Buchardt S400 Mk II vs Sony SSCS 5 in Bass

@tunefuldude

Thanks for the recommendation. I was surprised that I missed it or maybe I stumbled across but failed to include it in my list. It is quite interesting that Stereophile compared it fairly with the Dynaudio Confidence C1 (which is high on my list) sonically but at a less than half price. I will explore that option.

@dwest1023

It seems that I am wrong about S40 this time since not only you but also others attest there is no midrange congestion issue with it. Will resume the exploration or even a quest on it. Its red birch high gloss finish is simply stunningly gorgeous.

@m-db

This might be another long-debate subject and I do not intend to open the deep discussion on this. I have seen different advocates for the sub. placement. Some people said the corner is the worst but the well-known REL lead designer John Hunter advocates for it. You mentioned by the main speaker is the worst but I have seen others end up with it being the optimal location which also makes sense to me. That is the location I have experimented and chosen after hours of moving it around. Admittedly the issue can be further mitigated or addressed with modern DSP technology but I guess the optimal location is still room dependent.

My point is that, even you have settled with the "optimal" placement, the speed and texture from a separate sub. controlled by its built-in amplification can not be easily matched / integrated with the main speakers controlled by your system amplification. When listening to the music having quick bass tempo, that disparity in speed and texture of tone bet. them just severely bother me. Sandy Gross who has already retired from Golden Ear mentioned it is almost impossible to seamlessly integrate them and they chose built-in subwoofer design instead.

@lanx0003 Listening to my bookshelf speakers this evening, and dude, the way this speaker does strings. Anything with strings, including a piano. It’s the beryllium tweeter. It’s truly unbelievable. Again, for the money.

I’m not even using a sub and there’s nothing missing. Which is hard for me to believe, personally.But it’s true. Would it be better w/ a sub? Absolutely.

Apparently, they chose to use their best version of their in house made 7" doped paper cone woofer when they designed them.

They weigh close to forty pounds a piece. Yep, 37.9, I just checked.

The key with these babies is driving them with some really good electronics. And what you have would do the job real well. The reviews said, in essence, that they like to be driven hard. just like my old Ducati. : ) Not joking.

The Ducati mechanic here in KC, Mario, was a riding buddy of mine, and he’s the one that told me. He said they run their best when you keep the rpm’s up high. Like all the time. The reason is because it was a real high torque motor. It made it’s power in the upper part of the power band. You can imagine how much fun it was to wind that baby up. Especially quick in the twisties. Makes my heart pang a little bit, just thinking of it. The dry clutch sounded so freaking sexy. It was cool.

But these speakers are very similar, in a sense. You don’t have to play! them hard to get good sound out of them. I know some speakers are like that. As a matter of fact, these sound real good at low levels. But when you have a LOT of power behind! them, that’s what will really make them sing. You have to drive! them with lots of power. You’ll understand what I’m saying if you decide to score a pair: you kind of have to hear it to believe it. And, of course, if it's good, clean power that's what will make them really shine.

Are you anywhere close to KC? I wish you could come by my place and hear them.

lanx0003

Did you settle on REL, SVS or?

@lanx0003 Sub placement matters. There are online calculators. Plug in the room dimensions. It’s a lot like speaker placement. The corner will make the sub sound boomier. 
 

From my limited experience, my poorly setup sub (REL T5x) makes an appreciable difference on most music. Yeah it might not sound as clinically pristine as my speakers alone. But when listening to rock, pop, hip hop, electronica or funk music some boomy bass makes sense. You hear that during live concerts as well. On acoustic tracks with double bass the sub also makes the music immersive. 
 

However, the bass on some of Panda Bear’s tracks (Dolphin) really makes the sub behave uncontrollably. Maybe it’s intentional? I don’t know. It’s like being in a pressurized cabin taking off.