Usher 718BE or Dynaudio S1.4

here is another opinion.

I heard the newest member of Dynaudio, Sapphire, driven by top Plinius. I have already expressed my impression in another thread; I was not impressed.

On the other hand, first audition of BE-20 made me dropped my jaw. Other speakers that impressed me in the dealer show room: Analysis ribbon, Elac top model, Pioneer with Be tweeter, Burnmester, and Tidal. yes, I am lucky to hear some of the most exquisite brands on earth. Usher is in the same league at a much lower price point, this is coming from someone who had his check book ready to buy a pair of MBL 111E.

Ushers must be carefully matched.
I have heard those in good and bad dealer's setups.
They have potentials but......in my opinion, they are very difficult to work with and get the setup right.
Also for around the same amount you can have time piece minis or AAD 2001 which in my opinion are easier to setup and sound just as good or better (to my taste). With all three I would recommend powerful amp (Nuforce Ref, Butler, Parasound Halo, McCormack DNA) and tube preamp to add some warmth and lush liquidity to tone things down just a bit.

Just my 2 cents

Mariusz

Hello Semi, the speakers you mentioned are very expensive, that are most likely way out of the original posters price range.
I heard the Sapphire myself driven by MF(I am not touting MF here) and thought they sounded excellent.

I have never heard a Dynaudio I did not like, but for me they are too power hungry and need some juice to sound their best. Maybe not a good low listening level speaker?
That was the only reason I did not purchase the 72SE some 2 -3 years ago.

I have heard three models of Ushers - the one mentioned in the OP.
The CP-6311 - for the price it is really hard to beat - If you have the space/comfort/WAF for those huge Iron bases(which is why I did not purchase them).
The CP-6391 - Which I thought was excellent too but at that $$ range there are many contenders.
I am envious of your speakers though :o)

I was in the same boat and considering the fact that I'm from India, there were not many other interesting choices either. I was really in love with the Dynaudio S1.4 until the moment I heard the Ushers. But after listening to the Be-718, there were no second thoughts. Its a massively better speaker than the S1.4 when setup with the right amplification. The Be-718 unlike the dyns are very finicky about placement and need tonnes of time to break in - a minimum of 100 hours. There is severe midbass bloat otherwise and that is probably what one of the posters above noticed at the demo room. They also need a lot of drive from the amp to sound right. These are not speakers for tubes as they are pretty insensitive and a difficult load.

I'm driving my pair with an SMC modified DNA-125, a DIY tube pre consisting of Raytheon 6SN7GT NOS tubes, a highly modified Citypulse DA7.2x DAC connected to a fanless pc outputting digital via an EMU 0404. Cabling is a mix of QED and Audio Quest. I'm also currently testing a pair of Usher Rapport ICs.

There is absolutely no grain or hardness at all. The speakers disappear beautifully and the imaging is pin point accurate. Bass is wonderfully tight and articulate. The midrange to tweeter transition is completely seamless and the tweeter never does attract attention unlike the Focal Beryllium tweeters which always seemed kinda forward sounding to me. The dyns in the same setup were a wee bit too warm in my listening room and detail resolution was no way close to the Be-718. Nor was the midrange as fluid and natural sounding.

To summarize, the Be-718 is a real pain to get right but the results of a properly matched setup are absolutely brilliant. Hope this helps!

Yep, that would be me on the midbass bloat experience :o).
Trust me, I was very dissapointed after reading the reviews and all the great press the Be-718 were getting, and hearing what I did. What you say with respect to positioning/break in and Tube amplification makes sense.

And I agree totally with you on the Focal Beryllium tweeters as well.