Article: Review | Buchardt Audio A500 Speaker System

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Out of the box, the A500's did something new for me.  The treble did not sound harsh.  The bass response was jaw-dropping.  How did the Buchardt Audio team make this happen?  As I have been auditioning them, I have not once felt something was off.  I am repeatedly amazed at the depth and breadth of the sound stage. Vocal and small ensemble performances feel almost alive.  The A500 speakers have exceeded my expectations in several areas, apparent sound stage, bass response (…)

 

I've recently purchased their passive siblings --- the S400:

https://www.buchardtaudio.com/shop/s400-white

Soon there's a Buchardt integrated Amp available that features the same or similar DSP options and conncetions:

https://www.buchardtaudio.com/shop/i150

Sure an interessting package.

 

Anyway... just wanted to say, with regard to sound quality, I am as amazed as you what these little boxes are capable of.

Since I moved I've been looking for new (smaller) speakers for the new living room.

The S400 got my attention due to the passive radiator and the wave guide which, in essence, makes positioning of the speakers much less critical. Listening to these little speakers in fact doesn't require to find a sweet spot at the listening position. You can in fact place them in front of a wall if you have to (you should consider to drop the room gain with an EQ attenuating the low frequencies in this extreme case, though). But the more wiggle room you have, the better, of course.

Imaging is fantastic, they draw a wide, detailed and super coherent organic soundstage. And they sound much bigger, richer and beefier than you might think with regard to their dimensions. Too, - which is important for me since I listen to a lot of different sytles of music - they go with the flow whatever you throw at them... chamber music, large orchestra, acoustic music, EDM, Techno, Electronical, Hip Hop, Pop/Rock, Industrial Rock, Punk, Metal... whatever. Maybe they shine the most with minimal acoustic music... but this can possibly be said about most speakers (minimalistic music mostly sounds good...). But if you are in the mood to spend an evening with, say, Porcupine Tree's "The Incident", they deliver the energy and complexity without you ever thinking about turning the volume down.

The price-performance ratio is really amazing!

Great company and business model!

 

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11 hours ago, bobfa said:

It is good to hear your experience with the S400 speakers.  Sounds like there is a great family resemblance. 

Should be … the A500 are actually the active variant of the S400 and they share main design decisions.

 

11 hours ago, bobfa said:

I am still working on placement of my speakers.  I have to try the Mastertunings that is done to move them closer to the front wall.  I still have a lot to learn about setting these up.

The DSP options are for sure fun and rewarding to play with! I’ve quickly read through Burchardts infos - and with joy through your very nice review! 👍 - and I think it’s a really very well thought out system.

I think it makes sense to fine tune the sound / positioning after the recommended break in time span. The 100 hours Burchardt refers to sound reasonable to me. The speakers (well, at least the S400) change their sound so much within the first 20-30 hours and after that they continue to sound warmer and richer, the bass gets bigger and the imaging gets more refined.

 

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On 1/4/2021 at 3:47 AM, bobfa said:

Today I tried a little change.  I setup my Sound Anchor stands under the A500's with a set of  4 Iso-Pucks under each speaker.  The change from using the Gaia isolators under the stands is downright stunning!  I sat and listened to a playlist for over an hour in amazement.

Just logged in to thank you - a lot! - for the tip regarding the iso pucks.

Actually I thought they might not be useful for speakers on stands (rather on other bases) but due to your post I‘ve ordered some (mini) for my S400s. Meanwhile I‘ve also ordererd 2 solid metal plates exactly matching the footprint of the speakers and mounted them on my stands so that I can place the pucks (almost) under the very corners of the speaker cabinet.

Damn... these pucks are really great!

Thanks again!