John
The Buchardt A700 is a floorstanding active loudspeaker (€6300/pair) that can be hard-wired to an analogue pre-amplifier via XLR cables or fed wirelessly at 24bit/96kHz using a compatible WISA hub. On the latter, Buchardt offers two third-party solutions: the smaller Platin Hub (+€300) or the more attractive Primare SC15 Prisma (+€700) that drops the Platin Hub’s room correction, manual EQ and HDMI ARC but adds better build quality, Ethernet connectivity, an OLED display and an analogue output (which could be used to add a non-WISA subwoofer).
Both hubs offer streaming smarts for Spotify Connect, Google Chromecast, Apple AirPlay and – coming soon – Roon Readiness. (Note: only the Primare SC15 is compatible with AirPlay 2).
Each A700 loudspeaker features: 1) a 0.74″ soft dome tweeter with an enormous waveguide; 2) a 6″ mid/bass driver; 3) a pair of 6″ bass drivers and – round back – 4) a pair of rear-firing 6″ bass drivers. That sums to four ‘driver zones’ that each enjoys 150 Watts of Class D amplifier power and a CS4398 DAC chip.
The A700’s operational principle (3-way cardioid or 3.5-way sealed), driver crossover points and frequency response all vary according to whichever DSP-powered MasterTuning has been installed by the end-user. Installation involves downloading a MasterTuning from Buchardt’s website, writing the file to a USB stick before inserting it into the USB socket on the rear of each loudspeaker and power cycling it.
A walnut-finished pair of A700 – plus the Platin and Primare hubs – are now with me ‘in Berlin’ and a video review will follow in due course. Expect to see side-by-side comparisons to the KEF LS60 Wireless and Dynaudio Focus 30. Whet your appetite with our coverage of Buchardt’s A500, a podcast interview with Mads Buchardt about the A700’s design and an A700 unboxing short:
Further information: Buchardt Audio
