New Buchardt S400 MKIII

[Paul7777x]

An upgrade, which is really a new speaker with the same name, from Buchardt.

The new S400 seems very tempting. I’d be very interested to hear how it performs compared to their E50.

Especially for those of us who will always use subs and don’t need the extension of the E50s Purifi drivers.

S400 MK3 PRE-ORDER COUNTDOWN

Buchardt Audio - Passive & Active HiFi speakers

buchardtaudio.com

Ps, the hiding of the screws in the tweeter guide may seem a small thing, but imo, it makes the speaker a whole lot more pleasant to the eye.

 

[Paul7777x]

Putting the tweeter on top instead, also seems to make the appearance all the more appealing to me.

 

[Bwaslo]

Seems like a lot of non-coaxial 2-ways are converging on that baffle and waveguide configuration.

 

[Matt_Holland]

No details on the tweeter yet. Could be the same as the E50?

No passive radiator either which I hope means the price will be kept sensible.

S400mk2 measures really well and sound fabulous. It will be interesting to see where they’ve taken the mk3 after going a bit off piste with the E50 tuning.

Mads Buchardt has hinted at a passive floor standing model in the roadmap. I thought that would come before this. 2-way bookshelf speakers are just too profitable I guess.

 

[Daverz]

"This new generation is a complete redesign, reusing only a single component from its predecessor - the binding posts."

No tube connectors, no sale.

I'm still using the first generation S400s, because -- as tempting as the new designs from Ascilab and Audio First are -- it's not clear to me that there will be any improvements for my use case (noisy living room in a multi-family building) and set up (dsp-tuned dual subwoofers).

 

[jean-benoit]

i like that they increased the size of the speaker.
dont like, that there is no passive radiator anymore.

the s400mk2 was tuned very well, i hope they dont change the "house" sound too much.

for me, buchardt makes the best looking speakers.

 

[Paul7777x]

Up for preorder now. here…

S400 MK3

S400 MKIII Passive Loudspeakers

buchardtaudio.com

I can’t help but think these are going to be a bargain. £1815 delivered, at pre order price, and around £2000 thereafter.

I’m looking forward to Erin and/or Amir getting a pair on the Klippell, but I expect a spot of Buchardts usual excellence.

I do love the new much cleaner look, with no screws on the waveguide and the omission of the manufactures name.

Along with the no circular recess of the old driver the S400 MK III looks as unobtrusive a two way speaker as I’ve seen.

Black or white for me, but good few of the usual timber finishes for old fashioned people.

 

[Paul7777x]

… actually, my apologies; there are only two timber finishes. Oak and the ubiquitous Walnut.

 

[Rick63]

They look good. I much prefer the tweeter over the woofer.

As a grills off guy I wish they'd have covered the woofer screws and used magnets to hold the grills on for those who use them.

I suppose swapping the passive radiator for a tuned port was a cost cutting measure?

Looking forward to a review!

 

[Paul7777x]

They look good. I much prefer the tweeter over the woofer.

As a grills off guy I wish they'd have covered the woofer screws and used magnets to hold the grills on for those who use them.

I suppose swapping the passive radiator for a tuned port was a cost cutting measure?

Looking forward to a review!

I think it might have been to cut costs, but the new mid\bass driver does seem to be a bit more expensive than the previous S400 one (a guess), and its bigger, which may mean less need for the PR...?

 

[Rick63]

The competition in the loudspeaker market is insane!

We are so fortunate!!

 

[AudioJester]

Buchardt always make gorgeous looking speakers!

But you pay the European premium.

Curious to see how this compares with much cheaper Ascilab C6B that Erin rates so highly.

Also, bit weird to start selling preorder with no published measurements. How do you work out what your getting? Unless I have missed it somewhere?

 

[Matt_Holland]

Buchardt always make gorgeous looking speakers!

But you pay the European premium.

Curious to see how this compares with much cheaper Ascilab C6B that Erin rates so highly.

Also, bit weird to start selling preorder with no published measurements. How do you work out what your getting? Unless I have missed it somewhere?

They’re in the fortunate position of being able to trade off reputation alone it seems.

 

[Jonazkur]

Looks like SB26ADC/CDC tweeter with different coating. Great tweeters for waveguide

 

[goat76]

The original S400 came out in 2019, and they are already on MkIII.

That tells a lot about how things have become in this time and age. A speaker manufacturer must release new speakers to stay in the spotlight, and a new hype train is needed to keep them relevant in the market. Isn't this a bit sad? Or do you really think this MkIII is really a much better speaker than the original S400?

These constant releases of updated versions and new models have a backfiring effect on me. It's almost as if the previous models were found to be defective or had real problems that needed to be addressed immediately, or something like that. But yes, I realize it's all about keeping them seem more current in the marketplace.

 

[Chaos01]

I think with the 7,5" woofer they Hit a Point! There Not soo much bookshelves with a 7,5 Out there. Had once a pmc twenty5.22 with a 7 or 7,5. Had great Bass Response but No stereo Image oder Phantom Center Image possible, even with eq. Guess because Bad directivity/ radiating pattern.

I Think there Goal was Not to be even more accurate then a C6B, but accurate enough. The bigger woofer with deeper Bass and more headroom seems to be the goal without using a, as Double expensive, purifi woofer. Curious how they measure with HD and MD in comparison. Also wondering Why they dont provide a single graph...
They are Not bigger than the Kef r3 meta and they claim 33hz inroom at -3db. Curious about the klippel Data..
And wondering how this highish Crossover at 2,4khz will Work in the vertical radiation pattern. Thats a very big Range to Cover for the woofer, could mess Up the MD? And Why they wont let the tweeter Play lower in such a big Waveguide.
At this Price someone could also build the diy ASR Directiva.

 

[Matt_Holland]

And wondering how this highish Crossover at 2,4khz will Work in the vertical radiation pattern. Thats a very big Range to Cover for the woofer, could mess Up the MD? And Why they wont let the tweeter Play lower in such a big Waveguide.
At this Price someone could also build the diy ASR Directiva.

I see they’ve updated the webpage to include the full specs (no graphs yet though).

I’m very disappointed they’re using a 1st crossover and that explains the higher crossover frequency.

It’s things like this plus the hyping of the paper comes woofer that shows Buchardt are focusing on the subjective audiophile market.

The way the E50 was designed and marketed was a clue to this direction change, but I had hoped they would maintain the science based approach with the S400 evolution.

My prediction is that the S400mk3 will have a fairy flat on-axis response but the power response will have a dip at 2.4KHz. This is a tuning that lots of audiophiles like because it emphasises mid and high treble details and makes the imaging more immediately impressive to some.

 

[Chromatischism]

I just saw the Facebook ad and went over the specs on the website. Not gonna lie, as a MK I (2020) and MK II (2022+) owner I have reservations about the raising of the crossover to 2400 Hz with the larger driver and only a 1st order crossover. It used to be 6.5", 1800 Hz, 4th order.

One of the things that the S400 did so damn well was directivity. In fact they were one of the first companies to use the Klippel NFS to design speakers, going back to 2018.

But experience tells me that I should trust them not to mess things up. I'm sure they will be great.

 

[Purité Audio]

The original S400 came out in 2019, and they are already on MkIII.

That tells a lot about how things have become in this time and age. A speaker manufacturer must release new speakers to stay in the spotlight, and a new hype train is needed to keep them relevant in the market. Isn't this a bit sad? Or do you really think this MkIII is really a much better speaker than the original S400?

These constant releases of updated versions and new models have a backfiring effect on me. It's almost as if the previous models were found to be defective or had real problems that needed to be addressed immediately, or something like that. But yes, I realize it's all about keeping them seem more current in the marketplace.

Criticising a manufacturer for attempting to improve a design…

Buchardt S400 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buchardt S400 2-way stand-mount speaker. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. As best as I can tell, it is sold by the company direct and costs €1,800 per pair which translates to US $1,950 as of this writing. Interestingly the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Keith

 

[Matt_Holland]

Criticising a manufacturer for attempting to improve a design…

Buchardt S400 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Buchardt S400 2-way stand-mount speaker. It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. As best as I can tell, it is sold by the company direct and costs €1,800 per pair which translates to US $1,950 as of this writing. Interestingly the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Keith

I think it’s great that Buchardt can continue to release new models at the rate they do. They make fantastic products. I have no problem with them evolving models and creating new hype. That’s a good business model.

Will wait for data but S400mk3 looks like it’s following the design ethos of the E50 which was a departure from the accuracy of the previous products.