Worth the wait? Buchardt S400's


Hi Everyone,
I have the S400's on preorder and have been waiting for a while. In the meantime I upgraded mu amp from a Parasound to Krell Digital Vanguard, driving my Vandersteen 2ces. The Krell has opened up the sound of my Vandys and I wonder now if I should just cancel my order and invest in better speaker cables and interconnects, etc? 
Anyone own the Buchardts?
128x128audiosaurusrex

Showing 2 responses by smdesforges

I have a modest but enjoyable system.  I stream Tidal from a Bluesound Node 2i to a Rotel RA-1572 integrated amp via Toslink.  The S400s are on Pangea Audio DS400 stands.  
I own the S400s.  About the sound characteristics, they are as a lot of folks claim.  The sound is much larger than the cabinets would indicate and bass extension is far lower than it should be.  Imaging is very stable and the sound stage is superb.  Instrument separation was acceptable.  I listen to a lot of recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s.  Even with bad ones, the sound is always pleasant enough to enjoy  That cannot be said of all speakers.  For lack of better terms, the S400s sound pleasing and natural never harsh or fatiguing.  There is a lot to like about the S400s. 

Like all loudspeakers, there are some things I would change.  My criticisms are few, though.  I would like a bit more openness on the top-end.  They are a little more "neutral" than I prefer.  Vocals can be a touch muddy at times, also, but I didn't notice it often.  That may have been recording-specific.  Lastly, they are not very efficient so you will need some juice to wake them up.  After seeing your amp description above, that should not be a problem.  I am not singling out the S400s for low-efficiency as many, many stand-mount speakers are similar.  Overall, they get a lot right for under $2,000. 

While I can't determine if you should cancel your order based upon the sound of your current system, there is no harm in keeping your order for the S400s and trying them out. They come with a 30-day in-home trial with free shipping both ways. That should allow you an opportunity to make an accurate decision.   I hope you enjoy them.