Answer:
Gelcore® is an invention and
trademark of Q Acoustics. It was first used in the Concept 20 speakers and their
dedicated stand.
Cabinet resonance is a long-standing problem in speaker
design, where vibrations arising in the walls of the cabinet influence the
sound which the listener hears. Many different solutions have been tried by
speaker designers to tackle this, some of which work better than others, e.g.
lining the cabinet walls with damping material or using internal bracing in the
cabinet structure. Sometimes they don’t solve problem, but simply shift the
resonance to a different and equally intrusive frequency.
Gelcore® is the best solution we have used so far. It comprises of
inner and outer MDF cabinet walls, separated by a highly viscous compound, like
a glue, which never sets. It’s purpose is to separate vibrations within the
cabinet structure from the external walls, minimising their transmission into
the room. Gelcore® is also used in the top plate of
the Concept 20 stand, in order to minimise vibrations being conducted from the speaker
into the stand, and then into the room. The stand also is very high mass (twice
that of the speaker) to help to minimise this.