Buchardt A500 Measurements and Spinorama

[VintageFlanker]

New Mastertunings out today !

mastertunings-overview

Buchardt Audio - Passive & Active HiFi speakers

buchardtaudio.com

+ Massive update promised for the Hub. Who knows... I could give it another chance.

 

[RMW_NJ]

New Mastertunings out today !

mastertunings-overview

Buchardt Audio - Passive & Active HiFi speakers

buchardtaudio.com

+ Massive update promised for the Hub. Who knows... I could give it another chance.

Did you end up sending your hub back?

I’ve been strongly considering the A500 for awhile now, but wasn’t going to touch it until the issues with the hub were fixed. Curious if these fixes actually work.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Did you end up sending your hub back?

I wanted. Finally, Mads sent me a refund + a new remote and said I could keep it if I wanted to try further hotfixes... So far I'm glad with the outcome.

 

[brandall10]

Just updated - not sure if I can tell any difference w/ the hi-pass 60Hz (assume this is the same as previous reduced bass) except the volume position in Roon has shifted considerably. Volume level 35 seems roughly to equate to what 50 was before which is about the max I'll go - once got a noise complaint going a bit above that w/ EDM. Guess this goes w/ the better high SPL capabilities.

My hub appears to already be at the new version. Hopefully the dropouts, which have only been occasional since last summer, are fixed entirely.

Roon is still uncertified. Only been 1.5 years since submission for certification.

 

[brandall10]

Did you end up sending your hub back?

I’ve been strongly considering the A500 for awhile now, but wasn’t going to touch it until the issues with the hub were fixed. Curious if these fixes actually work.

If it helps at all, having lived with it nearly a year now I would buy it again, hub and all. It seems to fill up my largish living/kitchen area ~(24 * 15 * 9 feet) much better than my gen 1 LS50Ws did. The amount of bass power these things produce seem to defy physics while retaining good clarity.

It doesn't seem I've had quite the same issues some have had though. Hopefully these things are truly stable for most now. I gripe about Roon cert but Chromecast works well and is fast and responsive.

 

[RMW_NJ]

If it helps at all, having lived with it nearly a year now I would buy it again, hub and all. It seems to fill up my largish living/kitchen area ~(24 * 15 * 9 feet) much better than my gen 1 LS50Ws did. The amount of bass power these things produce seem to defy physics while retaining good clarity.

It doesn't seem I've had quite the same issues some have had though. Hopefully these things are truly stable for most now.

That’s great to know, thanks! I have the S400 MKI with SE crossovers, the I150, and a couple SVS SB3000 subs. I like the idea of the A500, the master tunings, clean setup, good bass extension without subs (I know not as deep or clean), etc., but interestingly Mads told me it was not worth upgrading…I still might anyway.

 

[brandall10]

Interesting. These might be a bit of downgrade on balance. Packaging and simplicity of the setup is a very big thing for me as I rent and move every couple years. They sound great all the way at the other end of my space in this photo here and hardly take up anything in the room.

If I had more of a permanent home w/ a larger space I'd probably do a D&D 8c for similar simplicity, which I did in fact consider but decided they were just too large and imposing.

 

[Chromatischism]

That’s great to know, thanks! I have the S400 MKI with SE crossovers, the I150, and a couple SVS SB3000 subs. I like the idea of the A500, the master tunings, clean setup, good bass extension without subs (I know not as deep or clean), etc., but interestingly Mads told me it was not worth upgrading…I still might anyway.

The S400's have amazing bass but of course my subs add a lot, especially below 30 Hz where the speakers fall away.

 

[YSC]

this actually looked real nice both performance wise and design, but price still the main pushing factor for me though. and seems it don't have the freedom of DSP as in Genelec GLM or so for user optimization rather than the predetermined presets which are nice in most case but not that perfect for power user

 

[RMW_NJ]

this actually looked real nice both performance wise and design, but price still the main pushing factor for me though. and seems it don't have the freedom of DSP as in Genelec GLM or so for user optimization rather than the predetermined presets which are nice in most case but not that perfect for power user

Not exactly sure what GLM offers, but you can manually EQ in the Buchardt app.

 

[YSC]

Not exactly sure what GLM offers, but you can manually EQ in the Buchardt app.

ic, then it's my bad, I thought it's presets only style of DSP. if so it really do a lot of right things for me to want one, just the cost still prohibit me personally

 

[brandall10]

ic, then it's my bad, I thought it's presets only style of DSP. if so it really do a lot of right things for me to want one, just the cost still prohibit me personally

I wrestled w/ this purchase for several months, being an early adopter of Gen I LS50Ws w/ their myriad problems. I briefly considered the LS50WII w/ a sub as well as higher end options such as Generic 8351b and D&D 8C.

The trial/return policy (just cost of shipping) and simplicity of LFE tuning using your iPhone is something that helped sell me on them... while surely not as accurate as the GLM system, it seems to work well and produce consistent results. It will actually graph the sub 1k FR of your room and allow you to tweak the intended correction. Turning it on/off the difference is obvious. I couldn't say the same of using REW to create convolution filters but that's a skill I didn't spend the time to master.

While certainly not 'cheap', esp compared to value champ separates reviewed here that you could build a system from, if you value convenience/ux and packaging I don't think anything can touch them at the price point. There might be things coming out I'm unaware of though.

 

[RMW_NJ]

I wrestled w/ this purchase for several months, being an early adopter of Gen I LS50Ws w/ their myriad problems. I briefly considered the LS50WII w/ a sub as well as higher end options such as Generic 8351b and D&D 8C.

The trial/return policy (just cost of shipping) and simplicity of LFE tuning using your iPhone is something that helped sell me on them... while surely not as accurate as the GLM system, it seems to work well and produce consistent results. It will actually graph the sub 1k FR of your room and allow you to tweak the intended correction. Turning it on/off the difference is obvious. I couldn't say the same of using REW to create convolution filters but that's a skill I didn't spend the time to master.

While certainly not 'cheap', esp compared to value champ separates reviewed here that you could build a system from, if you value convenience/ux and packaging I don't think anything can touch them at the price point. There might be things coming out I'm unaware of though.

Yeah I’m going back and forth right now between the Kef LS50WII and the A500. My main issue is that I really like the S400MKI + I150, and I do have another room that I’d like to add a system to. Problem is it’s my office, so it would be nearfield…and I know none of the Buchardt speakers do particularly well in nearfield. So if I got the A500 I’d essentially be giving up on the S400 and I150 because I’d have nowhere else to put them.

 

[brandall10]

Yeah I’m going back and forth right now between the Kef LS50WII and the A500. My main issue is that I really like the S400MKI + I150, and I do have another room that I’d like to add a system to. Problem is it’s my office, so it would be nearfield…and I know none of the Buchardt speakers do particularly well in nearfield. So if I got the A500 I’d essentially be giving up on the S400 and I150 because I’d have nowhere else to put them.

I'd just wait for the next gen LSX... should be coming soon since it was an easter egg in a Kef promo video a few months back. I use them for my bedroom and they're great, well reviewed here.

Alternatively, Buchardt has hinted at a smaller variant of the A500 that is being worked on, though I believe it will come in about $2500 or so. I gather the Kef will remain ~$1200.

 

[Head_Unit]

While certainly not 'cheap', esp compared to value champ separates reviewed here that you could build a system from, if you value convenience/ux and packaging I don't think anything can touch them at the price point.

Yeah, that is how I sold my buddy on them, especially the calibrated loudness which is unique. But from all the different foibles and the super hot (165F) rear panels have turned him into "wouldn't do it again, unless they were making all their own stuff, no 3rd parties." I think he means the hub or whatever. Personally I would never touch something that with no signal is 165F (ha ha see what I did there, huh? huh?)

 

[YSC]

Yeah, that is how I sold my buddy on them, especially the calibrated loudness which is unique. But from all the different foibles and the super hot (165F) rear panels have turned him into "wouldn't do it again, unless they were making all their own stuff, no 3rd parties." I think he means the hub or whatever. Personally I would never touch something that with no signal is 165F (ha ha see what I did there, huh? huh?)

if the rear end goes to 165F idle I would say it's a design failure... electronics sustaining that temperature won't last long to justify that heat, and with the price it isn't something you would like to fix or change every 2-3 years

 

[muslhead]

if the rear end goes to 165F idle I would say it's a design failure... electronics sustaining that temperature won't last long to justify that heat, and with the price it isn't something you would like to fix or change every 2-3 years

They dont get that hot ..... well, at least mine dont. Mine are cool to the touch when idle and get to 110 or so when running for hours at a reasonalbe volume

 

[brandall10]

Yeah, that is how I sold my buddy on them, especially the calibrated loudness which is unique. But from all the different foibles and the super hot (165F) rear panels have turned him into "wouldn't do it again, unless they were making all their own stuff, no 3rd parties." I think he means the hub or whatever. Personally I would never touch something that with no signal is 165F (ha ha see what I did there, huh? huh?)

I know the original couple batches had an audible hiss at idle, have not heard about idle temps like that. My build from about year ago presents neither of these issues, they're cold to the touch. The hub is slightly warm, but no wear near that, maybe somewhere in the 90s.

Few companies do all aspects of design and development in-house for something that has an entirely vertically integrated experience. One of the main issues w/ the original LS50Ws seemed to be they either outsourced or lacked the capability to properly do their mobile app and wireless integration and as such it was really poor. The issues I've had w/ the hub have been super minor in comparison.

Haven't had a single blip of an issue since I updated w/ the latest mastertunings almost 48 hours ago... maybe a dozen hours of listening at this point. Usually I'd have a 5 second dropout or two.

 

[Head_Unit]

if the rear end goes to 165F idle I would say it's a design failure... electronics sustaining that temperature won't last long to justify that heat, and with the price it isn't something you would like to fix or change every 2-3 years

Exactly! But Buchardt told him it was "normal"-not a shock I guess due to zero heatsinking, it's just nuts. If I had read that I would have told my friend to PASS.

They dont get that hot ..... well, at least mine dont. Mine are cool to the touch when idle and get to 110 or so when running for hours at a reasonalbe volume

A500? If so how the heck is one pair is so "normally" hot but yours aren't???

My build from about year ago presents neither of these issues, they're cold to the touch.

Your "build"? What do you mean by that? And again how can the "same" thing behave so differently?!?

 

[brandall10]

Your "build"? What do you mean by that? And again how can the "same" thing behave so differently?!?

My 'batch'. I ordered my speakers in Dec 2020, received them toward the end of Feb last year, they were part of a batch that was built in Jan/Feb last year.

Just like w/ software there can be hardware revisions. In this case there was a definite hissing issue with the earlier builds of these speakers. Your friend's heat issue may have also been from an earlier iteration. Certainly does not occur w/ my speakers.

These speakers are also highly modular and user serviceable - the electronics/amp unit and the 3 speakers are easy to replace. IIRC Burchardt fixed the issues for early adopters by sending out replacement electronics unit w/ instructions on how to replace. I believe it's just 6 screws and the whole thing slides out, should take just a few minutes per speaker.

This was a big difference from my Kef LS50W, where I had 2 separate failures which required the entire speakers to be shipped back to Kef for several weeks at a time. On top of the service fees shipping was pretty expensive, ~$150 or so each time.