Review: Usher Be-718 Monitor


Category: Speakers

A second hand Wilson CUB costs about the same as a new Usher Be718. I’ve had the former for nine years, and I had the latter in my living room for three days. The CUB is large, aesthetically dubious, and garnered reviews that mixed positive comments with reservations. The Be718 is neatly proportioned, sweetly finished, and seems to be the darling of the audio press. Contemplating a change from the Wilson to the Usher, I was hoping to retain a level of audio performance while improving things visually. Wishful thinking? Well, look, we can all dream. I'm writing this review in part to address expectations that might be inspired in others reading reviews of the Ushers - should you buy them without an audition? Are they "that" good? Are they, as I've heard said, the "best bookshelf speaker in the world"?

A recent house renovation had left the CUBs looking more than a little out of place. These are bachelor speakers. They’re sixty centimetres deep, have grills made of air-conditioner foam or, alternately, a spray of chrome screws like buckshot embedded across their faces, sit on four-square black steel stands, and look ready to insult any house guest ornery enough to look their way. These are machines for making music. Yes, they are coated in gloss black automotive paint, but since when did anyone park their car in the living room? A smart wife will not be impressed, she’ll simply tell you to put them in the garage.

In contrast, the Be718s are polite and well-dressed. They too have a plane of gloss black, but this is more evocative of the effect of a Prada handbag, rather than the monolith from “2001”. They have decorative wooden appliques on their flanks. The flashing for the beryllium tweeter, and various plaques and Allen screws, tastefully come in a satin gunmetal. If your daughter was dating a speaker, you’d hope it was the Usher Be718.

The CUBs are routinely reviewed as sounding bright and forward. One man’s bright is another’s lively. For me, they make music sound involving. They have kick. There seems to be consensus at least on the fact that they image very well, provide detail to the midrange, and have a tight, punchy bass. The Ushers are frequently compared to speakers twice their price. Few flaws are mentioned. So what happened when they, adulterously, sat on the pedestals reserved for the CUBs?

Well, in short, not much. The beryllium tweeter is undoubtedly very smooth. It truly does make poor transfers and recordings listenable. There is detail, but fingernails never screech down the chalkboard. Everything is very relaxed. Too relaxed, however, blends in with soporific, and I think this is the danger with the Usher. Compared to the CUB there is notably less information, especially in the range of the larger cone. The performers are all still there, playing their little hearts out, but they sound more distant. Paradoxically, this relaxed presentation can actually prove tiring – having heard details on a recording once, you search for them again, and deciphering their presence can amount to a strain, even when this occurs semi-consciously.

Perhaps the simplest way to summarise my experience is to revisit an audio cliché. Reviews, and real life, have the story of playing all your favourite recordings deep into the night under the thrall of a new piece of equipment. You hear things you have never heard before. A recording you swore you knew suddenly reveals a whole new perspective. Time flies, and before you know it the clock shows the wee hours and you’re resigned to being sleep deprived at work the next day, but you’re happy. With the Ushers, I went to bed early. Even managed to read a chapter or two of a good book. Putting on a track I was inevitably impressed by the beautiful presentation…but often I would not finish listening to the song in its entirety.

Of course this comparison is less than fair. The Ushers were new out of the box. They were driven by a Jadis Orchestra Reference, a 40wpc tube amp, and they are said to like power. Perhaps they might have done better on stands higher than the 19” perfect for the CUBs. And I do not disagree that they do a great job for the price. Still, with all these caveats, there was the possibility that they would sit there, sing, and make the CUBs shrivel – but that didn’t happen.

As a fiscally irresponsible (and probably irrelevant) postscript I might mention that I listened to Wilson Duettes, brand new and not run in, with a Jadis Orchestra Reference, albeit in a retail showroom, and these provided more detail than the CUBs – not just detail, more everything, really. If your daughter was dating these, you’d be worried.

Associated gear
Jadis Orchestra Reference; Audio Research CD1; REL Storm III

Similar products
Wilson CUBs
bezimienny
I just want to reiterate again that the Be-718's require more break-in and solid state power to sound their best. Also, very important, the stands need be higher as well. Mine sits on 28 or 29" Core Furniture model "B" to sound their best and I am short. Originally, had them set at around 20" and just sounded like the top end was muted or that the music wasn't intended for me but the bugs on the floor.

My $.02,

Kenobi
In the end I purchased a pair of Ushers. I needed a second pair of speakers for use in another room, with a video projector. So for three months the Ushers have been making music.

They are on 22" stands - I experimented with heights and anywhere between 22" and 24" sounded fine. To address the power issue I've purchased a Wyred4Sound ST1000 power amp - the ICEpower modules provide something like 600 watts per channel given the Usher's resistive load. The pre-amp is an ARC SP9MkIII, disc player an ARC CD1, and cabling from Audioquest - Crystal 2 speaker cables, Quartz interconnects. And there's a REL Storm III sub.

The speakers and power amp have been run in for over three months - which equates to 300+ hours.

My impressions have shifted, but I still have reservations. The system has incredible transparency in the upper frequencies and midrange. There is an ease and naturalness to the sound. Obviously with the sub, the bass goes down deep. But the definition and clarity in the upper bass is still less than compelling. Needless to add I've experiemented with room placement and speaker isolation etc. My comparison is largely with the Wilson CUBs, but I also borrowed a friend's Proac Tablette 50s and even these little guys had more detailed presentation of upper bass information. Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, I took the amp and pre-amp to Audio Connection and listened to a pair of Revel Studio 2s - as far as lower-mid and upper-bass drive and rhythm this was another world; even the Wilsons, no slouches for definition in this spectrum, paled. But, to be fair, the Ushers had the sweeter high frequencies, and just as much appeal in the mids as the Revels - solo violin sounded better on the Ushers, which is saying something given a price differential in Australia of near to $20,000. Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" was marginally more alive on the Revels, but most of the difference was in the bass. Some orchestral music was, if anything, a little "colder" on the Revels, but stunning nonetheless. The Revel's beryllium tweeter has a different flavour compared to the Usher's - of other high-end speakers I've auditioned, with caveats re varying ancillaries etc, the high frequencies of the Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento seem most like the Usher's in tone (this is meant to be high praise).

There is nothing ultimately "wrong" with the Ushers. They present music in a no-nonsense, natural way. I find myself listening to the music, rather than being distracted by the vivid reproduction of this or that particular "sound". Although I should qualify this by saying that occasionally the bass becomes distracting in its bloom and lack of pace. The very transparent and high powered Wyred4sound amp is a great match, but even it can't overcome this issue. I still feel the tweeter is the star, while the 7" driver is a bit less than stellar.

Again, I admit that I'm comparing a speaker that costs Aus$2,500 against ones that are many times that new. Still, I hope this limited criticism is helpful, since most of the Usher reviews hardly voice a negative.
Hello Bezimienny,

Thanks very much for the review and follow-up. Curious if you bought the U.S. version or have them modified with the same innards (crossover and JPS wiring).

Also, if the Wyred for Sound is anything like the original Bel Canto Ref 1K (MK I) which I owned for 6 months, the bass will not have much rhythm and pacing or details. Since I have switched amp over to the Nuforce's latest V2, the sound has transformed completely and the music is now totally engaging. Bass is now fast and furious if called for but controlled and has great pitch definition and impact. Just thought I share a bit of my experience.

Kenobi
This is a great thread...glad i stumbled upon it. I have tried these speakers with 2 different amps...Rogue 150 mono's and an Arcam AVR350...oddly enough I greatly prefer them with the Arcam...the biggest suprise came when I bi-amped them using channels 6 and 7 from the Arcam (reprogrammed to bi amp with the main 1 and 2 taps)...the amp went from 125 watts to 200 watts. Huge improvement. Totally engaging.

Now I am looking to see what a nice dedicated amp would do...so many opinions out there and I appreciate hearing from owners. Almost took a flier on Bel Canto but someone warned me that they were a little lifeless...also concerned that Class D isn't fully fleshed out yet. What are some other amps that have worked for everyone?
Hi Kenobi. Thanks for the input. The Ushers are the non-USA version. I really enjoy the Wyred4Sound amp - as far as bass control and definition it sounds amazing with the Wilson CUBs - detail is terrific across all frequencies, actually (despite a weakness for tubes and the Jadis brand in particular, I'd rate the Class D amp ahead of it objectively, even in terms of sweetness of tone)- so at the moment I have to point the finger at the Ushers re bass issues. Glad to hear it's not everyone's experience. I'll be ordering custom stands in the next few months and will post some more follow up.
Cheers,
Robert.