5) have been very good, with acclaim for the title running across multiple generations of hardware – including the Steam Deck.

On Metacritic the PC port is scoring 87/100, on par with the original PS4 release. On Steam, with over 7,000 reviews counted, the reaction has been ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’. The few negative reviews (around 3%) have most often complained about crashes on their specific systems – presumably to be fixed with future patches.

Reviews of the game have confirmed the biggest upgrade is ray traced reflections which go beyond the PS5 with a ‘very high’ setting for those on high-end hardware such as RTX 3000 series and Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards. The detail level is noticeably higher thanks to true 4K resolution whilst still offering ray tracing and 60+ fps.

One minor downside compared to the PS5 version is load times according to Digital Foundry’s test. Loading from the menu into the regular game on the PS5 was 1.92 seconds, while PC (12900K w/ 3.5Gb NVMe drive) was 3.03 seconds. The first launch time of the game was 1.6 seconds on PS5 compared to over 4 seconds on various forms of PC.

Running the title in 4K with top-end hardware – an Intel i9-12900K CPU and NVIDIA RTX 3090 GPU – with everything up to its highest setting and DLSS (Quality) on results in frame rates around or a little consistently above 60fps.

One common caveat in reviews is that this is a game that really demands a controller as opposed to a keyboard and mouse, though it is playable on those. Some have been having issues with third party controllers, with instructions for a fix available here.

The game is the first in Sony’s PC library to offer full DualSense controller support (albeit wired only via USB-C cable) with the game designed to take full advantage of the haptic rumble, the adaptive triggers, the touchpad, and the built-in speaker – making it the preferred choice above the Xbox Elite 2 or Xbox Series X gamepad for the PC version.

“Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered” is currently available on Steam, Epic and more PC platforms. It marks the fourth major formerly exclusive PlayStation title to come to PC following “Horizon: Zero Dawn,” “Days Gone,” and “God of War” (along with earlier console exclusive titles like “Death Stranding,” “Journey,” “ Heavy Rain,” “Detroit Become Human”).

PC sales of those titles make up only a fraction of console sales (in the case of “Horizon: Zero Dawn” around 10%, “God of War” closer to 5%), but it’s big enough now even the PlayStation website has been updated this week to incorporate a new dedicated PC section.

“Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection,” “The Last of Us Part I,” and “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” are all expected to be arriving on the PC soon, while users are hoping numerous other exclusives will make the jump in coming years including “Ghost of Tsushima,” “The Last of Us Part II,” “God of War: Ragnarok,” “Horizon: Forbidden West,” “Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection,” “Infamous Second Son,” “Shadow of the Colossus: Remastered,” “Until Dawn,” “The Last Guardian,” “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart” and “Bloodborne” among others.

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“Arrogant” Saints slammed as Lloyd points out flaws in King’s goal-kicking technique

“Arrogant” Saints slammed as Lloyd points out flaws in King's goal-kicking technique

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has slammed St Kilda for barring young forward Max King from receiving goal-kicking tips off AFL legend Matthew Lloyd.

King, who Lloyd coached at high school level with Haileybury, initially reached out to the former Don for help in 2021 with the Saints denying his request as they’d rather let their own coaching staff train the key forward.

With King struggling for goal again in Friday’s loss to Brisbane as he kicked 0.5 from relatively standard set shots, St Kilda’s call was questioned again by Cornes after the 22-year-old’s waywardness cost his side the game.

“It was absolutely precious, and it was arrogant of St Kilda to not accept the help that Max was asking for,” Cornes said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“Now we’re 12 months down the track and Max King has kicked 0.5 in a game that St Kilda needed to win to keep their final hopes alive.”

Post-match, Brett Ratten doubled down on the club’s decision to bar Lloyd from coaching King, stating that the forward “won’t be seeing anybody outside the club” despite the fact that he’s kicked 41 behinds to go with his 47 goals this season .

“Flatly denying that they will accept any help from outside the club,” Cornes said.

“Once again, I will say it’s arrogant, it is precious, and they are looking after their own ego.

“Max King is crying out for help, he’s asked for help and his football club is denying him of that.

“It’s costing his team … I guess I’m going to say again for the arrogance of thinking they can fix a problem that they clearly can’t.”

In his press conference, Ratten also added that King doesn’t have “many flaws” in his goal-kicking routine, something that Lloyd himself disagreed with.

“It’s a very naive comment because he has got flaws,” Lloyd said.

“I want to take a look at what he’s doing wrong.

“When he’s coming in you need momentum in your run-up… when you’re walking in slow like Max King is, to generate power, you need to lean back with your body.

“But if you’ve got speed on the ball and you’re going quicker, you’re over it and you can get your ball drop down.”

Further analyzing King when he makes contact with the football, Lloyd believes having a more upright back position when kicking could help the young star.

“I’m not sure why he’s spinning the ball as he’s coming in,” he said.

“But look at how slow he’s coming in, the momentum falls back.

“He kicks the ball but look at the position he’s in, he’s leaning back like he’s on a chair.

“That’s why he’s struggling and he’s pulling the ball as he tries to generate power.

“You should be kicking the ball and going forward and taking another step after you kick the footy.

“It is a technical flaw, he’s kicked 47.41 this year.”

King and the Saints will be hoping to bounce back when they host Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Sunday.





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Technology

Microsoft Updates Legacy .NET Framework for Arm64 – Visual Studio Magazine

Microsoft Updates Legacy .NET Framework for Arm64 - Visual Studio Magazine

Information

Microsoft Updates Legacy .NET Framework for Arm64

Microsoft simply plain .NET 5, . NET6 ​​and so forth.

For the reason that .NET Framework 4.8.0 was shipped in Could of final yr, improvement cycles have targeted on fixes and upkeep in “safety and high quality rollup updates.”

This week, however, Microsoft introduced .NET Framework 4.8.1, obtainable as a bundled obtainable within the new Visible Studio 2022 17.3 launch that ships on Tuesday.

The principle merchandise within the launch notes is native help for Arm64, particularly “Add native Arm64 help to the .NET Framework household to benefit from working workloads natively on Arm64 for higher efficiency in comparison with working emulated x64 code on Arm64.”

Different new options embody accessible tooltips and accessibility enhancements to Home windows Varieties.

In a weblog submit dated August 9, Microsoft mentioned, “.NET Framework 4.8.1 provides native Arm64 help to the .NET Framework household.” “So your investments within the huge ecosystem of .NET Framework functions and libraries can benefit from working workloads natively on Arm64 for higher efficiency in comparison with working emulated x64 code on Arm64.”

Native Arm64 help solely got here to Visible Studio with the discharge of Visible Studio 2022 17.3 Preview 2 in June.

“This would be the first launch of Visible Studio to natively help constructing and debugging Arm64 functions on Arm-based processors,” Microsoft’s Mark Downie mentioned in an announcement submit on the time. “Our main aim with this preview is to advertise and stabilize the preferred Workloads utilized by builders creating functions working on Arm64, and to collect suggestions from the neighborhood to assist us prioritize extra experiences and Workloads as we work in direction of Common Availability (GA) later this yr.”

Arm64 help was previewed by Microsoft throughout its Construct developer convention in Could. “We’re steadily gaining momentum to help our Arm64 developer neighborhood, which incorporates {hardware}, toolchain, and naturally Visible Studio,” Microsoft mentioned. “Arm64 Visible Studio preview can be obtainable to everybody within the subsequent few weeks.”

Usually, the Arm structure is used to construct CPUs for low-power cell units, and is more and more utilized in bigger units as a substitute of x86-based architectures. Arm64 is an extension or evolution of the ARM structure that helps 64-bit processing and Visible Studio 2022 is 64-bit software program.

Concerning the WCAG2.1 compliant accessible tooltips launched in v4.8.1, this week’s announcement mentioned, “Microsoft is dedicated to offering merchandise and platforms which can be accessible to everybody. The .NET Framework 4.8.1 gives two Home windows UI enhancements, each to builders and customers. platforms that present the required help for constructing accessible functions for the .NET Framework. Prior to now few releases, each Home windows Varieties and WPF have added numerous accessibility-related options and glued quite a few reliability points. You’ll be able to study extra in regards to the particulars. You’ll be able to see what we mounted or added within the launch.

Different highlights listed on this week’s announcement for Home windows Varieties, the primary Home windows UI stack constructed for the .NET Framework, are:

  • Textual content Sample Help: “On this launch, WinForms has added help for the UIA Textual content Sample. This sample permits assistive know-how to transcribe the contents of a Textual content Field or comparable text-based management letter. The textual content has modified in addition to new textual content added to the management and cursor. WinForms, Added this help for TextBox, DataGridView cells, ComboBox controls and extra.”
  • Addressing distinction points: “We have addressed the excessive distinction points in just a few checks and adjusted the distinction ratio of the choice rectangles to be darker and extra seen.”
  • Mounted a number of DataGridView points: “On this launch, we have up to date the scrollbar names to be constant. We have addressed a problem the place Narrator can’t concentrate on empty DataGridView cells. Builders can now set the localized management sort property for Customized DataGridView cells. Hyperlink shade for DataGridViewLink cells to raise distinction with the background. up-to-date.”

Along with being included with the newest Visible Studio model, the .NET Framework is obtainable for obtainable for Home windows 10 Model 20H2 and later, and Home windows Server 2022 and later.

in regards to the creator

David Ramel is the editor and creator of Converge360.

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Sports

Canberra vs St George Illawarra Results & Match Report

Sydney Roosters vs North Queensland Results & Match Report

The Raiders have survived a comeback from the Dragons to seal a crucial 24-22 win at GIO Stadium to keep their finals hopes alive.

It was a thrilling finish that was almost identical to the controversial Round 16 finish — only this time it was the Raiders who benefited.

Mat Feagai made a break and knocked on as he got up to play the ball. Corey Harawira-Naera made the tackle and the Dragons pleaded with the referee for a penalty but to no avail.

The home team struck first with a try in the opening minute, only for the Dragons to hit back five minutes later through youngster Talatau Amone, who bagged a hat-trick and set up a try in the 75th minute to keep the game alive.

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DEJA VU IN CRAZY FINISH

The finish to Sunday’s game will be spoken about for days to come after the Raiders were saved by the whistle in an “almost identical” situation to how they lost in Round 16.

With less than a minute to go Ben Hunt shifted the ball to Mat Feagai who took off down the field before he was finally pulled down by Corey Harawira-Naera.

Harawira-Naera looked to have tried to hold Feagai down and the Dragons back knocked on as he made his way to his feet for a play the ball.

Dragons players pleaded with referee Adam Gee for a penalty but weren’t so lucky.

“It’s almost identical… Round 16 all over again in reverse,” Fox League commentator Brenton Speed ​​said.

“The Dragons are thinking ‘where is our penalty?’ that the Raiders did not get in Wollongong. But Adam Gee says that it is full time and Canberra’s season is alive.

“The Dragons are done in 2022. They’ll talk about this ending for a little while… nearly the miracle.”

It was only six weeks ago that Raiders coach Ricky Stuart smoked over a controversial call back in Round 16 — the last time these two teams met.

As the clock wound down two Dragons players looked to hold a Raider down to slow the play and as a result the Raiders were awarded a six-again. But there was belief it should have been a ruck penalty — especially because Ben Hunt wasn’t square at marker.

YOUNG DRAGON’S COMING OF AGE

Fresh off inking a contract extension, Dragons youngster Talatau Amone had his best NRL game to date.

Amone bagged a hat-trick and set up a try in the final minutes in a big turnaround from his unhappy performance against the Sharks just over a week ago.

The 20-year-old scored a double in the first 20 minutes to quickly put Round 21 behind him.

“I don’t reckon he ran three or four times last week, but he’s already scored two tries and had about five carries — a big difference in the young man,” Fox League’s Shane Flanagan said.

He then scored his third in the 67th minute to keep the Dragons in the game.

“He had an unhappy week last week but today he’s been dangerous every time he’s touched the ball,” Flanagan said.

“We know what talent he’s got, he’s going to be an NRL player for a long period of time and he’s showing it today.”

But Amone wasn’t done. The rising five-eighth, who inked a one-year extension on Thursday, threw a pinpoint pass with five minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish.

It was that moment in an impressive game from the youngster that Flanagan believes could set him up for the future.

“This young man has had a day out,” he said.

“He’s scored three tries and then on the last tackle he goes down the right-hand side and comes up with a beautiful pass across two of his teammates to hit Tautau Moga on the chest.

“This could be the making of Junior Amone.

“We’ve always know how much talent he’s got but to be put a complete 80-minute performance together like he has today it will give him an enormous amount of confidence moving forward.”

Along with his three tries and one try assist, Amone notched up seven tackle busts, three linebreaks, a linebreak assist and an offload.

‘X-FACTOR’ SAVAGE STARS FOR RAIDERS

The injection of Xavier Savage is exactly what the Raiders needed with the elusive fullback setting up two tries in their crucial win on Sunday.

Savage missed last week with an ankle injury, but was on a mission in his return game.

The 20-year-old’s skill was on show early when he sent veteran winger Jordan Rapana over in the corner in the 27th minute with a slick ball.

“The deft touch of Xavier Savage… He had the Dragons spellbound,” Fox League commentator Brenton Speed ​​said.

Shane Flanagan added: “Xavier’s Savage’s speed gets Tautau Moga in two minds.”

Savage then set up another try in the first minute of the second half with a grubber for Albert Hopoate to score.

He finished the game with 158 running meters, three tackle busts, two linebreak assists and an offload to go with his two try assists.

“Savage has added some real x-factor, as we thought he would, for the Raiders,” Michael Ennis said.

TEAMS

raiders: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Zac Woolford 10. Emre Guler 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Adam Elliott 14. Tom Starling 15. Ryan Sutton 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Replacement player: 18. James Schiller

Dragon’s: 21. Cody Ramsey 2. Mathew Feagai 1. Moses Mbye 4. Zac Lomax 5. Tautau Moga 6. Talatau Amone 7. Ben Hunt 8. Jack de Belin 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Josh Mcguire 12. Jaydn Su ‘A 3. Jack Bird 13. Michael Molo 15. Aaron Woods 16. Tyrell Fuimaono 17. Billy Burns. Replacement player: 20. Jayden Hunt

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Xbox, PlayStation and the new normal subscription

Xbox, PlayStation and the new normal subscription

It’s been more than a month since PlayStation Plus Premium went live, cementing the video game industry’s shift toward cloud gaming and subscriptions. PlayStation’s game-streaming scheme is competing directly with Xbox Game Pass, the service that provided the concept by earning more than 25 million subscribers over the past five years, leveraging Microsoft’s massive cloud network.

As the two main console manufacturers and the owners of huge franchises, Sony and Microsoft set the stage for the rest of the video game marketplace, and the transition to streaming subscriptions is no different. Here we’ll break down what they’re each offering and take a look at the industry from the perspective of the cloud.

PlayStation Plus has three tiers: Essential, Extra and Premium. Essential costs $10 a month or $60 a year, and it’s basically the PlayStation Plus you’re used to, offering three games to download each month, access to online multiplayer features, cloud storage and discounts. PS Plus Extra costs $15 a month or $100 a year, and has everything in the Essential tier plus a library of up to 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 games.

PS Plus Premium costs $18 a month or $120 a year, and adds up to 340 games from past PlayStation consoles. This is also the tier that unlocks cloud gaming, supporting more than 700 titles and adding the ability to stream or download games from older eras. This tier actually replaces PlayStation Now, Sony’s often-underwhelming cloud gaming service that launched on PS4. With PS Plus Premium, cloud gaming is available on PS4, PS5 and PC, but not on mobile devices.

PSPlus

Sony

That’s one difference between Sony and Microsoft’s approach, as Xbox titles are playable on mobile devices as well as consoles and PC. But the bigger distinction is the type of games that are available on each network. Sony doesn’t plan on adding big exclusive games like forspoken or God of War Ragnarok to Plus on day one, meaning subscribers will have to buy these titles separately if they want to play right away. On the Xbox side of things, Game Pass Ultimate offers a streaming library of more than 300 titles, and it includes big first-party drops like halo-infinite on release day. That’s significant, considering Xbox owns influential studios including Bethesda and id Software, and it’s in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard. Xbox offering the next Doom or Elder Scrolls on day one is a bigger draw than Sony offering strayeven if Stray is the most adorable game of the year.

Xbox has been the loudest proponent of cloud gaming in the console space, and with the support of a robust network from Microsoft and years of public testing, Game Pass has set the standard when it comes to subscription services. Game Pass has PC-only and console-only tiers providing access to a library of more than 300 downloadable games for $10 a month, while Game Pass Ultimate unlocks cloud play on PC, mobile and Xbox consoles for $15 a month. Assuming you pay for PS Plus Premium up-front, this puts the annual price of Game Pass Ultimate ahead of Premium by $60 – which is roughly what it’ll cost PlayStation subscribers to buy one of those first-party Sony games, so it all shakes out in the end.

Microsoft Xbox Series S

Aaron Souppouris/Engadget

Xbox has been steadily building the foundation for an industry that isn’t limited by hardware, relying on cloud gaming rather than console generations, while Sony still seems married to the idea of ​​hardware cycles and more traditional game sales. Despite being there first with PlayStation Now, when it comes to streaming, Sony is playing catch-up to Microsoft, but it still has plenty to offer in the form of classic games and new exclusives. Cloud play is here to stay and it’s possible that other services like Steam and the Epic Games Store will follow Xbox and PlayStation’s lead in the coming years. Nintendo is bringing up the rear in terms of online, cloud, and anything resembling 21st century technology, but it has an unrivaled back catalog and Switch Online unlocks a number of NES, SNES and N64 games.

This isn’t about any one service being better than the others. This is about adjusting to the new normal for video games, where your money won’t be spent on a $60 disc or a discrete download code, but will instead be spread among streaming services with individual purchases on the side. We’re used to this idea when it comes to TV and movies, and streaming technology is almost reliable enough to make it the standard in gaming.

These are the new calculations we’ll be running each month: Do I value Game Pass Ultimate over Netflix? Or PS Plus Premium over Spotify? New subscription services pop up almost weekly; something’s gotta give.

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Jed Anderson concussion, update, video, North Melbourne Kangaroos, head knock, doctor, AFL investigation

Jed Anderson concussion, update, video, North Melbourne Kangaroos, head knock, doctor, AFL investigation

The AFL may investigate circumstances surrounding Jed Anderson’s concussion amid questions of why the North Melbourne star was allowed to return to the field on Saturday.

Anderson stumbled after copping a knee to the face in a marking contest in the third quarter but was then cleared to return to the field before being later ruled out by medical staff.

Speaking to reporters post-game, North Melbourne coach Leigh Adams admitted he had not seen the vision yet but backed club doctors.

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Jed Anderson of the Kangaroos goes off. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“I haven’t seen the vision yet, but I’m comfortable that our doctors would have made the right decision whatever that was,” Adams said.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure, I know he came off with the blood rule, and then I was told at three-quarter time that he had gone into the concussion protocols.

“I’m not sure how long he was in those protocols once the three-quarter time siren went but he was ruled out pretty quickly after that.”

Anderson will miss North’s last game of the season against Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium.

speaking on Fox Footy later in the night, Nick Riewoldt and Jonathan Brown both said Anderson should not have been allowed back on the field but could understand why there may have been confusion on the bench.

“You notice there the doctor turned around and was distracted talking to one of the other trainers when he stumbled,” Riewoldt said.

“I reckon had the doctor seen that live, he would have gone: ‘I’m not sure this bloke is right’ but he missed that.”

“It can be chaos on the bench, so I clearly think it has been missed,” Brown added.

“They’ve gone back, reviewed the vision and incident and once they were actually able to do their due diligence properly, they’ve subbed him off. You wouldn’t expect they’d be in too much trouble.”

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Technology

The Q Acoustics Concept 30 Speakers Are Packed With Innovation And They Sound Superb

The Q Acoustics Concept 30 Speakers Are Packed With Innovation And They Sound Superb

British speaker brand Q Acoustics has been making some ground-breaking speakers over the past decade with a perfect balance between price and performance. Last year I reviewed the company’s flagship Concept 300 bookshelf speakers and now I’m following up with a review of Concept 30, a more affordable pair of bookshelf speakers that share many of the more expensive Concept 300 features, including the innovative quadruped stands.

With its design cues and acoustic technology based on the flagship Concept 300, this new pair of speakers can deliver audiophile performance at a relatively affordable price. The key feature of the Concept range is the cabinet’s design, which is engineered to be as quiet as possible. Largely unaffected by internal and external resonances, these gorgeous-looking speakers produce a tightly focused soundstage that gives the impression of a live performance.

The construction of these new speakers is based around the more expensive Concept models and there’s a whole heap of technology that makes the Concept 30 excellent performers. For example, the Concept 30 speakers are based around a Gelcore construction which cuts down on higher frequency noise.

Gelcore was introduced with the original Q Acoustics Concept speakers and is a unique non-setting gel sandwiched between two layers to absorb high-frequency vibrations created by the speaker’s drivers. The driver’s energy output is dissipated so that the sound remains focused.

The cabinet construction is reinforced with Point-2-Point (P2P) internal bracing. This technology was first used in the high-end Concept 500 to stiffen resistance in parts of the speaker cabinet that are particularly susceptible to being affected by low-end frequency reverberations.

Another way of reducing vibrations is using a suspension system as a sprung baseplate. Two plates are separated by suspension spheres that isolate the cabinet from any interference created by external vibrations, producing a tighter stereo image and extending the depth of the sound.

Each of the Concept 30 speakers has a 5-inch (125mm) mid/bass driver alongside a 1-inch (25mm) tweeter. Both drivers are brand-new designs fixed to a very stiff 3mm aluminum baffle plate before being attached to the speaker cabinet. This construction creates a tight acoustic seal that dampens vibrations and reduces structural coupling.

The Concept 30 tweeter is hermetically sealed and mechanically isolated from its supporting baffle. This reduces distortion and creates a lower crossover point. The mid/bass driver’s voice coil has also been beefed up, so it can handle 50% more power than a 25.4mm voice coil.

Finally, the crossover circuit that routes the audio signal between the tweeter and woofer is mounted on an isolating base, ensuring it remains free of vibrations that could affect the sound. The isolation also helps shield the crossover circuitry from any electro-magnetic influence from the drivers.

The Concept 30 speakers are advanced but also beautiful to look at. I borrowed a pair with a premium high-gloss white finish to test the speakers. The Concept 30 speakers are available in black, silver and white lacquers, featuring Q Acoustic’s signature aluminum front baffle plate. The finish is beautiful and the whole look is finished off with an attractive textile grille that attaches magnetically to the front of the cabinet.

To get the best performance from Concept 30, Q Acoustics makes a striking four-legged stand that’s tensioned by wire cables. The stands can be used with spikes or rubber tips to create a perfect mounting that enhances the stereo soundstage. The stands are pretty expensive, but not only do they look superb, but they also make a big difference to the sound of these remarkable speakers.

I set up the Concept 30 speakers using Q Acoustics Q FS75 stands that were loaned for this review. I also tested the speakers without any stands to gauge the difference in sound. Two sets of binding posts at the rear can be biwired if desired. The speakers are shipped with a conductor between the two sets of binding posts. By decoupling the posts, it’s possible to bypass the crossover circuitry. I tried both methods and the difference between them was marginal at best. The Q Acoustics crossover used in the Concept 30 speakers is excellent.

The sound from Concept 30 is incredibly energetic and tight. The separation between the woofer and tweeter is pronounced and the soundstage, especially with the stands, is stunning. These speakers sound almost as fulsome and dynamic as a pair of floorstanders. And although the bass doesn’t go quite as deep as a pair of floorstanders, every bass note can be heard, if not always felt. If you like intense bass, I would advise looking at one of Q Acoustics subwoofers to underpin the sound.

The overall sound is wonderfully tight and punchy. The midrange is perhaps slightly recessed in the upper registers, but the tweeter provides the sharp focus and clarity that establishes the superb soundstage. The use of Gelcore, Point-2-Point bracing and the solidity of the cabinet build make for such a tight and coherent sound that brings music to life and injects and irresistible energy to the sound. I don’t think Q Acoustics could have made these speakers and tighter if they tried. The whole sound adds up to a coherent feel that enables the listener to concentrate on the music.

Verdict: The Concept 30 speakers from Q Acoustics are stunning performers for the money. I think they can even rival the more expensive Concept 300 model. The quality of the cabinet construction is exemplary and beautifully executed. When mounted on the Q Acoustics Q FS75 speaker stands, these remarkable speakers’ look and sound complete. They are well worth the extra outlay. If you want a pair of speakers that don’t take up too much room but produce a large and perfectly formed soundstage, the Q Acoustics Concept 30 are well worth an audition. Highly Recommended.

Pricing & Availability: The Q Acoustics Concept 30 speakers are available now and cost £899 / €1,199 / $1,299/ per pair. The Q Acoustics Q FS75 speaker stands are also available now and cost £375 / $499 / €449 per pair.

more info: www.qacoustics.co.uk (UK) and www.qacoustics.com (US)

Tech Specs:

  • Bass unit: 1 x 125mm (5.0 inches).
  • Tweeter: 1 x 25mm (1.0 inch).
  • Frequency response (-6dB): 54Hz – 30kHz.
  • Rated impedance: 6Ω.
  • Minimum impedance: 3.9Ω.
  • Sensitivity (2.83V @ 1kHz): 87dB/w/m.
  • Recommended amplifier power: 25 – 100W.
  • Crossover frequency: 2.4kHz.
  • Distortion (120Hz – 20kHz, @2.83Vrms): <0.2%.
  • Effective volume: 7.0 liters.
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 284 x 180 x 319mm (11.2 x 7.1 x 12.6 inches).
  • Weight (per loudspeaker): 7.9kg (17.4lbs).

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Sports

Matthew Lloyd willing to coach Max King for free, hits back at Saints coach’s ‘naive’ comments

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd believes it’s “very naive” of St Kilda coach Brett Ratten to think Max King’s kicking woes were not technical, and says he is willing to help the young gun for free.

King’s goalkicking is once again under scrutiny after he kicked 0.5 in the Saints’ loss to Brisbane on Friday night. He visibly lost confidence in his abilities with each miss.

Despite King’s continued struggles with his kicking, Ratten insisted outside help was not necessary to help the youngster.

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Lloyd said he was willing to help the young gun, who he coached at the high school level, for free, but said a full-time coach was required to help King reverse his habits.

“He needs someone with him a lot more than someone just walking in once or twice a week,” he told Nine’s AFL Sunday Footy Show.

“It’s got to be in the off-season of a six-month period working with him day after day after day. He’s had habits now for 15 years, so it’s not as if you can suddenly change those habits overnight. He’s got to be broken down and restarted all over again.”

According to Lloyd, the biggest issue plaguing the 21-year-old is to do with his slow run-up which results in a lack of momentum.

“When you’re coming in, you need momentum through your run-up,” he said.

“When you’re walking in slow like Max is, to generate power you have to lean back with your body. If you’ve got speed on the ball and you’re going in quicker, you’re down over it (the ball ) and you can get your ball-drop down.

“I’m not sure why he’s spinning the ball as he’s running in. There is no momentum. You should be kicking the ball and then coming forward and taking another step after you kick the footy. Instead of his shoulders being upright and over it , Max King is (leaning) back.

“With the slow run-up, the spinning of the ball, nothing’s going to change. I think the starting point is to get more speed on his run which will help him get his follow-through and momentum.

“He obviously doesn’t know (the right technique). I don’t know who’s working with him, but I haven’t seen anything change for him. His technique is being highlighted year after year (and) he’s letting himself down. “

Lloyd also called out St Kilda’s game-day coaches, suggesting the young gun could’ve been notified of the obvious technical flaw during the contest.

“Chris Scott is coaching the lights out at the moment,” he said.

“When they (Geelong) weren’t performing against Port Adelaide at three-quarter time, he came down with a laptop, he knelt down, and he was showing his team what they were doing wrong and what they could do to fix it.

Lloyd opens up on Saints’ King call

“I didn’t see anyone get to Max King. Why wouldn’t you cut up the vision of the third quarter and say, ‘Max, look at what position you’re in, this is what you could do better’.”

Lloyd’s comments came after Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes slammed the Saints for refusing to grant King outside help when he first struggled and reached out to Lloyd for some coaching last season.

“It was absolutely precious and it was arrogant for St Kilda to not accept the help that Max is asking for,” he said.

“We’re 12 months down the track and Max King has kicked 0.5 in a game that St Kilda needed to win to keep its final hopes alive.

“Once again I’ll say it is arrogant, it is precious, and they are looking after their own ego. Max King is crying out for help, he’s asked for help, and his football club is denying him of that.”

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Australia

Murder probe after mum-of-four found dead near popular Queensland fishing spot

Murder probe after mum-of-four found dead near popular Queensland fishing spot

Homicide detectives are investigating after a mother-of-four was found dead in bushland near Townsville by teenagers riding quad bikes.

The 44-year-old’s body was discovered on Saturday afternoon on a sandy track off Jaloonda Road in Bluewater, near a fishing village.

Queensland police say the woman had four children, aged 14 to 24, but had recently moved to the area and was living alone.

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Detectives believe she knew her attacker but are not treating it as a family or domestic violence incident.

“It doesn’t appear to be a situation where it’s a random attack on a stranger,” Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd told reporters on Sunday.

“It appears that she would have known who her attacker was. They probably went to that location together.”

Any drivers who passed through the area between the early hours of the morning and about 9am on Saturday are being asked to provide dashcam vision.

Police believe the woman died at the location and Detective Inspector Shepherd said it didn’t appear there had been any attempt made to conceal her body.

“It would have been very easy for anyone going along that track to see her instantly,” he said.

A weapon is thought to have been used but has not been found, and police are yet to reveal the cause of the woman’s death.

Shepherd said the teenagers who found the woman’s body didn’t know her but were left shaken by the discovery.

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