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Buchardt Anniversary 10 Measurements and Review

Nuyes

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Reviewer
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This speaker is from Buchardt, a manufacturer based in Denmark. Someone purchased their 10th anniversary model and sent it to me for measurement.

In Korea, there's no official distributor for this product, so to acquire it, one would have to contact the Danish headquarters for a direct purchase… With its quite unique and attractive design, let's now take a look at the data of this speaker!



Frequency Response

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The frequency response of this speaker is quite flat. There is a shallow dip of about an octave wide around 1-2kHz, which could be perceived as part of the speaker's unique tonal character. However, what concerns me a bit already is the low-frequency bandwidth.

This speaker uses a 6.5-inch woofer in a sealed design.

It's likely possible to extend the bandwidth(Bass) to such an extent with just a single woofer unit without the aid of a passive radiator or port because this is an active speaker.

While the exact intent behind the design is unclear, I believe it's quite a stretch to boost the lows that much with a single 6.5-inch unit in a sealed design.

Anyway, it has a bandwidth of about 25.5Hz at -6dB. Perhaps they tuned it so aggressively relying on the very powerful Purifi unit (the manufacturer of the woofer unit installed in this speaker)...





Nearfield Measurements
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As expected, it shows a clean handling of good materials, with no particular anomalies. The crossover between the woofer and tweeter has been asymmetrically cut.






Directivity
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The horizontal directivity is quite clean.
Due to the use of a very small 19mm tweeter unit, lowering the crossover point further must have been challenging. However, as a self-proclaimed high-end speaker manufacturer, I feel there's room for improvement in smoother control.
This is particularly noticeable around 2.5kHz, where there's a narrowing, likely due to this factor.




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The vertical directivity shows a couple of significant null points near the crossover region.
Excluding these, the off-axis response appears to fall off quite smoothly.




Beamwidth
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Overall, the beamwidth has a standard feel to it.
Still, thanks to the waveguide, the directivity in the high frequencies is well controlled, without any particular spikes or bulging.




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The vertical directivity is quite narrow.
Particularly at the crossover point, the upward direction from the tweeter reaches the -6dB point at only about 10 degrees.



Polar plot
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The appearance is uniform and beautiful, yet the region around 2kHz still seems lacking, which seems unavoidable.
However, despite this, the other pleasures that the 19mm tweeter offers might make this aspect tolerable for actual users.

I dare to speculate that the decision to drastically reduce the diameter of the tweeter was intended to push the vibrational partition and the resulting directional and various acoustic errors beyond the human audible range.




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It reaffirms that the allowable vertical angle for faithful reproduction is not very wide.




THD
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Oh my goodness… I thought they had set it too aggressively, trusting in Purifi.
Purifi units are quite famous for their excellent design, guaranteeing faithful performance even at high displacements. However, I believe the failure resulted from choosing the smallest possible enclosure size that could accommodate a 6.5-inch woofer, and attempting to overcome all limits with EQ correction.
It would be better to just give up on the low frequencies.



(+20.12.2023)
Purifi products are well-known for their excellent design, which guarantees faithful performance even at high displacements. However, this speaker seems to be among the smallest in its class capable of accommodating a 6.5-inch woofer. It appears there were challenges in attempting to overcome the limitations of the unit's surface area and volume through EQ correction.





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An output of 95dB SPL@1m puts this speaker under excessive strain.
Especially since it can't properly produce low frequencies due to its structure, yet is boosted with EQ, you can see the woofer unit struggling greatly.

As a sealed design, it showed quite a clean response in the 70-80Hz and above range, which is typical for speakers of this size.
However, due to the small internal volume, the proportion of second harmonic distortion in the lows starts to increase even from 85dB SPL.

As the internal volume of the speaker box decreases, there is less air, and the asymmetry in pressure increases when a woofer of the same size compresses and expands the air with the same displacement.
This leads to an increase in second harmonic distortion.




Multitone test

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While I was somewhat prepared for this, I didn't expect it to this extent.
As a result of pushing a high-displacement capable unit to its limit, I observed very high Multitone Distortion across almost the entire spectrum.




80Hz~
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The results are astonishing when I cut off the measurement signal below 80Hz and remeasured only the higher frequencies.

Indeed, by removing the low-frequency part that was overstrained in the speaker's design, I could see an incredibly clean response.
This speaker would likely show a completely different performance when used in conjunction with a subwoofer, cutting off the lows, rather than being used as originally designed.







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The Multitone Distortion also significantly increases at the point where the low-frequency displacement expands.
The element that most highlights the shortcomings of this speaker is, indeed, the EQ design by the manufacturer.




Compression test
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Again, despite the fact that this speaker could technically handle it according to its specifications, the excessive settings have led to undue compression.
It's really a pity about the settings.





Deviation
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This time as well, since I received a pair of samples, I was able to measure the response variation between the two. The craftsmanship of the units and the design seems to be excellent.
Especially, most of the frequency range, from the lows to the ultra-highs, shows excellent linearity, staying within +/- 0.3dB.

However, there is a difference in the overall level. It seems that Sample B is set about 0.2dB lower than Sample A.

If only the level matching had been correctly done...!


(+20.12.2023)
In my reviews of speakers controlled via DSP, like Neumann KH120 ii, Genelec 8330A, 8351B, I wanted to suggest the aspect of amp level matching.

If the manufacturing process is not top-tier, encompassing in-house pair matching from units to the finished speaker, a variance within 0.5dB in the linearity of the final speaker product is commendable.
The Buchardt A10 I measured this time is insanely excellent in this regard.
However, the overall level being offset implies amp level matching. Considering the other performance aspects, I expressed a slight disappointment thinking, "For a company capable of handling details to this extent, they could have matched the amp levels a bit more precisely."




Grill test

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This product comes with a round-shaped grill that attaches magnetically.
However, considering it distorts the response, and given the appealing appearance of the units and waveguide, I think I wouldn't use the grill on this speaker for any reason.





In conclusion, here are my personal thoughts.

Buchardt has been a manufacturer of interest to me for some time. They used sufficiently good materials, but I think they spoiled the end result with overly ambitious settings.

Despite having a 6.5-inch woofer, this speaker is very compact, with the trim ring's diameter and the enclosure's width nearly identical. I don't believe many users would expect deep bass in the 20-30Hz range from such a small speaker. (Expecting that might be unreasonable…)

Nevertheless, I think I will end up giving this speaker a fairly high score. If used with a subwoofer setting that cuts off the lows, it will show unbelievably strong performance for its size. Even without a subwoofer, if the user applies a suitable filter in the low frequencies considering the size, it will still deliver very reliable performance.

It's a bit disappointing that there was a 0.2dB difference in the amp level, but considering the variation in linearity between samples and the overall craftsmanship, there are enough aspects to give it extra points. Especially with the addition of the Scandinavian design aesthetic... I was quite satisfied.

But I must emphasize once again... if only they had been a little less ambitious with the bandwidth!

...That's all.



(+20.12.2023)
I apologize for any nuances lost due to my limited English skills and the use of translation tools, and for appearing overly strict and harsh in my evaluation, particularly towards Buchardt speakers.

As I mentioned in my previous comment, I hold this speaker in high regard. Additionally, I had some misunderstandings about the design intentions of this speaker until I heard the manufacturer's comments.

This speaker offers a proprietary system that allows for adjustment of bandwidth and curve, catering to both users who enjoy listening at low volumes in close quarters and home theater enthusiasts.

The default setting is sufficient to provide a deep bass response at low volumes, which is not typically felt in other speakers of similar size.


I also hope that mentioning the use of a translator doesn't come across as a poor excuse on my part. It is true that my evaluation may have seemed particularly harsh towards this speaker, and even though it was accompanied by affection, a more delicate revision was necessary for the nuances to be properly conveyed, which I failed to do.

However, thanks to Buchardt's explanation, I have gained a better understanding of the actual demands in a typical home environment, and for this, I extend my deep gratitude to the manufacturer.
 

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Why on earth didn't they use a limiter with higher volume?

This is an example of a poorly implemented DSP design in an active speaker. Can it perhaps be updated? Does it have the option to load different profiles into the amps?
 
Would you mind inverting your compression graphs going forward? It looks like you're showing dB of compression as a positive value, i.e. if the "reference" is 75 dB or whatever and the "105 dB" sweep reads 102dB at 30Hz, that would be plotted as [30, +3]. However, I think it makes more visual sense (and is consistent with SoundStage, Erin, etc.) to show compression as a negative change in FR. In the same scenario, the "105 dB" sweep value would be plotted as [30, -3].

Either that or I totally misread your graph, which is always possible...
 
Would you mind inverting your compression graphs going forward? It looks like you're showing dB of compression as a positive value, i.e. if the "reference" is 75 dB or whatever and the "105 dB" sweep reads 102dB at 30Hz, that would be plotted as [30, +3]. However, I think it makes more visual sense (and is consistent with SoundStage, Erin, etc.) to show compression as a negative change in FR. In the same scenario, the "105 dB" sweep value would be plotted as [30, -3].

Either that or I totally misread your graph, which is always possible...

I agree with your opinion that it is logical to represent Compression in the negative direction on the Y-axis.

However, in the Klippel template, Compression is expressed as a positive value on the Y-axis. This is because it represents the 'degree' of compression.

That might be why Erin seems to extract this Compression plot using a program other than Klippel.

I will look into whether the settings can be changed. (Previously, a few people had asked about this issue, but I couldn't find a solution at the time.)
 
is it really audible and annoying in the real world with normal listening of music material, say 80dB at 2m and in stereo? If it's not as dramatic as it looks then I guess it's fine, you get almost full range sound for low levels and if you want to get louder you can always use a sub and filter out the low end from these. Though there should be "extended bass" mode available through software instead of pumping 30Hz through these by default
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there is one indeed, the review is misleading
 
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€3,500 euro oof

you guys are dedicated

Amplifiers150-watts + 50-watts (RMS) Digital input amplifiers / PowerDAC (each speaker)


i assume typical 150w to the 6.5' drivers etc.

this should be more than enough right?
 
They cooked with sufficiently good ingredients, but they were too ambitious...
No not to ambitious, rather not ambitious enough IMHO.
This woofer needs the additional output reinforcement and efficiency of a ported or passive radiator design.
In this size box that would likely mean passive radiators to achieve a lower tune.

Asking a 6.5 to play sub 35hrz bass notes by itself it not really legitimate. The xmax goes really fast down there. Sealed just doesn't make sense, it has to be driven so hard.
 
is it really audible and annoying in the real world with normal listening of music material, say 80dB at 2m and in stereo? If it's not as dramatic as it looks then I guess it's fine, you get almost full range sound for low levels and if you want to get louder you can always use a sub and filter out the low end from these. Though there should be "extended bass" mode available through software instead of pumping 30Hz through these by default

Apple has cleverly solved this problem by recognizing the volume user's playing at and boosting the bass variably.
It doesn't seem like it would require a very difficult algorithm to implement, so it's a wonder that speaker manufacturers don't try it.
 
Thanks, @Nuyes ! :cool:

How would an A500 with these purifi drivers perform?
Already exists, I'm using these (A500 Signature Edition) everyday.

They both perform and sound really good.

Here is a Spin from the company:
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Can it perhaps be updated?
Yep. Could be done with MT upgrades.
 
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No not to ambitious, rather not ambitious enough IMHO.
This woofer needs the additional output reinforcement and efficiency of a ported or passive radiator design.
In this size box that would likely mean passive radiators to achieve a lower tune.

Asking a 6.5 to play sub 35hrz bass notes by itself it not really legitimate. The xmax goes really fast down there. Sealed just doesn't make sense, it has to be driven so hard.
For this kind of money I'd just have Alan make me a Sointuva AWG. It has those passive radiators, and as Erin's measurements have proven, it plays lower with far less distortion and compression as a result. Not active, but a really good match for all the guys with Eval 1's.
 
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as Erin's measurements have proven, it plays lower with far less distortion and compression as a result. Not active, but a really good match for all the guys with Eval 1's.
Apples and oranges, I regret. And I'm not even talking about active Vs passive : These measurements aren't done with Klippel NFS so can't be compared IMHO. Also, Erin is measuring anechoic distortion, which does not appear to be the case here.
 
Combine it with a subwoofer and there's no more reason to complain. It's easier for a customer to cut the low end instead of trying to extend it himself if he wants a very compact full range speaker.
 
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Just to share )

"Turning our attention to the rear panel of the A10, there’s an interesting point to note. It states “Made in Denmark” and “Made in China.” The “Made in China” label applies to the electronics inside the cabinet, while the cabinet itself, constructed from solid European Ashwood, is made in Denmark. The Purifi driver is also made in Denmark, and the tweeter is crafted in Indonesia. The final assembly and quality control for the speaker are conducted in Denmark"
 
Is there not multiple low end boost setting options? The best way to do things is with adaptive boost that lowers as you increase the output level. I thought the DSP they use has that feature?

No matter the bass setting it will become a mid-high range speaker only at mid-high volume.
 
Back in the analogue active days, B&O had small column speakers with twin 3" bass-mid drivers using variable bass eq to make the sound balance acceptable at lower listening levels. It worked very well for general purpose domestic listening in clients' homes, but as the volume went up, the bass went down relative to the midrange to protect the tiny drivers...

I honestly get the feeling that this speaker has been basically designed and 'voiced' to perhaps appeal to the 'Klippel-is-King' crowd. Is there no bass down-shelving or lf filter setting on the back? Despite the apparent abilities of the bass-mid driver, I feel sure that subjectively, the midrange would open up amazingly without all that low bass distortion and cone excursion messing and modulating with it.
 
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