Buchardt Audio A500

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?

It needs a network connection to live up to the definition of Roon Ready. You could just connect by USB cable but you would not be able to adjust the volume using device volume in the roon remote app.

I’m testing the Buchardt A500 alongside Genelec 8341 this weekend.

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How did your test go?

Same, same…really looking for some feedback…I’m sold into these speakers, but now there’s the KEF LS50 Wireless II…I’m confused… :slight_smile:

I went with the Genelecs. See the details of why in the original post here.

But I think you get a lot of speaker (and amp and dac) for the money with the A500.
Very positive reviews of the A500 at Darko and The Next Web.

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I received the speakers today… I’m floored… They are excellent… I replaced my KEF LF50 Wireless with A500.

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Hello team… Has anyone tried to connect N+ HDMI to A500 HUB HDMI? Can we even connect? I don’t have an HDMI cable with me currently… If it is possible, I will get one…

I ask this because the manual keep using the word ARC, suggesting it is for TV.

ARC is Audio return channel on HDMI so is used to feed TV signal into the hub.

Ok how good are these speakers really (beyond floored). Darko certainly gave them a rave review

Mike

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Dear Mike,

The sound is Very Transparent. Nothing more, nothing less… Today is 3rd day, with these speakers. Whatever, I have heard using XLR (Analog) or via Hub (Chromecast) sounds excellent… The drivers are new; I’m sure the love factor will keep increasing as the drivers put on mileage.
I can say one thing; You won’t be disappointed for a long time.

I don’t have an iPhone to set up the room correction yet. ROON READY is pending, Mads said the certification is pending with ROON, and will be certified soon.

Tushar.

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Tushar thanks for the information, my room does not seem big enough for these to shine through and I have already spent way to much money on my music setup during lockdown, most of which would go to waste if I purchased these.
They do look very nice and a lot of what they do is tempting, though the KEF Wireless II also look tempting.
Enjoy the listening and breaking these speakers in.

Mike

[quote=“Renato_Semedo, post:24, topic:92718”]really looking for some feedback[/quote]Well they are different animals from the KEF-more driver area I do believe, for one. Built-in room correction for another. Calibrated loudness for a third. My friend bought these and is quite happy…
BUTs:

  • The amp is REALLY hot. Even when not playing! 65C/150F Fahrenheit Buchardt say is “normal” :hot_face:
  • There’s a latency issue versus his Apple HomePod
  • And some issue with his TV volume
    OTOH, the room correction filled in a HUGE hole! No wonder he felt the previous speakers had “no bass”!
    IMG_0338 Buchardt room EQ 3 inch
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Are you talking here about the amps in the actual speakers or the Hub? Not sure I understand.

The AMP (the area where the switch is located) in the speaker really gets hot… and Buchardt says it is normal… :slight_smile:

Just pulled the trigger and ordered these. Hope the Roon certification is ready before February when they are supposed to arrive.

Question to those who already have these. Do they work well with the hdmi from tv? Can you use the tv remote and does the tv turn the speakers on?

Hi,
Yes they sound fantastic over HDMI and volume can be controlled via the TV remote provided HDMI CEC is enabled on the TV. The HDMI volume control was very uneven at launch but the latest firmware has fixed that and it now increases and decreases with better granularity.
Most of the time the speakers turn off and on with the TV but sometimes they fail to turn on, much to the annoyance of my wife trying to occupy the kids whilst making breakfast. Usually happens once a week and I haven’t quite worked out why or found an elegant way to fix it - I usually end up pulling the power on everything.
Your mileage may vary however as the quality of HDMI CEC implementation varies between manufacturers and products. I’m currently using a Samsung Q90R TV.

I have my 4K blurays stored on a Synology NAS and use Kodi to play them back whilst downmixing the multichannel soundtracks to stereo.

Enjoy. They are fantastic speakers.

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That sounds good. Have to wait and see how they work with my six year old LG.

One more question can Spotify Connect automatically wake these up or do you have to do it manually.

Just read that Tidal connect is coming to these in 2021. They really tick all the boxes for me. As long as they sound good too :grinning:.

Will the KEF stand designed for KEF LS50W work for A500? I have come across a pair of KEF stands and I intend to use for them for the A500’s …

Yes they wake up automatically from standby when you use Spotify Connect.

Where did you read that?

On their web page.

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