Buchardt S400 Speaker Review

[BYRTT]

...What is HPQ??...

Its a high pass (HP) filter where also the Q parameter is adjustable, for example picking textbook filters in software as Butterworth and Linkwitz Riley the Q parameter is a frozen value dictated by the filters name and its slope order, so for example a 2nd order Butterworth filter Q is 0,7071 and for 2nd order Linkwitz Riley filter Q is 0,5, one can adjust filter frequency but not the Q parameter, below graphs show example of two named texbook filters and the relative high Q=1,17 filter that is asked for here @41,7Hz..

 

[Maiky76]

Amazing post, specially for clueless people like me who really don't know what they do.

I have a few questions though if you don't mind:

"* in particular the XO is not that well executed"

- What is XO?

"Filter 1: ON HPQ Fc 41.7 Hz Gain 0 dB Q 1.13" What is HPQ??

I want to try your filters but I have a subwoofer plugged to the same output, should I not use some of those filters in the case?

Thank you very much for sharing your findings and EQ.

edit:
FWIW this is what I'm using with Roon in nearfield and a sub also setting distance to speaker at about 101cm (and liking it):

View attachment 123967

Hi,

HPQ is High-Pass filter with an arbitrary Quality factor i.e. not a Butterworth, a Chebyshev etc with are defined with a fixed Q value.
You will probably have to play with this Biquad #1 and the #2 to achieve the best sub integration

First things first you need to make sure your sub is correctly integrated with the main speaker.
It would be great if you could carry some measurements (REW (donate if you can) + https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1, I don't have any relationship with them). This step is critical.
Then you can play with the mains EQ.
I suggest you try both EQ.


BTW what's the outcome of the 500Hz glitch?
I don't want to go through he 41 pages of the thread...
PR related I guess...

 

[ezra_s]

Hi,

HPQ is High-Pass filter with an arbitrary Quality factor i.e. not a Butterworth, a Chebyshev etc with are defined with a fixed Q value.
You will probably have to play with this Biquad #1 and the #2 to achieve the best sub integration

First things first you need to make sure your sub is correctly integrated with the main speaker.
It would be great if you could carry some measurements (REW (donate if you can) + https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1, I don't have any relationship with them). This step is critical.
Then you can play with the mains EQ.
I suggest you try both EQ.


BTW what's the outcome of the 500Hz glitch?
I don't want to go through he 41 pages of the thread...
PR related I guess...

Thanks for the hints. I have REW and a umik

I managed to measure and the dB SPL for the speakers to match it with the sub, other than that, too advanced for me to understand what's going on. I got a more or less nice curve, except for bass area which goes up and down, but I'm in nearfield, not sure if the values are accurate enough.

Anyways, about the 500hz, I recall reading it here:

Buchardt S400 Speaker Review | Page 18 | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

 

[Maiky76]

Thanks for the hints. I have REW and a umik

I managed to measure and the dB SPL for the speakers to match it with the sub, other than that, too advanced for me to understand what's going on. I got a more or less nice curve, except for bass area which goes up and down, but I'm in nearfield, not sure if the values are accurate enough.

Anyways, about the 500hz, I recall reading it here:

Buchardt S400 Speaker Review | Page 18 | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

For measurements and LF EQ there is no such thing as near/far field the room/speaker location in the ruling factor
I guess the author is lurking around under the @jlo nickname:
https://www.ohl.to/audio/downloads/MMM-moving-mic-measurement.pdf
And a live demo:

You'll be able to work with REW and add the LF EQ Biquads into Roon.

 

[Chromatischism]

Any predictions?

 

[ezra_s]

Has anyone sent the "I150 Integrated Amplifier" to amirm yet?

Also, I would like to know if someone here has the amplifier and the speakers. It would be interesting to see their feedback.

 

[Chromatischism]

Any predictions?

Though I'm sure no one is cross-shopping these two, I'll post this for those curious what a step up gets you. These are my subjective impressions from putting them side by side.

I think the ELAC DFR are fine speakers for their price point, but you do get what you pay for. When put up against higher-tier speakers with a more refined presentation like the Buchardts, even the Debut Reference will show its weaknesses. There is some harshness/peakiness in the treble, and the upper bass is not as full creating a thinner overall sound. The midbass however is just fine and I felt it exceeded the S400 there. I did not do a low bass comparison as you need to run them in stereo for that to hear how recorded material sums (IME) and this was a mono comparison.

The S400's are able to create a spooky realistic sound, especially in the female vocal range. The Debut Reference are very good for the price but still sound like a speaker so they don't really "take me there" or bring the singer into the room in the same way. There is a very noticeable difference in tweeter level. The ELACs are more energetic whereas the Buchardts are more intimate. Again this is all relative to a...$2100/pair (wow, they must have increased the price) speaker. It's easy to pick out differences when you can fast switch.

The S400's will remain in the main system with my subs but the ELACs will do well and look great in the living room

 

[Bamyasi]

The S400's will remain in the main system with my subs but the ELACs will do well and look great in the living room

What kind of subs you are using with your S400? I was thinking about adding a sub to my setup but sub matching tool on the SVS website suggests you need at least SB-4000 for meaningful extension and those are simply too large for my listening room. I understand SVS would want to sell you a more expensive (i.e. bigger) model but considering excellent S400 bass extension (for a bookshelf) they might be as well right in this specific case. So I am super interested to hear about any real life experience.

 

[ezra_s]

What kind of subs you are using with your S400? I was thinking about adding a sub to my setup but sub matching tool on the SVS website suggests you need at least SB-4000 for meaningful extension and those are simply too large for my listening room. I understand SVS would want to sell you a more expensive (i.e. bigger) model but considering excellent S400 bass extension (for a bookshelf) they might be as well right in this specific case. So I am super interested to hear about any real life experience.

Really depends how far the Buchardt are from your listening position. From very close (100cm), a SB-1000 did wonders for me.

 

[mSpot]

Has anyone sent the "I150 Integrated Amplifier" to amirm yet?

I doubt that @amirm still has the S400, and it would be pointless to evaluate the I150 separately. The value of the I150 is that it is custom tuned to the response curves of the S400.

 

[Chromatischism]

What kind of subs you are using with your S400? I was thinking about adding a sub to my setup but sub matching tool on the SVS website suggests you need at least SB-4000 for meaningful extension and those are simply too large for my listening room. I understand SVS would want to sell you a more expensive (i.e. bigger) model but considering excellent S400 bass extension (for a bookshelf) they might be as well right in this specific case. So I am super interested to hear about any real life experience.

I am using 2x Rythmik FV15HP. Highly recommended. Also recommend to stick with quality low-tuned ported over sealed if you can make the larger size fit. I would base the decision on the quality of the subwoofer and what you're getting for your money. The S400 will pair very well with just about any sub but you want deep extension and output.

 

[Bamyasi]

I am using 2x Rythmik FV15HP. Highly recommended. Also recommend to stick with quality low-tuned ported over sealed if you can make the larger size fit. I would base the decision on the quality of the subwoofer and what you're getting for your money. The S400 will pair very well with just about any sub but you want deep extension and output.

I was afraid that would be your answer because this was the make/model I had on the top of my list as well for some time. But boy, they are huge: Shipping Weight 108 lbs. Even one single sub like that I am sure will cause our triple-decker to shake and wobble. Looks like I will need to move to another house first...

 

[Chromatischism]

What is your use case? If mostly music, sealed can be just fine since you might not need the extra output.

 

[Bamyasi]

What is your use case? If mostly music, sealed can be just fine since you might not need the extra output.

This one is for music strictly. I have SVS SB-2000 installed in another system for my home office / desktop setup, which I also use for watching movies, although I rarely watch any contemporary ones with significant LFE presence. Single SB-2000 works quite well however, at nearfield in a small room. But S400s in larger system in the listening room are for music listening. The speakers are at 12 ft from my usual listening position but it is also a relatively small room and 15-inch sub would probably be an overkill.

 

[Chromatischism]

Are you able to get any closer than 12 feet? I find detail improves really nicely at closer distances. I have a 7.5 ft triangle and it improved clarity, probably due to increasing the ratio of direct sound vs the reflections.

 

[ezra_s]

I doubt that @amirm still has the S400, and it would be pointless to evaluate the I150 separately. The value of the I150 is that it is custom tuned to the response curves of the S400.

Well, I would still like to see how it performs, even by itself.

 

[Chromatischism]

Some impressions from people who have had the Ascend Sierra 2 EX and Buchardt S400 in house for trial:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/bu...2ex-initial-impressions.3104688/post-60725722

 

[Daverz]

So if you look up SVS's recommendations for crossover settings for the S400, they recommend 80 Hz and 24 dB/octave for the subwoofer (standard) and 50 Hz for the Buchardts. I wonder what the idea behind the overlapping frequency ranges is. Are the values just based on the specs, or do they take into account the dynamic capabilities of the speaker (seems doubtful as these aren't published specs).

I was thinking of eventually getting two subwoofers and using a higher frequency crossover like 100 Hz for the mains.

 

[Chromatischism]

No idea. That has to be some kind of automated calculation based on the specs. I don't know of anyone who recommends double bass, though.

 

[Daverz]

Thanks for these EQ files. I've been using the "preference optimized" EQ for a while, and it sounds very good to me.

Hi,
Horizontally, better toe-in the speakers by 10/20deg and have the axis crossing in front of the listening location to get the axis closer to the LW on which the EQ is designed as seems to be the speaker...

Why crossing in front? Isn't the spin symmetric about the axis? I just measured mine, and they are about 12 degrees toed-out from on-axis.