Buchardt A500 - Complete Stereo System well under 4L Company Direct

[prateekatasniya]

By local I meant imported by the distributor but locally available.

 

[mfgillia]

The best review ran across so far of the A500s combining both subjective analysis and detailed objective measurements is here:

Buchardt A500 Review and Measurements: The future of speakers (I hope)

Last year I wrote that Buchardt Audio’s popular bookshelf speaker, the S400, was near endgame material. It sounded good enough that I felt it would be difficult to find a speaker that was a clear upgrade without opting for something larger

thenextweb.com

Interesting product. If buying in India, you would have to take customs into account.

I wouldnt rely too much on the Darko review - he raves about virtually all products he reviews. This combined with the pay-per-review model makes me a little skeptical.

Custom charges are in theory now included in the same price they charge everyone regardless of location. There may still be some exceptions though but none were noted when purchasing from Taiwan.

I am eager for asr measurement for the same. It’s too much money anyway.

Napier Lopez, senior contributor in ASR's forums, has already completed very detailed measurements posted both inside one of the ASR forum threads and at the website - thenextweb.com

The funny takeaway is that the A500s due to their design will generally test most any way one wants depending on which master tuning is installed.

Which I suppose one could argue is cheating compared to passive speakers and most active ones with fixed / mostly fixed cross over points and frequency response.

 

[jai1611]

Custom charges are in theory now included in the same price they charge everyone regardless of location. There may still be some exceptions though but none were noted when purchasing from Taiwan.

They don't extend the customs included price to India. Buyer has to bear customs charges

 

[Flash]

i wonder how it would compare to the B&W Formation duo since its is at a similar price range albeit the B&W has much better drivers Carbon Dome Tweeter and Continuum Woofer (taken from 800 series )

 

[mfgillia]

They don't extend the customs included price to India. Buyer has to bear customs charges

Oh, I see - that's too bad.

 

[SwaroopKS]

I agree there are a few full system based local solutions.
Do any of these systems have software based system tuning, like Buchardt claims?
Cheers,
Raghu

I am not aware of any. Good to know if there are any. Almost all of them I met or spoke to are purists and true to their philosophy. Some were reluctant to add any additional features or connections even for additional price as they believed it would affect the sound quality.

 

[alphacentury100]

You are right a bit.. But, what makes it interesting is that he compared to the KEF LS50W and said he liked more. This might be very appealing those don't want to worry too much about electronics and interconnects and stuffs.

Also, Sean from Zero Fidelity seems to be more honest in his reviews and he also did like the latest offerings from Buchardts...

Sean of Zero fidelity is a great guy. He never reads the spec sheet in the name of reviewing. His reviews are honest and trustable. I like this guy more than any AV reviewer.

 

[raghupb]

I am not aware of any. Good to know if there are any. Almost all of them I met or spoke to are purists and true to their philosophy. Some were reluctant to add any additional features or connections even for additional price as they believed it would affect the sound quality.

Ah ....
Then apart from price point, there nothing to compare here. Very difficult to compare design philosophy.
Computer/SW based audio is all about tailoring the presentation to the user's ear/room.
Purist approach may be a hit or miss if the user ears don't approve or room misbehaves.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[prateekatasniya]

i wonder how it would compare to the B&W Formation duo since its is at a similar price range albeit the B&W has much better drivers Carbon Dome Tweeter and Continuum Woofer (taken from 800 series )

B&w has become more of marketing and lifestyle product.
Cannot expect neutral sound from it.

 

[DB1989]

Sean of Zero fidelity is a great guy. He never reads the spec sheet in the name of reviewing. His reviews are honest and trustable. I like this guy more than any AV reviewer.

Talking about reviewers, I was speaking to him the other day on his live chat and he indicated that Tharbamars reviews were not entirely objective. And by that, he didn’t mean they were subjective.

And Considering the fact that he's clued up with distributors from North America and is responsible for a lot of gear sent to other reviewers like Thomas, Steve and Jay, such an allegation cannot be entirely discarded.

 

[Eight1zero]

would love to try these speakers

 

[raghupb]

would love to try these speakers

Haha .... A lot of us here would like to hear these speakers/system.
But then customs, landed price, etc means the wait is gonna be long.
If we get lucky, some FM will import it and coincidentally be in our city and invite us for a "bhaitak".
Until then we can only say "Huh ... This company seems to be up to something new"

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Eight1zero]

Haha .... A lot of us here would like to hear these speakers/system.
But then customs, landed price, etc means the wait is gonna be long.
If we get lucky, some FM will import it and coincidentally be in our city and invite us for a "bhaitak".
Until then we can only say "Huh ... This company seems to be up to something new"

Cheers,
Raghu

I am sure sooner or later it will happen

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Talking about reviewers, I was speaking to him the other day on his live chat and he indicated that Tharbamars reviews were not entirely objective. And by that, he didn’t mean they were subjective.

And Considering the fact that he's clued up with distributors from North America and is responsible for a lot of gear sent to other reviewers like Thomas, Steve and Jay, such an allegation cannot be entirely discarded.

You should consider starting a channel. I see the passion and stamina in you.

 

[DB1989]

You should consider starting a channel. I see the passion and stamina in you.

Thank you for those kind words Sachin. I would really love to and it'd not be a stretch to say that's my dream job !!! But I believe i have much to educate myself on and experience before i try something on those lines. My exposure to gear is pretty limited and I believe that is critical to establishing a baseline/point of reference before I review any gear or dole out opinions/advice. I am passionate about this hobby and i guess i might have the stamina (or maybe not) but i believe developing the right temperament is just as necessary. I've noticed certain reviewers play it fast and loose with their advice and that's what bothers me. To my mind, when one is on a public forum where you have an audience but not necessarily the ability/possibility to connect with them on an individual basis to clarify their doubts, one must imbibe in oneself a sense of responsibility and give their opinions with care and circumspection. Therefore, some serious groundwork would be required before i can think of venturing into this field.

And then comes the most daunting aspect of it - before hifivision, i thought i had a pretty good handle on things but my time here was quite the humbling experience. I realised how much more there was to this hobby and how passionate people were about it. I've come across so many erudite listening impressions/reviews by FMs on this forum who are incredibly articulate with their posts and simply paint pictures with their words that i wonder if i could ever do justice to such an endeavour if I were to try it.