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
Thanks for this excellent review of the Be-718 speakers. I have to agree with most of what is said.

I recently purchased a pair of Be-718 speakers -- only a few days ago and not completely broken in yet. I spent a little bit of time listening to them using my Marantz MM8003 8-channel amplifier (140 WPC) through my Onkyo 885 preamplifier and Panasonic Blu-ray player (I don't have a dedicated CD player yet). My previous speakers were the Superone NHT speakers ($350 speakers that I bought about 10 years ago), and listening to the Ushers for the first time I immediately noticed that the Ushers were so much clearer in the high-frequency and the soundstage was much wider and deeper on the Ushers than the NHT speakers -- probably because of the bigger sized drivers. I felt like the sound was coming from everywhere with the Ushers and they simply disappeared when listening to them.

I listened to the Best of Diane Krall CD and noticed that the clarity in the piano, bass and her voice was just amazing -- I felt like all the musicians were in my room. There was a clear separation between the instruments.

However, when I listened to Wycliff Jean's Carnival II and MIA's Paper Plane CD, I thought that the bass was a little soft compared to the NHT speakers. The bass on the NHT seems to be tighter -- probably because of the smaller 6.5" woofer -- and cleaner, but the NHTs do not have the bass extension of the Ushers, which made the piano sound on the Ushers fully present. One other thing that I noted when comparing the NHT and the Ushers speakers was that there is a slightly lack of energy in the upper midrange on the Ushers. It seems that the voice of MIA (track 1 of Paper Plane CD) did not pop out as much as I heard it on the NHTs.

I do have to agree that Ushers do an amazing job with the high-frequencies. Listening to the guitar on Rodrigo y Gabriela's debut album was quite an experience. I really did not appreciate that CD on the NHTs until I heard it on the Ushers.
Smridevan,

Please report back after you had adequate burn-in with the Ushers. I suspect the midrange will open up more as well as extensions on both ends. Also, it is important to fine tune the speaker placement in your listening room as it is quite sensitive.

Thanks,

Kenobi
40wpc is very low for usher. I'm using with 250wpc tubes power and they sing!
I auditioned Ushers with a 100 watt solid state amp. I would agree, there was a lot missing. Maybe I need a 400 watt amp. Why would I bother with a 400 watt boat anchor? Considering your equipment, I think there are better choices. I am currently looking into the Merlin TSM. Very well reviewed. They would probably sing with your setup.
Tzh21y

What 100 watt solid state amp are you referring to above? You can't judge the speakers' performance if mismatched or underpowered.

Kenobi