Buchardt Audio S400 - My Review

[Chromatischism]

Okay, but the actual output I get at 30 Hz is real. All of my songs that have output to just under 30 Hz I can hear with these speakers. Can you explain why we aren't seeing that in your measurement above?

In fact just last night I was doing sweeps and trying to hunt down what in my room was rattling at 35 Hz. Turned out to be a door.

 

[hardisj]

There is output. Just not as much.

My measurements are accurate. They mimic both Amir’s and Buchardt’s as well. I trust my measurements because I know all conditions they were measured in.

 

[Sancus]

With all the room effects in low bass, I don't see why you would expect the anechoic measurements to tell you whether you can hear output at a certain very low frequency or not.

 

[Chromatischism]

There is output. Just not as much.

The PR peaks at 33 Hz. I guess they must have done a good job blending it with the active driver.

 

[Chromatischism]

Just so there's an understanding of where I'm coming from, here's the S400 in my room with and without EQ. They are basically small subwoofers on stands

Note this is a before and after speaker placement + EQ to (mostly) eliminate SBIR.

 

[muad]

Just so there's an understanding of where I'm coming from, here's the S400 in my room with and without EQ. They are basically small subwoofers on stands

View attachment 70585

http://www.baudline.com/erik/bass/xmaxer.html

Be careful

 

[Chromatischism]

http://www.baudline.com/erik/bass/xmaxer.html

Be careful

No worries, I don't ask more than 85 dB from them. I don't modify the extension, just flatten the output and ensure a slight downward tilt. They'll be relieved when I get subs back in here.

 

[hardisj]

They are basically small subwoofers on stands

I definitely do not agree with this. Not at my listening levels. I covered this in-depth in my review, though.

 

[Chromatischism]

I definitely do not agree with this. Not at my listening levels. I covered this in-depth in my review, though.

That's fine. Maybe your room is different. My measurement shows the response I'm getting. Many small subs extend to 25-30 Hz.

 

[thewas]

Just so there's an understanding of where I'm coming from, here's the S400 in my room with and without EQ. They are basically small subwoofers on stands

View attachment 70585

Filling almost 20 dB room bass dips like you do between 130-140 Hz isn't recommended as it removes a lot of headroom, increases distortion and makes the bass sound muddy usually unless the placement or measurement was different between the 2 as strangely also new nulls at 100 and 240 Hz appear.

 

[Chromatischism]

Filling almost 20 dB room bass dips like you do between 130-140 Hz isn't recommended as it removes a lot of headroom, increases distortion and makes the bass sound muddy usually unless the placement or measurement was different between the 2 as strangely also new nulls at 100 and 240 Hz appear.

Read the legend carefully: the gold measurement is a change in speaker placement AND equalization to tame the resulting boominess that usually results from moving speakers closer to the front wall. I am taking advantage of the speaker's passive radiators to achieve this placement and superior bass performance. I could post a series of graphs with each step but I thought this was simpler. It is an exercise in optimizing placement by eliminating SBIR. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[thewas]

I apologise for not zooming into the plot and just reading your text "here's the S400 in my room with and without EQ"

 

[Chromatischism]

I apologise for not zooming into the plot and just reading your text "here's the S400 in my room with and without EQ"

Sorry about that. I will edit the post. On my monitor I thought the caption would be visible enough but maybe not on smaller screens.

 

[hardisj]

I "converted" this review to my YouTube format. There's a weird 5 second edit issue about 1:20 in to the video but that should be fixed soon.

 

[Chromatischism]

Wow, a really nice, even response above 200 Hz. I get a dip in the lower midrange, and another dip above 2kHz which I assume the dip in the vertical response being strongly reflected by the ceiling (could also be floor bounce; the floors have thick carpet, but perhaps it's not a very effective absorber at that frequency).

View attachment 69624

How do you have the speakers aimed?

I tried aiming them right at me and it lifted and flattened the response a bit above 1-2 kHz up to 10 kHz. They sound livelier and the center image is more focused. There is a tradeoff with spaciousness so owners will need to experiment.

 

[Daverz]

How do you have the speakers aimed?

I tried aiming them right at me and it lifted and flattened the response a bit above 1-2 kHz up to 10 kHz. They sound livelier and the center image is more focused. There is a tradeoff with spaciousness so owners will need to experiment.

I never liked the sound without toe-in, so I always had them toed-in. I also tried the "radical" toe-in crossing over in front of the listening position.

 

[Chromatischism]

I never liked the sound without toe-in, so I always had them toed-in. I also tried the "radical" toe-in crossing over in front of the listening position.

They might be a little forward like this, but here is aimed at my seat:

I think most people would call this pretty dead neutral, though we don't see a slope from 100-1000 so the mids will be forward. This probably contributes to the great imaging of vocals.

Edit: my AVR decided that the front LR levels should be +3 to +4. I backed them down by -3 and it sounds nicely balanced!

Are you having any issues in the low mids? I have a wide dip from 300-450 Hz that doesn't change with position and never averages out.

 

[Daverz]

Are you having any issues in the low mids? I have a wide dip from 300-450 Hz that doesn't change with position and never averages out.

Yes, I posted my in-room response here:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...chardt-audio-s400-my-review.14079/post-433814

 

[Chromatischism]

I don't see any issues in your measurements in that range, but I do see one a bit lower at 200-250. I do have Audyssey running until 300 Hz so it's possible that was flattened out for me. I'm reluctant to instruct it to go higher because it tends to not sound as good to me.

I have noticed that there is a persistent 175 Hz cancellation that I think I've pinned down to be floor bounce related to the speaker's bass drivers distance to the floor, though that seems to fill in for the most part with subs and EQ and is otherwise a very narrow notch. 350 is a doubling of 175, so it has me wondering if there is any relation.

 

[Chromatischism]

@hardisj

Sorry if I missed it, but are the pictures on the walls of your listening room acoustically absorptive?