Buchardt Audio S400

[Bamyasi]

Mine have just arrived by FedEx truck this morning.

 

[Daverz]

Mine have just arrived by FedEx truck this morning.

Awesome. When did you put in your order? I orderd on June 17 and mine are supposed to go out in August. I hope I get them before the Labor Day weekend.

I haven not decided whether to get their stands, which fit the dimensions of the speaker exactly, or some cheaper ones that are more or less the right size.

 

[Bamyasi]

Awesome. When did you put in your order? I orderd on June 17 and mine are supposed to go out in August. I hope I get them before the Labor Day weekend.

I have preordered my pair of S400 (black) on April 29, the day before the preorders with delivery in June were closed. They have been shipped to me on 23rd of June, so took them more than a week to cross the Atlantic.

I haven not decided whether to get their stands, which fit the dimensions of the speaker exactly, or some cheaper ones that are more or less the right size.

I use Target 28 inch full metal stands filled with sand, they are very solid. The upper plate which supports the speakers is only 6x8" in size which is smaller than the speakers footprint but it does not create problems since the speakers are not very heavy.

One word of caution: read the manual included and follow the instructions. Even though it was written in bold on Buchardt's Audio website and also printed on paper, I had almost packed them away and sent back after connecting for the first time to my amplifier. Initially, they sounded as if something was seriously broken, like they forgot to connect crossovers or the drivers were damaged internally. But they do require at least two hours of burn-in before any evaluation. Manual recommends 10 hours minimum but my experience 2-3 hours was actually enough for the drivers to start opening up, at least with my Hypex NC500-based amplifier (700 Wpc peak @ 4 Ohm). As usual, YMMV.

I do not have any equipment for measuring speakers and subjective reviews have no place here, so all I can say is my S400s are settling nicely to my system and I've been very happy with my purchase so far.

 

[maty]

Initially, they sounded as if something was seriously broken, like they forgot to connect crossovers or the drivers were damaged internally. But they do require at least two hours of burn-in before any evaluation. Manual recommends 10 hours minimum but my experience 2-3 hours was actually enough for the drivers to start opening up, at least with my Hypex NC500-based amplifier (700 Wpc peak @ 4 Ohm). As usual, YMMV.

This reminds me of my experience with my esteemed KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial loudspeakers, at first they sounded deadly, no bass, I also thought about returning them, they needed many hours to sound good, and by the time two hundred hours the sound did not stabilize. Coaxial suspension -the connection of the speaker to the cabinet- is very rigid and needed the burning. I suppose that in the stores the same thing happened as there was a failure in sales for years.

When you read comments on Amazon about them and the substitutes, the Q150, some complain about the same thing and return them right away, that is what compulsive purchases have.

NC500. Buffer stage?

 

[Daverz]

But they do require at least two hours of burn-in before any evaluation. Manual recommends 10 hours minimum but my experience 2-3 hours was actually enough for the drivers to start opening up, at least with my Hypex NC500-based amplifier (700 Wpc peak @ 4 Ohm). As usual, YMMV.

A trick I've used before is placing the speakers facing each other and playing them wired out of phase so that the noise is greatly reduced.

 

[Bamyasi]

NC500. Buffer stage?

It's been posted before.

 

[Bamyasi]

A trick I've used before is placing the speakers facing each other and playing them wired out of phase so that the noise is greatly reduced.

Great idea, I should try it tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[maty]

Thank you.

Too much threads in which I participe!

 

[w4cht3l]

Hi Mads, hi all

I really love it when companies are transparent about their products and close to their fans and (potential) customers. Besides the guys from FiiO, who are very active on head-fi.org and listen to customer feedback there, and Paul McGowan and his team at PS Audio, who are hosting their own forum, you are among the very few companies who bother. Thumbs up for that!

I have a few questions, if you don't mind.

We are also working on two new passive in a new Performance series scheduled for 2020 :

P400 : basically an cheaper version of S400. Here we will be using the PFC series of SB 6" woofers, AMAZING drivers at an low cost! We will do some changes to them, one of them is an aluminium chassis. Otherwise a cheaper cabinet and much cheaper crossover compared to the S400. But it will be our best value for money product!

P700 Floorstander : 3 way with 6" midrange and 2 x 6" woofer supported by 4 x 6" passive radiators.

If I get that right, the P-series seems to become an (even) more affordable product line than the current S-series of speakers. I would really like to see a passive floorstander for the S-series as well - an S700 to provide a costlier alternative to the P700 (and a passive alternative to the active S700A).

Lastly we are also developing an amplifier! This might be a surprise

It started because i wanted to bring this fantastic new room correction to our passives as well.

That's really really nice to hear. I know that I belong to a minority with my opinion but: as a rule of thumb, I prefer the sound of passive speaker to the sound of actives.

I know about all the advantages of active designs and I'm also able to hear these advantages when comparing actives to passives. But in the end the bass often seems a little too tight, too clean for me. And active speakers seem to miss some of the nice mellowness and musicality of passives.

But the S700A still made me very curious, I have to admit I'll definitely give them a listen.

For customers that really want speakers to be made in Denmark, we do also offer our Signature editions that also comes with a few other upgrades and differences. Fun fact, these are actually made by me and my brother (this labor cost again in Denmark...) :-D

I think that's a brilliant idea. To give customers the option here. Are Signature Editions planned for the upcoming floorstanders?

 

[kaka89]

Had a chance to listen to this great speaker this afternoon, in a small treated room with near field setup. The S400 is a remarkable speaker and very impressive at this price point and beyond.

It has amazing bass as many reviews suggested, great sound stage as you would expect from a horn, and surprisingly warm voicing! I was expecting it would sound thin as the Amphion, but not at all, really like the sound of it. The S400 fill the room with music.

Compared to my Harbeth M30.1, I think my Harbeth does better on vocal and reproducing the texture of music instrument. Subjectively the sound is clearer somehow (maybe due to the lack of bass of Harbeth). Considering Harbeth cost twice as much as a S400, I highly recommend the S400!

 

[northbeach]

Hi Mads:

Really interested in your 700 Floor Standers [passive]. I can't tell from your description if it will include a tweeter with the WaveGuide. Thanks. NB

 

[Daverz]

If you order Buchardt speakers from the US, you may have to fill out a Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Certification Form to get your package out of US Customs. There's a good explanation of the form here:

https://peopoly.net/pages/how-to-ha...ontrol-act-tsca-certification-form-with-fedex

The description Mads gave me was "Passive HiFi loudspeakers, made from certified MDF. "

When they ship the speakers, Buchardt's shipping company will send an email with their tracking page (from [email protected]). That page will be updated once there's a Fedex tracking number. I suggest signing up for email notifications from Fedex so you'll be notified if there's a customs hold. I then had to call Fedex and request an "activation" to send the signed TSCA document in to their automated email system (subject is just the tracking number, no email body or signature, attach the signed PDF file). Then it seems they lost the document anyway.

It took a week to get my speakers out of customs, but I think that was some computer problem Fedex was having. I finally got a voicemail from the Fedex customs broker claiming he'd been trying to reach me for a week, but my phone showed no previous missed calls from Fedex. Oh well, they are out of customs and on their way now.

 

[Bamyasi]

Mine arrived without any holdup and the customs did not request any kind of extra forms filled out by me (I am on the US East coast). I know US Customs processing is a bit of a lottery and totally non-transparent process, so obviously everyone's mileage may vary.

 

[jhaider]

If you order Buchardt speakers from the US, you may have to fill out a Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Certification Form to get your package out of US Customs. There's a good explanation of the form here:

https://peopoly.net/pages/how-to-ha...ontrol-act-tsca-certification-form-with-fedex

The description Mads gave me was "Passive HiFi loudspeakers, made from certified MDF. "

When they ship the speakers, Buchardt's shipping company will send an email with their tracking page (from [email protected]). That page will be updated once there's a Fedex tracking number. I suggest signing up for email notifications from Fedex so you'll be notified if there's a customs hold. I then had to call Fedex and request an "activation" to send the signed TSCA document in to their automated email system (subject is just the tracking number, no email body or signature, attach the signed PDF file). Then it seems they lost the document anyway.

It took a week to get my speakers out of customs, but I think that was some computer problem Fedex was having. I finally got a voicemail from the Fedex customs broker claiming he'd been trying to reach me for a week, but my phone showed no previous missed calls from Fedex. Oh well, they are out of customs and on their way now.

FedEx international customs brokers are truly terrible at their job. I had to fight through a fog of FedEx negligence and incompetence last spring after they were tapped by a merchant to ship some items we purchased while on vacation. A few weeks after delivery we received a BS invoice from them. Long story short, a FedEx bureaucrat failed to follow clear and obvious instructions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule on how to code items originating in a country with a free trade agreement with the US on a customs form, so their program spit out an unwarranted tariff. When I complained they wanted me to pay $75 to "appeal" their mistake. I outlined exactly what mistake was made, and how was clearly FedEx's, but haven't heard from them since. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a collection notice at some point that I'll have to litigate to clear our credit report.

If Buchardt wants to sell speakers in the US they should use a competent customs broker. Knowing they use FedEx makes it impossible for me to recommend them to anyone here, regardless of merit.

 

[alanllew]

Our production is in China actually. Though its a half Danish factory, so its not an cheap factory to manufacture at, but the quality and experience is fantastic there!. Being there and seeing what brands they manufacture for, was an absolutely shock to me! Brands that you would NOT think is made in China is actually made there. The rules of this "made in" are completely broken if you ask me. We could do it as simple as just slap the drivers in the speakers here in Denmark and legally call them "Made in Denmark".

Its sad to see that so many people falsely believe that made in China = cheap crap and bad working conditions. It was true 20 years ago and possibly at some factories still and this is what we hear about in the media. The labor cost there is about 40-50% lower than here in Denmark, but the workers are only charged 4% tax on there income there, where workers here in Denmark are charged 40%.. So its not like its poor people like many think, heck all workers i saw had Iphone X there

If you are interested, we actually have both pictures of the production and company along with some more information on our "About" tab in our website. So no hiding here, all about transparency.

For customers that really want speakers to be made in Denmark, we do also offer our Signature editions that also comes with a few other upgrades and differences. Fun fact, these are actually made by me and my brother (this labor cost again in Denmark...) :-D

Mads, very cool to find you here.
Quick question: I live in Indonesia and was frustrated by the lack of choice in speakers here so I started doing some research... found out about SB Acoustics, the Danish hookup with you guys and Danesian... Then I read reviews of the S300 and 400, worked out what drivers they were using etc.
JBL are producing their new L100 here in Indonesia. Why did Buchardt choose to manufacture in China and not in Indonesia, right next to the SB Acoustics factory?

 

[Mads Buchardt]

Hi guys.

Sorry that I haven't been so active, but please email me or chat via our Facebook page if you have any questions you need to get answered quickly. Me and the team are just extremely busy dealing with the US customs. We have never experienced any issues but out of no where, nearly all shipments to the US are getting stock in customs.

Basically FedEx need a form to be filled by the importer (the customer) or by us, if the customer allows it. The way we do it now is that we email the form all filled out in advance to customers, the customer only needs to add the tracking number. Then it's ready to be sent to FedEx if they need it. Normally it's a quick process and does give them one or two days more in shipping, but we hope to have a solution very soon so nothing is required.

The form simply states that there are no toxic chemicals in the wood. The MDF we use is of course certified, otherwise we would never be able to get them to Denmark in the first place

 

[Daverz]

We have never experienced any issues but out of no where, nearly all shipments to the US are getting stock in customs.

You Danes could have avoided these problems if you'd just taken the Greenland deal.

 

[Mads Buchardt]

You Danes could have avoided these problems if you'd just taken the Greenland deal.

Haha yeah that is properly a punishment

 

[Cortes]

You Danes could have avoided these problems if you'd just taken the Greenland deal.

haha that might me the reason.


Old asking form: 'Give me it to me'. Modern asking form: 'I want to buy it'.
Old rejection form: 'Never in my life'. Modern rejection form: 'I'll test tomorrow a few nukes'.

 

[Aprude51]

If Buchardt wants to sell speakers in the US they should use a competent customs broker. Knowing they use FedEx makes it impossible for me to recommend them to anyone here, regardless of merit.

I did experience a minor holdup working with FedEx to get my S400s past customs, but it was pretty painless overall and my speakers still arrived within a week of being shipped. Seems a bit extreme to not recommend a product like this on the basis of your poor personal experience with FedEx; I'm sure every customs broker in the world has at least one customer who has had a bad experience with them...