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
Tzh21y

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

Kenobi
It is an Audio Research amp. I have never had a problem driving anything with it. I just listened to them again through a 200 plus watt Marantz solid state amp about a week ago and did not hear a difference. In fact, the Audio Research piece I feel did a better job driving them. They sounded good, just not for me.

I can see why others would like them. They are smooth sounding. The best that I ever heard them was through 1000 Watt McIntosh Monoblocks. I am not sure that the overall sound of the speaker changed that much even with that much power. What I am saying is that I can see how his experience with these speakers parallels my own. I did not fell involved no matter how hard I tried.
I'm still breaking in an American pair of Tiny Dancers. I'm at around 300 hours and the sound continues to improve.I hear none of the anomalies people here are complaining about. The highs are as accurate as any I've heard...no sizzle and no ringing. Double bass is fast and clean except for the very lowest notes.

Too bad the American distributor is barred from shipping over seas. it sounds like all the tweaks take a fine speaker to a whole nother level
It could be that my room was not big enough at the time of audution. Gary, how big is your listening room?
I have lived with a pair of Be-718's for a year now and can report that they really do begin to open up after 100+ hours of listening. That surprised me because I'm basically a non-believer when it comes to the idea that electronics require any kind of break-in period, and only slightly less skeptical when it comes to speakers. However, since conventional speakers are in part mechanical devices made of various materials I can see where a break-in period may affect the sound as the drivers "loosen up". It certainly seems that way with the Be-718.

My other main stereo speakers are Epos es14's which I purchased new in 1988. After living with the Epos for such a long time the Ushers at first sounded very thin to me with a recessed lower midrange. There was no comparison in the highs however. The Ushers have the sweetest high end that simply soars beyond the range of the human ear. There is no zinging, ringing or breakup. Now that I have 100+ hours on the Ushers the midrange continues to come out of hiding and is moving to the front. However, I'm not sure that the midrange will ever match the Epos, so I'm keeping both. I do not find the bass of the Ushers to bloom, at least in my listening room which has a 19' ceiling.

I am a fan of vintage SS equipment. I have three SAE amps... a 2400, an A201 and a class A X-10. All three can drive the Ushers with authority as they all have high damping factors. I have two SUMO Athena and one Athena II preamps. All have class A topology and mate with the SAE amps like they were made for each other. They make some sweet music with the Epos and the Ushers.

I'll be keeping the Ushers. They do almost everything you could ask from a monitor. Now, if I could just get the Epos and the Ushers to mate...