Buchardt Audio’s E50 Speakers Offer High-End Danish Design and Performance Below 4000 EUR

Buchardt Audio is releasing their most exclusive passive speaker yet. The new E50 passive bookshelf speaker combines Danish design and engineering with high-end parts in an all-wood cabinet. Even at its starting price of 3950 EUR, the E50 may be the new speaker to beat in its class. Since Buchardt Audio only sells direct, there’s less markup than one would experience going through a traditional dealer.

Made in Denmark

A speaker made from so many Danish parts is a rare sight. Many other speakers may qualify to use the label “Made in Denmark,” but having the cabinets, woofers, tweeters, binding posts, as well as all assembly and testing done in Denmark is something few can claim. The only part of the E50 sourced outside the EU is the passive radiators, which are made by SB Acoustics—though they are specially engineered by Danish engineers specifically for this speaker.

Solid Wood Cabinets

The cabinets are made in-house from 19 mm and 28 mm (front baffle) solid wood, CNC machined into perfect pieces, and then assembled by experienced woodworkers.

The E50 is a handcrafted, high-quality speaker, and with its solid wood cabinets, it has an exceptional natural look and feel that even the finest veneers in the world can’t match. The cabinets are designed to last a lifetime and withstand the test of time and wear.

All the wood used for the E50 is FSC certified, ensuring a much lower environmental impact compared to typical MDF/HDF, and ensuring good working conditions for the logging workers.

Design

The E50 features Purifi woofers, which have proven to perform exceptionally well in Buchardt’s A500SE and Anniversary 10 speakers. Buchardt Audio claims its Purifi woofers feature a number of patents that enable it to achieve an unmatched level of performance.

In addition, the E50’s rear passive radiators ensure the fullest sound possible from a compact stand-mount speaker. Not to be overlooked, the E50 implements Jantzen Audio high-end crossover components using foil-based Cross Coils and Superior Z-Caps.

Sound Quality

The company claims the E50 has a “very mature sound”. It carries a resemblance to the Buchardt house sound, which is neutral with a slight tilt toward a laid-back and relaxed sounding presentation. This doesn’t mean it has an intentional drop in high-frequency output, but rather that this character results from the driver’s cone material, specific crossover component choices, and its comparison to the general trend of more brightly tuned speakers.

Technically, Buchardt’s speakers have always been tuned to be very frequency-flat, but what you see on paper doesn’t always translate to what you perceive.

Compared to the popular S400, Buchardt Audio says the E50 is significantly more transparent and detailed while being even more relaxed and easy to listen to. This is an unusual combination, as transparency and ease of listening often swing one way or the other.

The E50 also offers significantly deeper bass and more power, thanks to the extended long-stroke X variant of the Purifi woofer. This ensures incredibly low distortion from the drivers, even at high SPLs.

The company states that the E50 reproduce lower frequencies than some floor standers, whilst still sounding incredibly clean and maintaining a well-controlled soundstage—something 2-way speakers typically struggle with at high volumes.

In addition, soundstage is said to be another area of improvement. Buchardt claims the E50 delivers an immensely holographic presentation, with a pitch-black background and an increase in air around the instruments.

A quick look at the specifications reveals that the E50 require some power to open up — even in a smaller room.

The loudspeakers are 85 dB (4 ohms) with a quoted frequency response of 36 – 30kHz +/- 3dB. The crossover point is 2000Hz.

Comparison

The Bottom Line

Buchardt Audio has received many positive reviews for their less expensive bookshelf speakers which range from 1400 to 2900 EUR per pair and may be a better starting point. The Buchardt Audio E50 does appear to have a substantial step up in build quality to justify its price, and considering it still sells for thousands less than some of its competitors such as the Dynaudio Heritage Special ($7,000/pair) it may actually be a bargain when it comes to their performance for the money.

However, a deeper dive into the specifications reveals that the Buchardt Audio E50 need a minimum of 50 to 60 watts per channel for a smaller room like a den or home office, and that 100 to 200 watts per channel (4 ohms) will be required for larger living and listening spaces.

AVRs might not be ideal for these. Something like the Cambridge Audio Evo 150 or NAD M10 V3 might be a good staring point

Price & Availability

For a limited time, pre-order to get a 200 EUR discount off regular prices stated below. Shipping, tax, and import costs are included in the price.

• Stained Black: 3950 EUR / pair
• Smoked Oak: 4100 EUR / pair
• Natural Oak: 4100 EUR / pair
• Rounded Natural Oak: 4100 EUR / pair
• Rounded Smoked Oak : 4100 EUR / pair
• Rounded Charcoal: 4000 EUR / pair

For more information: buchardtaudio.com/products/e50

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• Buchardt’s SUB10 Subwoofer Takes Very Up Little Space