E50-S

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Gustard U26 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp: Hattor Audio ARP-S; Active filter: spl Audio Crossover MkII; Power amplifiers: Vinshine/Kinki Dazzle & mono NC500 Nord Acoustic amps on subwoofer; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan]; Subwoofer: sound|kaos D15; Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
1st upstairs speaker system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox3awf; Subwoofer: Zu Method; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
1st upstairs headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 workstation Win11/64; USB isolator: LHY UIP; LAN distributors: LHY AS6 Pro & SW6-SFP; Ethernet reclocker: Stack SmoothLAN; DACs: Gustard R26II & Audalytic DR70; Preamp: Topping A900; Speaker amps: Topping B200 monos; Headphone amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Loudspeakers: Virtual Hifi Viper; Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000, FiiO FT7, HifiMan Susvara Unveiled
2nd upstairs headfi system: Shanling EM7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3, HifiMan HE1000 Unveiled
2nd upstairs speaker system: Source: smsl PL200T CD transport, 1TB microSD; DAC: Shanling EM7; Crossover: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box II;  Amplifiers: LAIV Crescendo Chorus monos; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini with Dynaudio S18 subwoofer
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx; Subwoofer: Zu Mission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €4'100/pr intro price with free worldwide shipping, €4'300/pr once the first 50 pairs have sold

Buch. It's German for book. And across its Danish border, by the book is how Buchardt have always designed their speakers on costly Klippel & Co. test kit. With their E50 model reviewed by Dawid Grzyb a year ago, they'd closed that book for an ears-first subjective tuning which their entire audition team favoured. When this model proved very popular, direct-selling Mads Buchardt realized that in parallel to spec-first shoppers guided by shiny measurements, there's an audience that wants a more artistically shaped voicing. It's likely kin to those who set a valve amp of adjustable negative feedback to its very lowest or bypass option despite higher THD. As Mads put it, "objectively our E50 won't ever win any gold medals. But it's hands down the subjectively best-sounding speaker we've done to date which makes its compromises on measured performance worthwhile". To be sure, those carefully tweaked liberties occurred within his team's Klippel-based design ethos. That's very different from DIY with zero test gear. True artistry learns and masters the rules before it bends or disobeys them. Only dilettantes refuse to first learn the rules. The E50-S—'S' means 'sensitivity'—stands proud on the shoulders of its bass-heavier paper-coned 6½" Purifi stablemate. If that is the hazelnut 'n' chocolate swirl, the 'S' packs mango, lime and coconut. It implements a 7½" spread-tow carbon Satori mid/woofer of far higher sensitivity. The latter came so close to Buchardt's favoured soft-dome tweeter that with a custom ScanSpeak mod to slightly lower the tweeter value, the filter network's ubiquitous padding resistors became superfluous. The 2kHz/3rd-order Butterworth crossover of premium Jantzen Superior Z-Cap and 14-gauge copper-foil cross coils is thus 100% without resistors—for "treble to die for." Buchardt juxtapose the two E50 variants as full-bodied, warm and smooth versus dynamic, snappy, precise and energetic. The Purifi model of thirstier drive is more bottom-up macro weighted, the easier-going harder-cone carbon version more micro keen, midrange out. Comfort x adrenaline?

Today's 'S' also gets Buchardt's in-house crafted solid-Oak cab with classic finger joints and machined tweeter waveguide; dual 6" rear-firing low-mass passive radiators of 28mm stroke which shrunk cubic volume by 30% over what a ported design would have needed; and Argento Audio iron-free terminals. Impedance reportedly never dips below 4Ω. The in-room F3 is still a most respectable 38Hz for a ~40x20x28cm 9kg box. Warranty is a stout 10 years, magnetized round black grills come with. Do these E models signify a sea change in Buchardt's initial engineering-first honesty? Nej tak. No thanks. "The design process of the E Series is significantly more demanding, time-consuming and a different approach that won't be everyone's cuppa. A speaker with its own soul or character isn't for everyone. Many prefer their speakers to colour the signal as little as possible. We believe there's room either way so offer both approaches with different models. People who know Buchardt realize that we are perfectly capable of creating near-perfect measuring designs. In fact, the original S400 was the first commercially available speaker designed using the Klippel NFS." Having been born in Flensburg on virtually Denmark's southern border, I was ready for some Danish soul food à la stegt flæsk. That's crispy-fried pork belly with boiled potatoes in a rich parsley sauce. "I've signed you up as one of the first to get it in for review." Time to clean my cutlery and table linens.

"Our new mid/woofer uses the renowned TeXtreme® material from Sweden's Oxeon AB. It differs from regular carbon-fibre cones due to an advanced manufacturing process which creates a thin-ply diaphragm of spread-tow fibres for exceptional stiffness, minimal mass and precise resonance control. These cones have extremely good properties for audio applications and are considered among the best hard woofer material. Although very expensive, you can clearly hear what this material brings to the table. The sound is quite different from the paper-based Purifi driver of the E50. Unlike the distinctive silver/black checkerboard appearance of standard TeXtreme cones, we finish ours in a super-thin matte black coating to look a little more understated. Besides the cone, the fully neodymium-based motor behind it contributes to its high 93dB sensitivity. That would usually sacrifice stroke and reach yet this woofer still has very long excursion and high output, just not on par with the Purifi which for that pays dearly in sensitivity. Because the Purifi driver was groomed for extreme LF and output, the bigger Satori is even more resolved in the midrange. We're currently waiting on mass production of crossovers and tweeters to arrive." First 'S' production was scheduled for October. Some Irish seafood chowder would have to hold me over in the interim. Here are some morsels from the Oxeon menu: "The patented spread-tow thin-ply construction aligns fibres with extreme precision, significantly reducing crimp and fibre waviness. This results in thinner laminates of superior mechanical performance and higher fibre volume fractions. Less excess resin is required, minimizing weight and enhancing strength, stiffness and impact tolerance. The result: ultra-light, structurally efficient composite parts optimized for the most demanding applications." This hi-tech material shows up in sports (bicycles, rackets, hockey sticks, skies, kayaks, helmets, surf boards and golf clubs), aerospace (planes, drones), nautical, automotive and industries like audio and medical plus wind turbines and underground pipe seals.

The E50 from Dawid's earlier review proudly showing off its finger joints.

Already mentioned but worth repeating? Buchardt's original S300 of 2011 still followed established Danish precedents of outsourcing MDF/HDF cabinets to China like Børresen and Raidho still do it whilst China's GoerTek Inc. acquired an 83% stake in Dynaudio back in 2014 to make this once-Dansk brand an EU expat. Meanwhile Buchardt's E cabinets not only come from Danish premises with costly domestic labour. They're built in solid wood like Switzerland's Boenicke or sound|kaos. Even the Argento/Duelund/Jantzen and SB/ScanSpeak details are properly premium. Were it not for Mads' stubborn commitment to direct sales with built-in ship and import fees, today's E50-S would have to cost wildly more. So the posh stuff is no longer exclusive to High Street dealerships; and shopping factory-direct online no longer emblematic of just 'cheap' gear. Yet Mads aims low even in the direct lane. A week prior to his E50-S announcement, Germany's Michael Seefluth had plugged his €10K/pr all-wood M4 2-way floorstander with single rear-firing passive radiator and 125wpc built-in Hypex Fusion power and DSP crossover. Duplicating those plate amps with external nCore power can be done for ~€1K at Audiophonics or Nord. That still makes the direct-selling German speaker twice as costly as our Dane with its expensive filter components. Economics of scale. It's what Mads Buchardt has achieved after 15 years of hard graft. Where once he was the new kid on the block, he's now part of the Nordic establishment. Growing older comes with more benefits than eventually just grey hairs and looser bellies. There's experience, track record, quantity orders for lower per-unit costs, vertical integration for extra control and efficiency. If one plays the right cards, there's even a sterling rep—arguably a key ingredient to successfully selling dearer speakers without dealer demos year after year. Premium speakers must move through dealers or they won't sell? Perhaps once this was true. But Mads Buchardt proved the exception by showing how to skip the brick 'n' mortars as a European purveyor of ambitious goods. Observers of our little industry could do worse than study how he managed that. The generous 45-day return privilege clearly is part of it. Click the next image of Mads with the E-50 for a very recent factory tour.

For a watch to legally carry the coveted 'Swiss made' label, at least 60% of its total manufacturing costs must be domestic; R&D and prototyping must occur in Switzerland as must the crucial manufacturing step which gives the product its character. The E50-S eclipses that milky¹ mandate by miles. Its cabinets are Danish, the filter components, hookup wiring and terminals are, the tweeters are, complete assembly is. Even the mid/woofers and auxiliary bass radiators are designed in Denmark just manufactured in Indonesia. Given Denmark's enviable quality of life² which comes with high taxes and wages, the speaker's sticker is doubly surprising. Again, it's down to smart efficiencies and achieved scale. Buchardt's day-to-day operations involve just six full-time employees. There's no celebrity designer on permanent payroll. Whenever Mads needs filter work or a new computer-optimized waveguide geometry, he outsources such jobs to Denmark's talent pool of ace audio engineers where his country might just have the highest density per capita in the world. His Jantzen connection dates back to 2008 when he ran an outfit that sold speaker kits to DIY. Such long-term relationships with popular suppliers are a working piece of the competitive puzzle. Scale is another. Very significant discounts can be had by ordering 5'000 rather than 1'000, 100 or 10 parts at a time. Here volume squashes small operators whose individual supply orders are minuscule by contrast and who must pay far higher per-unit prices. Whilst Audiovector, Børresen, Dali and Raidho might be at the core of Danish speaker royalty, Mads Buchardt seems to be the fresh prince who rose in their midst to play a different game. He also was a very early adopter of active home-hifi speakers and arguably pioneered the concept of master tunings. It's when multiple drivers and DSP filters allow 2½-, 3-way or cardioid configurations of the very same speaker; plus sundry tonal-balance profiles all executed in downloadable code. Today of course we're driving in the classically passive lane to appeal to the hobby's separatists. Actives with DSP features are for a different crowd and catered to by Buchardt as well—just not here.
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¹ Compare total parts cost in ¥ to labour in CHF. An obvious way to obey the law performs expensive final assembly and calibration in Switzerland but uses wholly outsourced parts. Voilà, 60% or more of the total costs are Swiss despite the product otherwise being Chinese. Having lived in Switzerland for 8 years, I saw many examples thereof.

² World's most liveable city of 2026? Copenhagen just took the N°1 spot on the annual list from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for the second year running. The Danish capital beat out Vienna which previously had a three-year run at the top for the second year in a row.