Buchardt Audio released their new A 500 active speakers. In time they will become Roonready speakers. This is confirmed! They will also relaese the bigger A 700. They look very promising, with build-in roomcorrection and digital changeable crossover. They have allready passive speakers that received great reviews. They are a company like Arendal, XTZ, Teufel… they are a direct sales company… no middleman are involved.
More info: https://www.buchardtaudio.com/products
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Looks like they will be roon compatible via inbuilt Chromecast not RAAT.
Yes, they use the phrase ‘Roon-capable’ in relation to chromecast, apart from one picture which says ‘chromecast (roon ready)’ creating some confusion. At least in my mind.
They have confirmed me, via email that the forthcoming A700 will be RoonReady at release and the A500 will be RoonReady later on.
That’s good new Johan, thanks! Apologies for doubting - not actually your statement but the way it is phrased on the site. They will be wondering why I just emailed them with almost the same question you asked. 
I removed the ‘naughty’ comment from my earlier post, doesn’t seem fair anymore.
We will see if they tell you the same…
Will let you know. I only asked about the 500, but I guess it is the hub that matters. Presumably same hub for 500 and 700?
Yes it will be the hub. For now if you want RoonReady they propose the Primare NP5 Prisma instead off their own hub, because it also have Wisa.
I also mailed and got confirmation that they will use RAAT eventually. But I guess it will be over wifi since there is no Lan port on the hub.
I am super tempted by these speakers.
Although when reading on their website now (they changed it since they launched) it says: “Roon ready is possible via future update” which does not sound so final. https://www.buchardtaudio.com/products/stereo-hub
I bet they will sound great. I have a pair of the S400 passive speakers and I love them. Also have a Rel T7/i sub to round out the bottom end. 
Johan, I was just rereading this thread. Looking at the spec sheets of the Primare NP5 I can’t find a reference to WiSA. Have I missed something you think?
The Primare SC15 and PRE35 do include WiSA I believe, and are both mentioned by Buchardt on this page, but different price points…
The Primare NP5 Prisma is not WiSA enabled. Our PRE35 Prisma and SC15 Prisma are WiSA enabled, with the former being used by Buchardt in the development of their WiSA features, with superb results I might add.
Everything on that site looks to be ‘Pre-Order’ and not ready until June. Have they actually made any yet (beyond prototypes) or is it just the next batch they are waiting for?
Did they say anything about wired ethernet or is RoonReady wifi only?
WISA from hub to speakers is one thing, wifi from Roon to the hub is quite another. RAAT is unusually robust on wifi, but with a normal (read barely good enough) wifi network it can be difficult
Wifi only. There is no Lan port on the hub.
Right. I was hoping they’d have a new version of the hub coming. Too much lifestyle for me then… wifi is OK for remotes and stuff, but I’d prefer to avoid wifi all together.
I know what you mean. I would also prefer cables for connection. I would also prefer an ir remote that integrates better with Harmony instead of RF, but apart from that they look pretty promising. The room correction is nice but the ability the change the master tuning seems truly unique. There is a thread about the A500 over at Audio science review where Mads Buchardt the developer also comments. It starts out being about their S400 passive speaker but quickly evolves into a A500 thread.
They do have a new hub coming for multichannel (which is very exciting to me), but I believe that this will also be wifi only.
It seems that the ethernet connection - wifi or cable - to the hub may not be necessary. The hub does not have to be attached to the speakers, so it can be stored away near the Roon core and connected to it via one of the digital audio connections. Or am I missing something?
