Anyone have any experience w/ Usher AC-10's?...

My audition of the AC-10s... a bit forward for my taste. I felt I was on stage instead of in the audience. They play very big. They are one of the few speakers which come standard with 3 feet instead of 4, which I feel is always better. Their rounded design is a pleasant change visually from the usual rectangular approach, and may help to eliminate cabinet diffractions from reflected waves.

I agree with Blueswan on being a bit forward, almost "In your face". I found with the ceramic speakers to me they were hard almost harsh sounding. I also auditioned the CP 8571 in Usher. I put this on my "Good Possiblity List".
No Ceramic in that model. The Von Schweikerts I was impressed overall but I do not know the model we were auditioning. I still think about the Usher 8571 but I now am hot on the JM Labs Mezzo's.
I don't know where you are located but there is a dealer in Ann Arbor Mich. on the Ushers that is offering some major discounts off the list price.
That my 2 cents worth,
Good Luck and enjoy the music.
Dave

Not exactly on point, but, I owned the 8871s and they were fabulous, comparable in my opinion, to many speakers I have owned at much higher price. The cabinet work is beautiful though they are much bigger than I expected and weigh a ton. When I bought these originally I spoke with Usher directly as I was interested in the AC10s and their Accuton drivers and they encouraged me to buy the 8871s over the AC10s as they said the sound was smoother, and they were that, very smooth and coherent. Usher's advice to me, however, seems to be consistent with above posts.

Heard the AC 10's at a local dealer about seven months ago. I thought they were quite impressive listening to MO FI Muddy Waters CD. They were easily able to portray Muddy's guitar and his vocals were quite realistic. However, I heard them in a very large room and they really seemed to need a LOT of power to drive them. The bass also seemed a little slow in comparison to the ceramic driver. BTW I have heard several systems using the Accuton drivers and personally I really like them.The tweets in particular can portray great sense of air.The cabinets seemed very well built and for what one seems to be able to buy these for today, I think they may be a steal. ( If you have a big enough amp to drive them that is; No SET's need apply)

I agree about the AC-10 described above. Your are in the front row. Usher also does not recommend them for HT use as the ceramic drivers can crack with very loud SPLs. I did compre them to the Aerial 10Ts (hooked up to different components of lesser quality) and they are a totally different sound more 20th row. The Ushers I heard only had about a 100 hours on them and they sounded clear, dynamic and detailed but too much in your face and they were too much for long term listening, somewhat agressive or bright or forward whatever, long term fatigue. The through a very wide soundstage almost to the point of interferring with the other speakers sound. The associated componets were a Pass X-1 pre, Pass X-250 amp and Audiomeca top of the line CDP.

As for the Vons, the ones worth hearing are the new model VR-4SEs. I will be getting to hear them soon at a local dealer. You also may want to check out the mid priced Talons.

Happy Listening.

Since I posted this I've read some interesting things about Usher and in particular the AC-10. I've read several testimonials from owners who do not think highly of the crossovers Usher uses in the AC-10, in fact they were referred to as "crap". One owner took his Usher's (can't remember the model number) to a local "speaker guy" who rebuilt the crossovers using different parts. In this particular case the owner thought they were incredible once they got "fixed". I'd hate to shell out several grand for speakers and then send them off to someone to upgrade the speaker - especially when you consider the shipping costs on these very heavy speakers.

Along with Von Schweikerts and Usher's I'll also be checking out some Audes models. Should make for an interesting morning. I'll post my thoughts on Monday.

I have bought cp8871 insted of ac-10 upon dealers recomendation,they suppose to sound better.They are using their own scanspeak drivers,friend of mine told me after some resarch that they have bigger magnet then original scanspeak drivers.For same price you are geting bigger speakers and probably better sound.They have best bass I have ever heard,so tight,deep and controlled.But to be honest I am going to sell them because I found them not as good for rock music(I think because they are so clean sounding for dirty rock)Mike

Dawgbyte, that was me with the Usher X-719 model that I had them redone...the original speakers were a little bit too dry and in-your-face presentation...after a lot of work done on the crossovers, the X-719 sound absolutley fantastic!...wide and deep soundstage, with perfect treble and tight bass...for the money i paid ($900 for the speakers with their heavy stands) plus the money for the upgraded crossovers, i got myself a piar of speakers that sounds like $3500 pair...actually, i had them against the Micro Utopias and the Ushers sounded better!

I have to disagree with some of the posts above. My experience listening to the AC10s was that they were not harsh at all. I found them to give a very natural, detailed presentation, with a lot of air and dynamics. They perform well at moderate listening levels and can rock when asked to. Their build quality is as good as it gets. IMO, they compete with speakers costing much more and are a bargain at their price. With the dicounts I see some dealers giving, they are in a class by themselves. In the right setup, always the case, they will make you very happy.