Article: Review | Buchardt Audio A500 Speaker System

[PeterG]

Thanks, Bob!  Great write up on some very cool speakers.

 

Hats off on their sales model as well.  Too many great products are available at too few dealers, and only a dope or hopeless optimist would commit >$4K without a trial.  Unless a manufacturer has a true national network, such as McIntosh's for example, they need to enable direct or etail trials for a modest fee/commitment.

[PeterG]

20 minutes ago, bobfa said:

First please do not go out and spend money unless you really feel the need.  I am interested in how others find any differences..  I have used Mogami Gold cables for audio systems.  I have found that Transparent are very good.  I am currently using Audioquest Water cables between the Altair G1 and the A500s.  

 

I will not argue your research on balanced cables.  I have experience that tells my ears different things.  MOSTLY balanced cables do a lot to help reject induced noise.  That is their purpose on very long runs.  On shorter runs in very resolving systems their noise reduction becomes more important. 

This is great advice all around.  Cables can have a big impact, but it is really system-dependent.  Having experimented with all sorts of cables, I have ended up at mostly RCA.  One thing that is easy to forget--XLR is often more expensive than RCA.  In the Transparent line you cite, just for example, XLR is almost 2X in price.  So the fair comparison for Transparent Super RCA (my personal favorite) is not Transparent Super XLR, it is one rung down on the food chain, Transparent Plus XLR. 

 

When I tested cable for my system, it was easy to hear improvements up to Transparent Super RCA, but I could not discern a difference beyond that, or between Super RCA and Super XLR.  Although if I had less noise reduction elsewhere, or more resolving speakers...? 

[PeterG]

4 hours ago, bobfa said:

Peter, thanks for your observations.   One of the tests I am conducting here is with the A500's and XLR cables.  I have a set of Mogami Gold and a set of AudioQuest Water.  The Mogami are around $100 or less and the AuudioQuest are at around $1000.  Are the $$ worth it.

 

The same can be said for the Hansong Hub vs my Altair G1.  Is it worth it?  To replace the Altair I need some computing stuff so it is not only the hub.    

Excellent!  I look forward to your results.  I'm very glad to have spent a fair chunk on cables.  But over several rounds of comparisons, I was surprised more than once in the process.  I ended up thinking it's easy to improve a system with high end cables, but it is almost as easy to spend a lot and have no impact or even negative impact.