From my dealings with him Alan seemed to be a good guy and the store seems worth a visit. Every time I am in your area it is coming back from Greenville to Tallahassee or the other way around so haven’t found the opportunity to stop by the store. At some point I will as I want to hear the newest Vandersteen model that replaced the 5.
I am very interested in their A700. The A500 and A700 can be configured to actively compensate for frequencies our minds hear less at low volume below 70 dB. My wife hates loud music. We would truly appreciate such feature. I have the same problems with my Cantons as @dawkinsj experianced with the A400. They sound good but at high volume.
The A700 Room compensation is another useful tool in my close to cubic room. But that feature only works with the currently plastic fantastic interface hub. That hub seems to work really well but John Darko had to put a steel weight on top of the hub to have the cables not drag that plastic box from his shelf (watch his very positive review video about the A500). Also the hub has no balanced XLR connections. The XLR connections on the speakers them self don’t allow the room correction to be applied.
Although that Hub seems to work well, it’s a little too cheap looking and feeling for a pair of EUR 6000 speakers, even though that is not a lot considering the design and features of those speakers.
Mads Buchardt, indeed a nice guy, told me that Buchardt is working on a more high end pre/amp interface (I expect will also have an internal Streamer as the current Hub).
The Buchardt speaker concepts, design and certainly sales concept are exceptional and show us the direction of new interesting technology and concepts.
They will get there in good time as the engineer was involved in the Dynaudio speakers of a similar design and I’m sure he had a lot more money and resources to work with there. Whether or not that turns out to be the “future” only time will tell. For me, I have dedicated rooms in both houses so I don’t have to worry about the design features as some do plus my wife listens right along with me and so far is more concerned with the sound as since we are “empty nesters” the only ones who have to like the look of the rooms is us.
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They are certainly not offering a solution for everybody. Perhaps not to those having enough space for larger passive speakers and separates.
But to me and my wife and those who like stylish products combined with good audio quality In their small home, appartement or condominium the Burchardt Active speakers are appealing.
I trust they have a future and I don’t blame them for entering the marked with the current Hub. It’s only EUR 250 extra, (not much compared to the speakers them self) and it will provide them lots of useful feedback and budget to work on the high end version.
The current hub makes it financially more attractive for everybody to buy into the concept.
And it’s an inexpensive way to see if the concept works with the possibility of a more fleshed out hub as an alternative or an upgrade. Legacy does the same thing with some of their higher end speakers that have varying degrees of power. The standard electronic unit gets the job done but if you want more you buy the Wavelet processor as an upgrade either from the start or later on. The Wavelet unit is not only a digital crossover but also a DAC and a preamp. So you as the buyer have a choice of now or later.
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This is an unfair misstatement. No one has stated this as a preference.
Every time I visit the Forums and see the blut dot next to “New PS Audio speakers?” I keep hoping to find some news about speakers 
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Not sure I follow???
It’s a statement I made. If someone prefers the direct model, fine by me.
I never claimed anyone else had stated that. Apologies if that is way it was interpreted.
However, for the record and keepin’ it real, Jedi did say he prefers the direct model so he can hear in his room with a drink. Nothing wrong with that from my point of view, but I for one need the comparisons.
I said earlier and I’ll say again. Anything can sound decent in isolation. The CEO of PSA himself has said in his videos and on forum the only way he can tell BHK amp (his premier line) is better than m1200 from his budget line is to listen to them in a comparative setting, otherwise he’d think m1200 was as good as he needed if he only listened to m1200 in isolation (or words to that effect).
If that is not Exhibit A on why head2heads are vital, well, … probably don’t even need to finish the sentence.
Not looking to start trouble and I offered to drop unless challenged, and stated this better debated over a beer, but if people challenge me I’ll respectfully respond ( not looking for that - would prefer to let drop)
It appeared as if you were claiming others preferred a “direct model and buying on faith.” No one has suggested this, especially the “buying on faith” comment.
Instead, a group of us are bemoaning the disappearance of local high end dealers and the loss of the opportunity to readily compare multiple speakers (and other equipment). This loss is reflected in the suggestion to travel 500 miles to listen.
@Jedi did not state “he prefers the direct model.” Instead, after noting the loss of dealers, he stated:
I suspect this sentiment is shared by many. A 1,000 mile round-trip is not very attractive, especially if the manufacturer will deliver the goods to your home for evaluation. One has to weigh the available options, limited as they are.
Of course, one can fly to visit a dealer, make long road trips, etc. It can be done. But it is not particularly appealing. And it is sad this is present reality.
Gotta work now but fine, that characterization was my own and nobody has stated they prefer it. I’ll stand by it though.
Buying without an opportunity to hear something before laying out cash is buying on faith, how is that debatable? Even if you can return it. If you prefer, “buying on faith with the opportunity to return.” Kinda long to type, but ok.
But again, my beef isn’t with the required cash outlay, it is with the inability to compare against other current competitors under the direct model, for reasons I’ve noted. And with the narrative that comparisons are impossible under the current landscape, as myself and others have proven wrong. Easy? No, I’ve acknowledged that. As good as the 70’s? Of course not. But doable if getting what is best for you is important and being reasonably (not perfectly, but reasonably) sure that you made the correct decision after having actually heard what is available.
Finally, PSA is not like some of the garage-building startups building class D amps who have no alternative but to sell direct only. PSA is well established and had a network of dealers where people could listen but went a different direction to direct only in US anyway. Again, that works great if the only comparison you wish to do is against your old stuff in your house, and I don’t hold it against anyone if that is enough for them.
My preference is to be able to go to a shop, ogle the gear, listen to it, spend time talking to the peeps there.
However, I will not travel 1000 miles to do this. And there is a definite benefit to listening in your own room with your own equipment.
Do I miss the older days? Sure. Am I going to b!tch and moan about it? There’s no point. Everything changes, that’s just the way of the world, you can’t turn back time. Adapt, move on, stay happy.
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Cheers! I am trying to move on! Okay to agree to disagree, and we probably don’t even disagree all that much. Enjoy the music!
No one is suggesting buying on faith. There is no reason to keep pushing this.
I posit only that if dealers are as far-flung as they are, an in-home direct sales demo is a great alternative.
Ok, I respect your position. Cheers,
There is another alternative I have not seen mentioned, but is another one that more or less requires one to be situated in/near a large market.
And that is a local audio club, if you have one. I’ve had the opportunity to hear and evaluate a wide range of gear at the various meetings of the Colorado Audio Society (though not so much this year, dang it), including some really excellent home-built electronics and speakers. I’ve become aware of some great sounding gear that I would never have heard of (or heard) otherwise.
The icing on the cake in this area has been factory tours of local high-end manufacturers such as Boulder Amps, YG Acoustics and, of course, PS Audio.
I perceive a subtle difference in intent between those wanting to find a “better” whatever-it-may-be for their system through an in-home trial and those wanting to explore, in a sense, the audio universe to get a broader understanding of what’s out there and interact with the players. I’ve found myself in both camps at various times for various reasons.
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Excellent suggestion.
Suncoast Audio is an Excellent Dealer!
…Highly Recommended…
I agree. Have been a member of his forum from the beginnings.
In the UK we still have plenty of audio dealers, some of which are quite new and have done very well. The same is true in Europe as far as I am aware and one reason is that they have legal protection from manufacturers taking their business away overnight, so they can invest in it.
If PS Audio can tell all their USA dealers “we’re taking away all your PS Audio business at the end of the month and no compensation”, why would anyone be an audio dealer?
Several speaker manufacturers have told me that sending units for home demo is a non-starter. Shipping is hugely expensive, as is packaging that lasts perhaps 5 reboxings at most, and units are easily damaged.
I’ve had quite a lot of involvement in the art market over the years and almost became the CFO of Europe’s largest private art dealer. The comparability of art dealers to audio stores is about zero.
I think part of the problem here in the USA is the large lightly populated land areas involved. The EU countries are very small by comparison. Once you get away from the large metros it can be hours of driving time to the next large metro. Too much distance to cover in the lightly inhabited (and lower income) areas for a dealer to survive and prosper.
The other problem that I brought up before is all of the internet haters who buy on price alone and have no concern for the health of a dealer if they can buy for less from some unscrupulous “dealer”.