Buchardt E50 Speaker Review. Special Indeed.
By Steve Huff
The Video Review of the E50 by Buchardt Audio
I will discuss this system in detail within this review for those who may be looking to build a system around the E50’s and I will also speak about them in general for those who may be looking for their next set of speakers. Before we get to that, let me discuss my review history with Buchardt and tell you what I think of the E50 which is a speaker Buchardt are calling their “Masterpiece”.
Buchardt has come a long way
I remember stumbling upon the Buchardt website many years ago. When I saw their first speaker, the S400, I was intrigued by the way they designed it as the tweeter was on the bottom and the midrange/bass driver was at the top. This is the opposite of what we have seen for decades when it comes to speaker designs but Buchardt was doing things their way and it has seemingly paid off for them. They achieved exactly what they wanted with the S400 not only with the modern design but also with the sound, which offered up a very musical type of vibe with warmth, a juicy punch and a focus on musical enjoyment vs analytical dissection.
At that time when I saw the original S400 on the Buchardt website I was looking for a new bookshelf speaker and a couple of people recommended Buchardt to me. I soon learned that Buchardt offers up a direct sales model and their products are bought direct from them. This means there are no dealers “in the middle” to inflate the cost of the speakers. I love this business model because if there were dealers involved the speakers from Buchardt would cost a lot more. I love my audio dealers but sometimes it’s nice to see a product of this caliber priced right where it should be vs double of what it should be at. It allows more of us to experience “the good stuff”.
The S400 MKII in White. This is one smooth operator.
Now in its MKII form, the S400 is a very sweet speaker with deep musical roots. Over the last 2-3 years I have reviewed the S400 MKII, P300, A10, A700 and the ultra thin sub from Buchardt. I enjoyed them all but the E50’s are an all new kind of Buchardt speaker that do indeed bring a new level of performance from what they have brought before.
Up until now, the S400 MIKII was the top end bookshelf passive speaker from Buchardt with the P300 just under it. The P300 is also a great speaker at a great price. It brings an even smoother sound vs the S400 MKII and is not as open in the treble but it’s also very musical. The P300 is not the greatest when it comes to imaging and soundstage performance but as you move up the Buchardt passive bookshelf ladder yes my friends, things to get better and better. The sound grows larger, it gets more open, the soundstage gets wider and the imaging performance improves while the sound becomes more refined and beautiful.
Is the E50 a Masterpiece?
The new E50 is a speaker that I have been excited about since Buchardt announced it. The looks bring yet another unique and different approach as the waveguide for the tweeter is now literally sculpted into the wood enclosure, which is real solid wood here.
Buchardt has spent a long time working on the E50 with the full plan for it to be their flagship passive bookshelf sized speaker. This one, the E50, is made in Denmark and uses ultra high quality parts and drivers as well as unique construction when it comes to the cabinet. These can also be built with rounded or standard corners, take your pick. Buchardt also offer the E50 up in a variety of finishes. My fave from the images on their website is the “Smoked Oak” with rounded corners but the natural oak is also very nice to look at from my listening seat (which I am doing as I write this review).
This is the “Smoked Oak” version of the E50 with rounded corners.
The E50 is a very different speaker for Buchardt yet it feels very similar and I can tell it is part of the Buchardt family when looking at them and when listening to them. While the E50 doesn’t sound like an S400 MKII or any other speaker from Buchardt it does retain some of the signature Buchardt smooth sound. This time with the E50, we get a much more open soundstage, a much larger soundstage, gorgeous audiophile imaging and a midrange that is so clean, so clear and one that inches ever so closer to bringing that realism to your room. In the realm of what Bucahrdt offers, the E50’s are indeed the finest passive speaker they offer.
The bass? Amazing. Seeing that these use a Purifi woofer, I can believe what I am hearing. I fist experienced the Purifi woofer in the Buchardt A10 which is a powered speaker and one that blew me away when I had them here for a while. I really enjoyed the A10 speakers but me being me I will always prefer a passive set of speakers. I prefer to choose the amp…the “system”… to power my speakers but those A10’s are incredible for anyone who seeks an incredibly versatile powered bookshelf speaker, an all in one solution so to speak.
Getting back to the E50. I love the design, the fact that real wood is used here and the way the waveguide is carved out of the wood itself. It gives such a unique and modern vibe. I adore the speaker connectors and to be honest I experienced these in the S400 MKII SE Fauna edition I purchased a while back. They are solid, high end, work well with spades or banana connectors. They are so solid and if it were up to me, all speakers would use these connectors. They are no muss, no fuss and just work very well.
The E50 is also made from what Buchardt calls “the finest European solid oak wood” and I love this! So many speakers have gone the way of cheaper construction and today some manufactures tell us MDF is better than real wood, but you know what? I do not believe this is the case when it comes to the all out performance of a speaker. It’s like when instruments like high end big money guitars and violins are built. Certain woods are used for the “tone” they bring to the sound. The same can be done for speakers and yes, some manufactures do this, using real wood to create gorgeous cabinets.
The real benefits of using MDF construction vs real wood? Cost savings.
I can say with confidence that any and all speakers I have had through my doors here that were made with solid wood almost always sound better to me. With the E50 it’s as if I can hear the character of the wood used here. Sure, that could be nonsense but I do hear something special here going on with the E50’s. I can also say that these look so much nicer than standard wood veneer to my eyes. I love the look of solid chunky wood, character flaws and all.
No it is not.
Oh, and BTW, this is not a sponsored review nor was I paid a cent for it. I make nothing from these words yet I spent a week writing it. I write as I listen and spend an hour or two a day writing. Over a week I edit it down, add new thoughts and get it ready to post. These words only come from my passion and love for this hobby. I also love to spread the word about awesome HiFi products that sound better than their cost would dictate. Bottom line is that I do this for the love I have of the hobby above all else.
The big and mighty Icon 12 from Norway. I did acquire these for my reference room and they are huge compared to the E50’s from Buchardt.
Sure, I have my O Audio Icon 12’s here which are large, beautiful and sound so inviting and musical. The Icon 12’s retain an open beautiful sound with back to front and side to side imaging. These $23k speakers are worth every cent they cost yet here I am listening to some $4k speakers and having a tough time taking them out to package them back up! How could this be? Well, I told you there is something special going on with the E50’s!
THE FULL SPECS OF THE E50
- They come with a full 10 year warranty which is nice to have.
- The E50 is made in house, in Denmark by Buchardt.
- Shipping, Import and TAXES are all included in the price so no surprises when they show up.
- All high end parts are used including those from Purifi, Scan-Speak, Jantzen Audio & Duelund Coherent Audio.
- Argento Audio 5 way binding post is fantastic.
- Cabinet is hand Made from Real Solid Oak Wood.
- Built using finger joints which make these look even more special.
- The waveguide is now CARVED into the wood itself!
- There is a two way passive radiator on the back for enhanced bass.
- These are 85 DB efficient and rated between 4-6 ohms yet but seem easily driven with quality watts.
- Bass down to 36Hz.
- Comes with round magnetic grilles.
I also love the design of the Buchardt stands. They fit so well with the speakers, especially the E50
THE REAL DEAL
The E50’s are the real deal. Sometimes when you read a description on a manufacturer website you can tell they are writing for sales with a lot of hype. Sure, there is some hype here on the Buchardt E50 Product page but after living with the E50’s for a while I can confirm that what they say is all 100% true. These are stunners in the flesh when it comes to look and feel. They also have quite the sound so let me speak on that.
When the E50’s arrived it was in the form of a review unit, which had already been to a couple of reviewers. One had a scuff but as these are real wood, it was more of a character mark than anything. It’s a small scuff and one not really seen and it didn’t bother me at all. Of course, these are not mine, lol. I just wanted to state that if you do get a scratch of scuff on these it looks nothing like those nasty marks that get left on most speakers. These feel “tough” as they are indeed one sturdy speaker.
When I placed them on my Dynaudio Stand 6 they fit perfectly. The plates from the Dynaudio Heritage specials are still on the stands so these have a similar footprint to those beauties. When I set them up initially I had a Nagra pre and amp in the system and interestingly enough I was not immediately blown away with the sound, which is strange. I mean, it sounded really good but I didn’t know why I wasn’t blown away by $100k of electronics here. In any case synergy is very real within HiFi. That same Nagra gear sounds otherworldly with the O Audio Icon 12’s.
I took out the Nagra gear and placed in an amp here, an amp there… until I found the perfect setup, and I mean perfect.
When I set up this system I was blown away by it and at under $11k for the complete setup, it sounded more like a $25k system. Let me discuss what this comprised of and then tell you of the sound that resulted, which not only surprised me it shocked me.
THE PERFECT Small to Mid size room SYSTEM for under $11k?
I set up the E50’s with a set of Orchard Audio STARKRIMSON ULTRA Monoblock Amps (my review video is below). These put out 500 WPC into 4 ohms and have no issue at all driving the E50’s. While my Nagra Classic Amp also drove them well and to plenty of volume in my 13X18 space, this was Orchard Audio’s time to shine (see my review here) as I preferred the sound of the Starkrimson ever so slightly with the E50’s when being driven by a streaming DAC. BTW, Orchard Audio is a USA company and builds their amps here in the USA. Not sure of where the parts come from but these are built and tested in the USA.
I then added a simple Eversolo DMP A6 Master Edition MKII which served as streamer, preamp and DAC for digital music to stream.
So the system comprised of Buchardt E50’s, the Orchard amps and an Eversolo DMP A6 Gen II ME. Total cost of this system comes out to just between $10-$11k and yea, to some. this will sound insane in cost but let me tell you this…it will take spending double to match this setup when it comes to sound.
I do showcase the E50’s with the Orchard Amps in this video
Before this setup was installed I had a Nagra HD Pre HV ($72k retail), a Nagra Classic Amp ($20k retail), Nagra Streamer ($5k) and a LAIV Micro DAC ($994). Before that a Nagra HD DAC X ($70k retail) was in the system. All of this was then added to the $23k O Audio Icon 12 speakers. All in all, a retail cost total of almost $200k yet now I am listening to a full system that comes in at close to $11k. What are the differences? Well, sure, there are differences but how much do these differences matter to you?
The more pricey system has a grander larger scale with supreme refinement. I mean, it can reproduce a concert in my room without breaking a sweat. A live, electric feel but with a realness and impact I used to just dream of when I was a teenager. Indeed the Nagra gear is at the top of the heap in audio, or close to it. To me, the Icon 12’s are dream speakers and all of this has taken me 35 years to build up to within my HiFi Hobby but it is also way overkill for me and my funds. With that said, who wants to spend that kind of money on an audio system? Not many. How close can we get if we spend much less? That’s the stuff I love to find out about.
Right now as I listen to the Buchatdt E50/Orchard/Eversolo system I am super impressed with this setup. The interesting thing is that with some music the E50 setup has some of the similar magic as the big rig. With acoustic … I was so sucked into the details, the flow, the music coming from the E50’s as each string was detailed, defined and with beautiful timbre. Sure, the size of the sound was a bit smaller vs my reference but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment. Sure, the details were less airy and floaty but I didn’t care. The E50’s were sounding very special indeed and for a speaker of this cost, it was kind of crazy.
The custom crossover in the E50’s
The sound was so clear and clean yet Buchardt has managed to inject a bit of their trademark naturalness within as well. The soundstage is massive here with the E50, which bests any Buchardt speaker that has come before it in this area. Same goes for the imaging as it is beautiful heading into world class here with the Orchard amps.
These Orchard Audio amps are spectacular and sound so incredible but they do seem to be a low gain design. The noise floor is non existent and it is indeed the smoothest Class D GaN amps I have heard to date, even for me slightly besting the AGD Duets (that cost double the Orchard) in all out sound. I love the Orchard as they also have a very smooth but dynamic presentation. There is slightly more meat on the bones vs the AGD which focused on all out clarity and while I loved the aesthetic of AGD (and still do), the Orchard amps perform to a similar level for half the price. AGD and Orchard make some drool worthy gear but AGD does it with more pizzazz and flair. Orchard holds back the pizzazz and costs half.
The Eversolo A6 Gen II ME is also quite the incredible piece of audio gear and is much better than the original A6 that I reviewed a couple of years back. I think I prefer the A6 Gen II ME to even the newer, bigger, badder A10 just because it is more petite and looks so great in the system. The A6 II ME doesn’t give up too much in performance to the A10, just a little. It is a looker indeed and for me the DAC here is incredible with the Master Edition Gen II A6. It’s absolutely perfect to mate with the E50’s. You can buy one of these GEN II ME’s HERE at Amazon via Prime.
As to the sound I get from this setup? It’s pretty special and one I didn’t expect.
These E50’s are speakers that I call high end but without the high end ridiculous price tags we have seen in audio lately. I will say this…Buchardt has taken a huge leap here and I feel it will pay off as what they have created here is magical. sweet, natural, open, three dimensional and with a stunning midrange that is clear and focused. They do not have a plump or juicy sound but are masters of just bringing forth what is there in the recording without adding or taking away much of anything. These are just about perfectly neutral but so so musical.
The bass is solid, and may be the best sounding bass from a bookshelf under $10k that I have heard. Not because they pump out fat bass non stop as they do not. It’s due to the way the bass is done here and again, if you are in a smaller to mid sized room these speakers can really blow your mind. No sub needed. If there is bass in the recording, it will show up in the recording exactly as it should. The bass is not coloring the midrange but allowing it to be clean and clear yet just under that clarity range the sound gets super solidified by the lower bass.
Playing the new song by Royksopp called “The R” (True Electric) had my room turn into a small dance club. These little E50’s, all on their own, were rocking my room and the bass was INCREDIBLE and I mean INCREDIBLE. Not just for the small size of the box but just INCREDIBLE! The louder I turned it up the more the bass would hit, strike and pound with a tightness and quality that is not always heard, even when spending more.
Many smaller sized speakers have a hard time getting the bass to do well, behave well and hit that balance of “just right”. They are sometimes either too bloated and sound artificial or they are too lean and we often say “where’s the bass”. The E50 is a speaker that delivers just about perfect bass for a speaker of this size. It’s so clean, tuneful and just “right”. The E50’s for me have equaled or even surpassed some big priced big named speakers in the bookshelf arena. Past faves in this size of speaker for me have been from Sonus Faber (Guarneri), Triangle (Magellan Duetto) and Dynaudio (Heritage Special). All three of these speakers are close to double or more in cost vs the Buchardt.
I loved the Sonus Faber Guarneri for its magical midrange and soundstage but the E50’s are performing this feat just as nicely. I loved the Triangle Duetto Magellan for its mature refined sound, plump punchy bass and exquisite treble. While the E50 doesn’t best the $7k+ Duetto’s treble nor are they as punchy in the bass, the E50 brings a sound that is more focused on bringing out every nuance and sound within a recording yet these are not sterile in any way. They sit right in the middle. They can hang with the $7k Triangles easily but are smaller in looks and more “earthy” in materials.
I feel the imaging of the E50’s is some of the best I have heard in a speaker of this cost and size, as they image somewhere between a natural presentation and one that is slightly analytical, again, right down the middle. Never do these sound lean nor do they ever sound bloated in any way. Compared to the $7k+ Dynaudio Heritage Specials the Buchardt’s are a touch smoother in the highs and the vocals come out into the room slightly more with the E50’s. The Heritage may be just a bit hotter up top, more sizzle.
After listening every day to these for the past 2-3 weeks straight it is going to be hard to remove them completely and have a life without the E50’s. Even though I have speakers that do more, are larger and even sweeter the E50’s sound so good in their own way and the clarity here is what draws me in. The clarity that still retains musicality and life, and this is always good.
Yes my audio loving friends, the Buchardt E50 speakers are the brands best, without question. They have created something here that stands above anything else I have heard in the price range no matter the brand name. For me there is something so addictive about these wooden boxes from Denmark. Something magical. Something special. These can disappear in the room with ease, fill a small to mid sized room with ease and you will not have to add a sub unless you crave the deepest of frequencies. They image like a champ, throw a large soundstage and are clean as can be from top to bottom.
One day I may end up buying a pair to add to my speaker setup when I can save up some cash to do so. I wanted to ultimately have/own three sets of speakers for my reviews. One reference for open baffle (I have the Duet 15’s here), one for all out reference speaker (Icon 12’s fit here) and I also hoped to be able to acquire a set of bookshelf speakers that would be my fave in this category of speaker, say under $10k. One I could compare to models that may arrive down the road. Maybe these will be that speaker. If so, I will hope to acquire a set before July. If I do, will be the rounded corner smoked oak versions for me!
You can read more about the E50’s or even order them from Buchardt’s website HERE
Be the first to comment