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Buchardt A500 Diy

Dataman61

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Hello, I am looking to build the a500 but I don't know all the parts that the speaker needs so I was hoping that you people can help me out here

The information that I am looking for is;

What is the paper drivers model? (I know It should be on sb acoustics)
Are the drivers 4 ohms or 8 ohms?
What is the Tweeter model? (probably sb acoustics too)
What is the amplifier being used? (3x150w)(looks similar to system audio silverback amp)
Link a supplier for the amplifier, please.
Is there bracing inside the A500 or is it like the S400 with no bracing?

If can help me out just a little bit that would be wonderful, thanks.
 

TulseLuper

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It's a good format to emulate. I don't know the specific models of any of the parts, but some similar options are here:

SB Acoustics Waveguide Beryllium Tweeter (fancier than what Buchardt uses, but unless you're going to model your own waveguide your options are limited)
SB 6-7" Woofers (many of these would work in a compact 2-way with passive radiator in the back or port, your choice)

You could use either miniDSP PWR-ICE250 (relatively compact) or a Hypex FusionAmp FA252 (bigger but higher quality amp modules). If you want to do 3-way, the FusionAmp FA123 or FA253 would work but they're big. You'll have more flexibility with the enclosure if you do an external DSP board like the miniDSP 2x4HD or 4x10HD (although I highly recommend getting the Dirac versions) and a multichannel amplifier from Buckeye Amps (you can find those in the Desperate Dealers section of this forum)
 
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Dataman61

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It's a good format to emulate. I don't know the specific models of any of the parts, but some similar options are here:

SB Acoustics Waveguide Beryllium Tweeter (fancier than what Buchardt uses, but unless you're going to model your own waveguide your options are limited)
SB 6-7" Woofers (many of these would work in a compact 2-way with passive radiator in the back or port, your choice)

You could use either miniDSP PWR-ICE250 (relatively compact) or a Hypex FusionAmp FA252 (bigger but higher quality amp modules). If you want to do 3-way, the FusionAmp FA123 or FA253 would work but they're big. You'll have more flexibility with the enclosure if you do an external DSP board like the miniDSP 2x4HD or 4x10HD (although I highly recommend getting the Dirac versions) and a multichannel amplifier from Buckeye Amps (you can find those in the Desperate Dealers section of this forum)
Thank you for your recommendations I have to check those out
 

BDE

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The tweeter is also from SB but you will not get the waveguide (I tried ;-)!

So if you like the style of the A500 go for a Heißmann Cinetor-Evo, Monitor | Home theater speakers (heissmann-acoustics.de)
If absolutly necessary you can also use a passive radiator and a DSP module (own setup necessary or contact Mr. Heißmann maybe he can offer the settings for a Hypex Fusion plate amp (of cause extra costs).
 
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Ah. It turns out to be really complicated to design a loudspeaker. Reverse engineering a commercial product is not remotely feasible without deep experience and costly instrumentation. Your best bet is to take others' suggestions and purchase a kit. Trust me on this.
 
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Dataman61

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Ah. It turns out to be really complicated to design a loudspeaker. Reverse engineering a commercial product is not remotely feasible without deep experience and costly instrumentation. Your best bet is to take others' suggestions and purchase a kit. Trust me on this.
I'm trying to get close to the A500 design I know I won't be spot on to the exact specifications I just want to come close to it.
 
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You are almost certain to be disappointed. You cannot purchase equivalent drivers off the shelf. You have no idea what's happening in their DSP crossover. Take a look at the documentation on their site:

We have 2700 measurements available for each driver, When run through our own advanced analysis tool, it enables us to distinguish the different acoustic phenomena to the degree that we can also judge which nonlinearities to compensate and precisely how, and which not to touch. We will analyze the effect of our EQ on each of the 2700 measurement points around the speaker, and evaluate the impacts in each point, to judge the acoustic effect of a given correction. With properly set targets, the effect of this EQ approach is an improvement so far unheard. With this technology we can very accurately eliminate system resonances, because they will appear equally bad to all directions, whereas, for example some diffractions will only be seen in specific directions and need different compensation. All of this is done with the aspect in mind to make a speaker as linear as possible, with as little compromise as possible to the off-axis response. Therefore, the fundamentally good acoustic configuration helps us a lot to make as little compromise to either as possible. The bottom line is, the A500 and A700 audio reproduction is a huge step forward in quality.

You cannot replicate this R&D at home without advanced engineering knowhow and laboratory equipment.

I know I sound harsh, and I apologize. I'm trying to save you a lot of wasted money and heartache. Buy a kit.
 

Colonel7

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I'm trying to get close to the A500 design I know I won't be spot on to the exact specifications I just want to come close to it.
What sets Buchardt apart is fully active and dsp with customized profiles. Are you planning on passive with same or similar drivers as close enough?
 
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Dataman61

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You are almost certain to be disappointed. You cannot purchase equivalent drivers off the shelf. You have no idea what's happening in their DSP crossover. Take a look at the documentation on their site:



You cannot replicate this R&D at home without advanced engineering know-how and laboratory equipment.

I know I sound harsh, and I apologize. I'm trying to save you a lot of wasted money and heartache. Buy a kit.
Like I said I'm not trying to replicate A500 exactly I'm just coping with multiple design cues. And thank you for your concern about wasted money and I will look at some kits, but right now I'm set on making my own speakers I know It is not going to easy but I got to at least try.
 
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Dataman61

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What sets Buchardt apart is fully active and DSP with customized profiles. Are you planning on passive with the same or similar drivers as close enough?
I do want to have them active, but they don't have to be the same drivers.
 

TulseLuper

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Designing a good speaker from scratch is as hard as others are saying it is, and people should usually build kits instead. The good news is, since you're going active, you won't waste a bunch of time and money iterating a passive crossover design that never actually gets good. You can always quickly re-design an active crossover and re-build a small speaker box. So just make sure you get drivers that make sense together and an amp/DSP that you know can get the job done. Since you haven't done it before, you might want to stick with a 2-way design. It will be easier and less costly if things go sideways. And whatever your plans are for the final construction, build a couple 3/4" MDF prototype boxes first.
 

VintageFlanker

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I said I'm not trying to replicate A500 exactly
Obviously. Because you cannot.;)
Is there bracing inside the A500 or is it like the S400 with no bracing?
There is.
3.jpg


Now, I have to admit I don't have any clue about what you're trying to a accomplish...
(Active) Speakers are not: put this driver and this tweeter in a box and call it done.

There are so many other parameters... The most important there being the DSP, on the hardware and software side. The A500 would just sound awfull if it wasn't there. That the all point of these speakers.
 
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Dataman61

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Obviously. Because you cannot.;)

There is.View attachment 118519

Now, I have to admit I don't have any clue about what you're trying to a accomplish...
(Active) Speakers are not: put this driver and this tweeter in a box and call it done.

There are so many other parameters... The most important there being the DSP, on the hardware and software side. The A500 would just sound awfull if it wasn't there. That the all point of these speakers.
Thank you for answering my question this image will help greatly. Also to your question about what I am trying to accomplish right now I am just trying to get as much information as possible while planing out the speaker I want to build, and the speaker I want to build takes a good chunk of design cues from the a500 I hope that will answer your question.
 
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Dataman61

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Does anyone know any more information about the amplifier they are using in the a500 so far I know that the amp is made by system audio and it's their silverback series of amps. But the problem I am running into is that I don't know what variation of that amp there using. If you can help me out that would be awesome.

Some retailers that I have found:
https://www.hifiexperience.se/produkter/tillbehor/ovrigt/system-audio-legend-silverback-amp-upgrade
https://www.tele-ha.se/produkt/system-audio-legend-5-silverback-amp-upgrade
https://www.q21.pl/system-audio-legend-5-upgrade.html
https://www.q21.pl/system-audio-legend-40-upgrade.html
https://www.q21.pl/system-audio-legend-60-upgrade.html
 
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