Getting the best from Usher Mini Dancer II's

I have used several amps with my ushers - musical fidelity, nad, jolida, pass labs, rogue audio - all with good results. they are fairly easy to drive. They are also revealing, and you are correct that your Yamaha is the weak link (although a very good home theater rig Im sure).

I am using the rogue Cronus magnum with great results. Using the 4 ohm output. The DMD tweeter with an all tube amp is a very good pairing IMO.

Do your Ushers have the beryllium or DMD tweeters?

I have home brew speakers using Usher drivers and custom crossovers. I use a Doge 8 Clarity tube preamp and Monarchy Audio SE-100 Delux MKII class A mono blocks. Preamp, used ran me $1500 with good NOS tubes, the amps were $980 the pair as factory refurbs direct from Monarchy Audio back when the economy was at its low point.
Very happy with the combo. Detailed, musical, yet neutral, with a big sound stage
The Usher speakers are good enough to take advantage of better gear. In my case I traded up on better gear without the need to trade up speakers. The improvement was easy to detect.

When I first received a pair of review sample Usher Mini Dancer Two DMD speakers, I thought they sounded nice, but too bright.  However, I was assured by the US distributor that they would sound significantly better after 200 hours burn-in.  Suffice it to say, he was absolutely correct.

I achieved excellent results with the PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier, the Gudebrod Audio 3T12V Preamp, and now the PrimaLuna Prologue 3 preamplifier -- all linked up with the Odyssey Stereo Khartago Extreme SE amplifier (the PrimaLuna is now an integral part of my system).  

I will be putting out a formal review of the Usher Mini Dancer Two DMD speakers in the next week or so at http://www.prairieaudiomancave.com/ .

Cheers,


Juan 

It seems to me these are compromised by trying to do too much.They go very low but you get a monotone sort of rubbery /boomy bass and the cone is moving so much to go low you also get some sort of cone break up or distortion before it crosses over to the tweeter.I have heard these improved by digitally cutting off the low bass below about 45hz .The bass is still far from being deft and textured but you do seem to get a smoother upper midrange.

Mine have the DMD tweeters.  

Here are my reviews of the PS Audio BHK Signature preamplifier and the Gudebrod Audio 3T12V preamplifier, both performed with the Usher Mini Dancer Two DMD speakers:

http://prairieaudiomancave.com/reviews--reports/does-the-ps-audio-bhk-preamplifier-reveal-the-whole-truth

http://prairieaudiomancave.com/reviews--reports/the-gudebrod-audio-3t12v-preamp-no-white-zin-but-a-california-red