Buchardt A500 Measurements and Spinorama

[brandall10]

can someone share their use case and how well their platin hub work (how good is room correction in the hub as well),
will using analog input make a better use case with A500 (mini dsp) or ...

much appreciated
Tp

I found the room correction to substantially clean things up in the one living room I've used them. The Buchardt app shows the before/after and you can quickly toggle it to hear the difference. Definitely would not want to give that feature up for a better built/featured hub.

 

[tifune]

I've scanned the thread, lots of measurements here which is great but I don't see one that helps me understand: do any of the different tunings, presumably 'nearfield', improve vertical directivity? I see a few mentions where it is *thought* that will happen, but no corresponding data. My use case would be around 75cm, and Buchardt says that should be fine but it would be nice to see it firsthand.

 

[tensor9]

Any distortion measurements for these?

 

[VintageFlanker]

Any distortion measurements for these?

For?

 

[Head_Unit]

I found the room correction to substantially clean things up in the one living room I've used them. The Buchardt app shows the before/after and you can quickly toggle it to hear the difference. Definitely would not want to give that feature up for a better built/featured hub.

In my friend's case he would agree the room correction made a huge difference. There was around a -10 dB sinkhole 50-130 Hz (!!!). He would disagree about the hub, which has been problematic for him as I think I posted before (A/V sync, I forget what else, he doesn't want to talk about it any more. Maybe @RMW_NJ can shed some light). He says he's going to look at the procedure which is supposed to reduce the super high temperature on the back panel. Erin's review
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wered-bookshelf-speaker-review-by-erin.31418/
shows controlled directivity...I presume there is built-in boost to counter the falling response of a CD horn, something which I've been wondering if Audyssey can be used to do for passive horn speakers.

 

[Chromatischism]

shows controlled directivity...I presume there is built-in boost to counter the falling response of a CD horn, something which I've been wondering if Audyssey can be used to do for passive horn speakers.

Is that really needed with this speaker?

 

[thewas]

I presume there is built-in boost to counter the falling response of a CD horn, something which I've been wondering if Audyssey can be used to do for passive horn speakers.

In a passive crossover this can sometimes be done with just one capacitor https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...r-review-dsp-part-2.40650/page-8#post-1440413

 

[jcris]

Well I’ve read through this entire thread and it’s convinced me not to purchase the A500’s. I’ve been looking at an offering on usaudiomart : https://www.usaudiomart.com/details...gn=email-featured-ad-click&utm_term=650002360
It seems to me the Platin hub has issues that Burchardt has addressed by bringing Primare on board to resolve. The Signature edition is attractive but out of my budget.
Thanks everyone for your insight

 

[jcris]

Geez,
I keep going back and forth on the A500. I’ve been thinking about an active system for quite some time. I’ve entertained diy and actually purchased some boards to build amps and crossovers but have begun to realize the time, money and expertise needed to complete a diy project may be out of my reach. The A500’s are attractive because they are suitable for a small room and do have some flexibility. My concerns are with the Platin Hub and how hot these speakers run. Heat over time in the confined space of a small cabinet has to be detrimental. It does seem like the Primare hub is a good step but I just can’t afford to buy thes new. As I posted earlier, I’ve read many reviews and this entire thread and I’m still thinking about buying these. They have been available on usaudiomart for several days now. To those who actually own these please offer your opinion
Thanks

 

[adsk]

Geez,
I keep going back and forth on the A500. I’ve been thinking about an active system for quite some time. I’ve entertained diy and actually purchased some boards to build amps and crossovers but have begun to realize the time, money and expertise needed to complete a diy project may be out of my reach. The A500’s are attractive because they are suitable for a small room and do have some flexibility. My concerns are with the Platin Hub and how hot these speakers run. Heat over time in the confined space of a small cabinet has to be detrimental. It does seem like the Primare hub is a good step but I just can’t afford to buy thes new. As I posted earlier, I’ve read many reviews and this entire thread and I’m still thinking about buying these. They have been available on usaudiomart for several days now. To those who actually own these please offer your opinion
Thanks

I've had the A500s for nearly 2 years. No problems with the hub over that time those that have, make a lot of noise online.

You can run the A500s with any analogue preamp that has XLR out if budget is an issue.

 

[testp]

Geez,
I keep going back and forth on the A500. I’ve been thinking about an active system for quite some time. I’ve entertained diy and actually purchased some boards to build amps and crossovers but have begun to realize the time, money and expertise needed to complete a diy project may be out of my reach. The A500’s are attractive because they are suitable for a small room and do have some flexibility. My concerns are with the Platin Hub and how hot these speakers run. Heat over time in the confined space of a small cabinet has to be detrimental. It does seem like the Primare hub is a good step but I just can’t afford to buy thes new. As I posted earlier, I’ve read many reviews and this entire thread and I’m still thinking about buying these. They have been available on usaudiomart for several days now. To those who actually own these please offer your opinion
Thanks

i have never own one, but as previous post mentioned, most troubles were resolved. You don't have to buy the hub anyway, just feed them with dac that has xlr.

for smallish-medium rooms it does seem to be a good fit

 

[jcris]

Thanks so much for your help
I’m in contact with the seller now and may make a decision soon.
Thanks again

 

[brandall10]

i have never own one, but as previous post mentioned, most troubles were resolved. You don't have to buy the hub anyway, just feed them with dac that has xlr.

for smallish-medium rooms it does seem to be a good fit

The hub is necessary for room correction, and it really does work well. At least for me it was one of the primary selling points so doing these without the hub (or using Primare instead) was absolutely a no-go.

Unlike others the hub was actually pretty stable for me initially but then began more frequent dropouts with updates. Not super bad, but one speaker would die for about 10-15 seconds every 4-6 hours of playing. Haven't used these in over a year though as I've been traveling and these have been in storage, so maybe it's better now.

These also worked pretty well for me in a larger room, about 25 * 15 * 9 feet. Much better than my LS50W version 1s did.

 

[testp]

The hub is necessary for room correction, and it really does work well. At least for me it was one of the primary selling points so doing these without the hub (or using Primare instead) was absolutely a no-go.

True hub gives room correction, but so does PC/laptop/rpi. but i hear ya, hub is convenient.

Unlike others the hub was actually pretty stable for me initially but then began more frequent dropouts with updates. Not super bad, but one speaker would die for about 10-15 seconds every 4-6 hours of playing.

could it not be hardwired to speakers, i'd imagen dropouts should not occur

 

[brandall10]

True hub gives room correction, but so does PC/laptop/rpi. but i hear ya, hub is convenient.


could it not be hardwired to speakers, i'd imagen dropouts should not occur

The Burchardt room correction is only available w/ their hub. I've used RME to create convolution filters w/ a mic for my LS50s and couldn't get similar results and don't consider the ease of use/UX anywhere near the same ballpark.

I get that others might not consider proprietary room creation to be a big selling point, but it certainly is amongst a large pool of consumers at this more mid tier (w/ extremely simple UX) as it is at higher tiers w/ Genelec and D&D.

 

[jcris]

You make several good points brandall10,
Fwiw, I’ve moved on and have realized that perhaps the used market should not be my sole focus. Also too my budget for this endeavor has increased.
Thanks so very much for your even handed insight

 

[brandall10]

You make several good points brandall10,
Fwiw, I’ve moved on and have realized that perhaps the used market should not be my sole focus. Also too my budget for this endeavor has increased.
Thanks so very much for your even handed insight

To be clear, I like the speakers quite a bit and would recommend them - not sure what came out over the past year but I feel they offer an unbeatable mix of fidelity, packaging, and features at the price point and I would likely buy them again given the choice. Some people had terrible issues w/ the supplied 3rd party hub during the first year or so but it seems those were largely resolved and while some like myself still had occasional issues they are pretty minor in the scheme of things.

Is price and space weren't a concern I'd do the D&D 8c but those are over twice the cost and about twice the size.