Buchardt A500 Measurements and Spinorama

[fragzone]

Someone in Erin's thread said these in reality would not produce the SPL capable of outputting anything audible under 40z at reasonable listening levels. Is this true?

 

[Chromatischism]

Someone in Erin's thread said these in reality would not produce the SPL capable of outputting anything audible under 40z at reasonable listening levels. Is this true?

False. My S400"s produce plenty of output at 40 Hz, and are audible down to just under 30 Hz. The A500 is more powerful, with two active drivers.

 

[Zvu]

Someone in Erin's thread said these in reality would not produce the SPL capable of outputting anything audible under 40z at reasonable listening levels. Is this true?

True. It will not.

@Chromatischism S400 is a passive loudspeaker so it will deliver 40Hz at any loudness untill it burns. A500 is dsp controled loudspeaker with limiter kick in -2dB at 50Hz even when playing only 86dB. Somewhere between 86dB and 96dB limiter moves cuttoff frequency even higher, around 150Hz.

 

[Chromatischism]

1. That depends on the tuning you select. The Buchardt A500 has a response of 25 - 40.000 Hz at +/- 1.5 dB
2. In room "what you hear" is a different matter. Erin also measured the S400 to have an F3 of 53 Hz, but Buchardt aims for an in-room response of 33 Hz and they indeed hit that

 

[YSC]

True. It will not.

@Chromatischism S400 is a passive loudspeaker so it will deliver 40Hz at any loudness untill it burns. A500 is dsp controled loudspeaker with limiter kick in -2dB at 50Hz even when playing only 86dB. Somewhere between 86dB and 96dB limiter moves cuttoff frequency even higher, around 150Hz.

looks not too bad, I do think in a pair they should be loud enough for small rooms, if you need more likely you need a sub to compensate, or in a really large room need a floor stander

 

[VintageFlanker]

True. It will not.

It's wrong. Or define "reasonable levels".

25Hz is easily achievable in-room with the A500, and that at 80dB+ (I mean 80dB at 25Hz).

As @Chromatischism stated, it depends about the MT, their compression behaviour is really different each others.

Buchardt A500 Measurements and Spinorama

If my speakers actually worked i would respond. As soon as i receive replacement parts i will see what effect MC2 has What's broken?

www.audiosciencereview.com

Buchardt A500 Measurements and Spinorama

Where's the SPL? Yep, this data is somehow lacking... But owning them, I can answer: Very loud.:cool:

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Sancus]

I don't know why we need to spread discussion across multiple threads for no reason but it was established in the other thread that the A500 has built in loudness compensation which cannot be disabled and that was likely making the compression test results look much worse than they should be.

 

[brandall10]

looks not too bad, I do think in a pair they should be loud enough for small rooms, if you need more likely you need a sub to compensate, or in a really large room need a floor stander

The room I have them in is fairly sizable, about 25*15*9 feet, and they fill the space out quite nicely. Much better than my Gen 1 Kef LS50W did.

I don't listen to them *loud* (per my dB meter about 80 db max at a 3m listening distance), which is fine for my preference and right beneath where I've gotten a noise complaint inside a well isolated high-rise condo, almost surely because of the bass production which seems to defy physics.

In a somewhat larger space/louder I'd agree that floorstanders or something like the D&D 8c would be better.

 

[YSC]

The room I have them in is fairly sizable, about 25*15*9 feet, and they fill the space out quite nicely. Much better than my Gen 1 Kef LS50W did.

I don't listen to them *loud* (per my dB meter about 80 db max at a 3m listening distance), which is fine for my preference and right beneath where I've gotten a noise complaint inside a well isolated high-rise condo, almost surely because of the bass production which seems to defy physics.

In a somewhat larger space/louder I'd agree that floorstanders or something like the D&D 8c would be better.

nice, I do think at this listening distance it could be enough, better still if you place them close to wall for boundary gain then use manual EQ to tame them making it 20-20khz flat. too bad it's always out of my budget to obtain one

 

[Zvu]

@Chromatischism @VintageFlanker

I don't know how perceivable sound of that limiter is but i always turn toward Kali when i want to see how it should be done. Here's Kali LP8v2

 

[Chromatischism]

I don't know why we need to spread discussion across multiple threads for no reason but it was established in the other thread that the A500 has built in loudness compensation which cannot be disabled and that was likely making the compression test results look much worse than they should be.

We also are only seeing the default tuning. Note the website:

Frequency response

25 - 40.000 Hz +/- 1.5dB (can change with mastertunings)

 

[VintageFlanker]

A500 SE-soon

Buchardt Audio - Passive & Active HiFi speakers

buchardtaudio.com

 

[sharock]

What improvements might we expect from these drivers? Lower distortion?

 

[sweetmusic]

Does anyone know if the hiss mentioned in the original post (and mentioned by other reviewers online) has been fixed?

 

[muslhead]

Does anyone know if the hiss mentioned in the original post (and mentioned by other reviewers online) has been fixed?

I have no hiss with my pair nor have i ever since purchasing

 

[YSC]

What improvements might we expect from these drivers? Lower distortion?

look! I definitely love the look (but lack the money)

 

[mariobutcher]

Does anyone know if the hiss mentioned in the original post (and mentioned by other reviewers online) has been fixed?

This worries me too. Even Buchardt personnel have mentioned it as a topic.
Personally I have had mixed experiences with hiss:

• System 1.1: Passive speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 20 + Chinese Amp+ Preamp: little hiss, only audible from 50 cm or less (I found while cleaning the system)
• System 1.2: Passive speakers: Q Acoustics Concept 20 + Quad Vena II: Dead silent
• System 2: Audioengine A2+ (+iFi Zen Dac v2) and even without the dac: audible hiss at night/silence at 50 cm distance.

I plan to use Buchardt A500 at a 1.5 or 2m distance, and from 65 dB to 85 dB.
I also consider options like Minidsp + purifi based amp + Ascend Sierra LX or alike + SVS basic subwoofer.

Limited budget is really a thing. Yes, I am willing to spend $4K, but I want to do it right.

 

[samysound]

What improvements might we expect from these drivers? Lower distortion?

I would guess lower distortion and more output capability if it has dual active purifi drivers.

 

[brandall10]

This worries me too. Even Buchardt personnel have mentioned it as a topic.

Yes, and it was mentioned this has been wholly addressed and was an early batch issue.

Not a problem whatsoever. They are virtually silent.

 

[Chromatischism]

I am a big fan of the S400 and A500 speakers because I think they do some things better than other brands, but I wouldn't recommend them at 1.5 meters. At 2 meters you can start talking. But, I don't think you're really "cooking with gas" until closer to 2.5-3.0 meters as recommended by Mads.