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John
Buchardt Audio has started taking pre-orders on their new active loudspeaker: the A500 is built around the Danish company’s passive S400 model and adds a Quad-Core DSP chip, dual Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC chips and a trio of Class D amplifiers to each loudspeaker, the latter suggesting that the S400’s rear-facing passive radiator has been replaced by an active driver.
A quick glance at the specification sheet’s crossover points – 2.8kHz and 150Hz – confirm this 3-way thinking. Except it doesn’t. Internal DSP settings determine each driver’s role — a 2.5-way implementation is also possible. The A500’s tweeter, mounted inside a large aluminium waveguide to optimise its dispersion pattern, is a ‘0.74″ custom fine-weave soft fabric textile’. Below it, a 6″ ‘long-stroke’ paper cone handles midrange delivery. Low/er-bass comes from a second 6″ ‘long-stroke’ paper cone mounted to the rear.
Also found on this new active’s back panel is a single XLR socket for analogue sources (hello recording studio!) and a selector to specify the A500’s position in a WISA-based surround sound system (hello home theatre).
Here, the A500 talk WISA-wirelessly to Buchardt’s IR remote-controllable Hub – an extra €500 – that plays catch on aptX Bluetooth, Apple Airplay, Spotify Connect, UPnP or Chromecast Built-in streams before forwarding the content on as 24bit/96kHz PCM to each loudspeaker. This same Hub also features a suite of hard-wired inputs – 3 x TOSLINK, coaxial, USB-A (for laptops), USB-B (for hard-drives), HDMI ARC and analogue RCA/minijack – and will execute Buchardt’s room correction code.
Initial pricing on the A500 starts at €3200/pair, depending on finish (black, white or walnut). This factory-direct price includes freight AND import duties to your door, no matter where you live in the world. On this, Buchardt shows a lead for other manufacturers to follow.
Further information: Buchardt Audio
