Buchardt and Purifi A500 Signature Edition

[changster]

Thank You! So, the price per pair is about 1500$ higher than for the not "signature" not "limited" edition. I calculated, based on consumer prices, the difference of SB Acoustics variant versus Purify loaded variant. I roughly matches, based on consumer prices. But again, especially because the speaker is active, hence doesn't need a coil aka inductor in some passive x/over, a gold wiring would bring this speaker to another level. To use silver, as they do, is only half-way optimised, a bit pedestrian if You ask me. But You don't..


They won't tell me. I still suspect there is some pending patent at work.


We shall not scrutinise offerings from "in"-people. Some cohort enjoys to identify with a start-up, which once evolved from DIY. It is all good.


Proper I doubt. In a 2,5-way the distribution of the internal volume 1:1 is in order. But a proper 3-way would give more for the bass and less for the mid. That would reduce the power needed for the bass significantly, namely cut it to half. The mid could be smaller, counteracting the narrow vertical dispersion etc.
Effective I doubt. Why use a costly Purify driver as a mid and so not use it accordingly?

Reiterated, it is a signature edition, hence very individual choices are not only in order but required.

You make no sense. Seriously. Gold wiring... LOL.

 

[OWC]

You make no sense. Seriously. Gold wiring... LOL.

From a psychological point of view, it makes perfect sense.
In fact from that point of view it WILL sound better.

 

[Chromatischism]

There is no audible distortion or compression from the tweeter. Making it larger would only mess up the directivity.

 

[changster]

There is no audible distortion or compression from the tweeter. Making it larger would only mess up the directivity.

No wonder they released it with the Purifi driver. It should help out with the low end significantly, especially at higher volumes.

 

[Chromatischism]

No wonder they released it with the Purifi driver. It should help out with the low end significantly, especially at higher volumes.

Note that was the original S400. The MKII uses a different woofer, the NRX2 which is paper. We haven't seen Klippel distortion measurements for that yet, but they could be different. I will say that they "sound" cleaner than the original, however I never felt that the original was lacking. I think cleaner just sounds like less bass in this case, which may or may not be preferred.

Also another note on the tweeter choice. I think they explained their decision well:

WHATS UP WITH OUR SMALL TWEETER?

Ok, so first of all it's not the size that counts! Still, we get it. Most tweeters measure up to 25-29 mm. Some enthusiasts may feel that our tweeter is a bit... inadequate. We aren't intimidated or ashamed though, because when you get right down to it, there are advantages and disadvantages to tweeters of all sizes.

As an example, larger tweeters tend to be popular because of their power handling and frequency bandwidth, which allows them to be crossed over at lower frequencies. The caveat is that these larger tweeters do not tend to sound as good off-axis, and they struggle with an uneven frequency response in the higher frequencies off-axis. And they do have breakup points way sooner than smaller tweeters. For us, it's all about performance. And when you get right down to it, the 19mm tweeter that we use fits our goals perfectly.

For one, the measurements are about as ideal as we've found. Secondly, the off-axis performance is tremendous. Any of the limitations that would normally come from using such a small tweeter has been mitigated by our deep waveguide that helps to bring the crossover point way down without stressing the tweeter. The end result is exactly what we were looking for. Top end that's effortlessly free of distortion, resulting in a presentation that's clean, detailed, powerful, and perfectly integrated with the rest of the speaker.

 

[fineMen]

There is no audible distortion or compression from the tweeter. Making it larger would only mess up the directivity.

You may have fallen for the advertising from the manufacturer. The low thermal power withstanding of the tweeter dictates a relatively high x/over. Another reason for the chosen x/over is most probably the raising distortion toward lower frequencies. The high x/over is quite unfortunate especially in regards of the large center-to-center distance due to the waveguide.

The manufacturer claims, that the small size was for the directivity. But, it is the purpose of that very waveguide to transform the directivity of the tweeter from its naked shape to something other, more desirable. If the waveguide does not do that, it is just less excellent.

Anyway, the directivity of my waveguide / 25mm tweeter combo is just brilliant, nothing left to be desired. It is perfectly suitable to have an x/over frequency of a low 1,2kHz. Such an x/over would make the A500/A500 a different speaker, presumably a very much better one.

ps: as long as the internal wiring is just silver, but not gold, I cannot see any potential for it being "high end". One must not get into cutting corners with a premium product.

 

[Chromatischism]

You may have fallen for the advertising from the manufacturer. The low thermal power withstanding of the tweeter dictates a relatively high x/over. Another reason for the chosen x/over is most probably the raising distortion toward lower frequencies. The high x/over is quite unfortunate especially in regards of the large center-to-center distance due to the waveguide.

Wrong again. The crossover is as low as 1800 Hz. There is no problem with distortion or power handling because of the deep waveguide. Do some research on "impedance matching" to understand how horns work.

 

[Chromatischism]

The manufacturer claims, that the small size was for the directivity. But, it is the purpose of that very waveguide to transform the directivity of the tweeter from its naked shape to something other, more desirable. If the waveguide does not do that, it is just less excellent.

Sorry but I don't think you understand the design of the speaker. The waveguide matches the directivity of the woofer and tweeter around the crossover. The small tweeter maintains broad dispersion up top. Combine them together and you get almost constant directivity. You'll notice that the measurements of every single speaker on this website that has a larger dome tweeter show narrowing directivity up top, much less than 60 degrees. It was a design goal of this speaker to maintain a similarly broad pattern from low to high without directivity hotspots.

 

[changster]

Thank god for some sanity. Thanks @Chromatischism

 

[fineMen]

Sorry but I don't think you understand the design of the speaker.

A bold statement indeed. What I do not understand is the hype.

The waveguide matches the directivity of the woofer and tweeter around the crossover. The small tweeter maintains broad dispersion up top. Combine them ...

You implicate that the waveguide somehow cannot maintain the desired directivity up top.

I've learned otherwise => https://heissmann-acoustics.de/wp-content/uploads/xd270_wg_winkel_normiert.png

And of course from my own measurements.

Which include 4" (four inch) drivers at proper waveguides that maintain 90° horizontal dispersion at 10kHz and 15kHz also, and at 1kHz, proper p/a gear namely.

Again, I kind of get the reason for the hype. But I cannot understand.

Thank god for some sanity. Thanks @Chromatischism

Thank You too. I'm obviously not an expert very much like You.

Why is it, that "high end" speakers comprise internal silver wiring (Buchard Limited Signature Edition A500), but no gold, which is clearly better, only more expensive?

 

[thewas]

Why is it, that "high end" speakers comprise internal silver wiring (Buchard Limited Signature Edition A500), but no gold, which is clearly better, only more expensive?

Not that it really makes a significantly measurable or even worse audible difference on loudspeakers but silver has a lower electrical resistivity than gold, actually even copper has(!), gold is therefore usually used only for the external plating as it doesn't oxidise. Also pure gold is too soft to be expedient for such uses.
Table with values can be found for example here:

Electrical resistivity and conductivity - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[VintageFlanker]

 

[Vhond]

Was already posted: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/buchardt-and-purifi.25527/post-1197821

 

[samysound]

Was already posted: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/buchardt-and-purifi.25527/post-1197821

that was a different video...

 

[VintageFlanker]

Was already posted: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/buchardt-and-purifi.25527/post-1197821

No, it wasn't.

that was a different video...

That what happens when you post faster than you check what is to be discussed... (I did quite a few times, in fairness...)

 

[VintageFlanker]

 

[Vhond]

How do they sound?

 

[D!sco]

Yeah, come on @VintageFlanker! Spill it, what are they like?

 

[Mtbf]

They sound really great

 

[VintageFlanker]

Yeah, come on @VintageFlanker! Spill it, what are they like?

Basically, A500 with more extension.

At moderate levels, both sound very similar, but Signatures do have better bass definition and tightness. Maybe clearer mids, the Purifi woofer are crossed higher than SB Acoustics.

At high SPL, there's no contest. Much less compression, meaning more bass extension and punch. I will try some measurements of the low end behaviour when I have time.

Exceptional speakers, but there are still some flaws. Again, the auto-mute feature is very annoying, they go silent way too soon and clearly not quiet enough... It has been fixed with the regular A500, but now, I have to deal with that nonsense again. I hope Buchardt will fix this thing, otherwise it could drive me mad on the daily basis.