Usher is a Taiwanese company. They are well known for their cones/woofers which tons of speaker manufacturers use. They had hired this guy named D'Apolito who is supposed to be well known in the Audio industry to design speakers for them. If you go to www.usheraudio.com, you will see their full line of speakers.
I had heard them at the Stereophile show two/three years ago in San Francisco and was quite impressed. I spent an entire afternoon in their room and listened to the entire range of speakers they had brought to the show. Later that year, I heard them again at the Taipei electronic show and they sounded terrible with very boomy bass. I talked to the marketing manager and he told me that they basically only had one night to build the demo room on the trade-show floor, and it was very flimsy, and probably contributed to the boomy bass. He invited me to audition them at their showroom the following day. So I spent several hours the next day listening to the CP-8871 and 8872 at their "flagship" store in Taipei and was quite disappointed. They sounded thin and flat. No soundstage whatsoever.
I could have gotten a pair of CP-8871 (w/ shipping to the US) for less than $4k, and was planning to buy a pair based on my impression from the SF show alone. But after hearing them in Taiwan at two separate insances, I was having second thoughts and decided to turn down the offer. I do think they warrant another listen under a better setup condition. And I would love to hear them again in some dealer showrooms.
I had heard them at the Stereophile show two/three years ago in San Francisco and was quite impressed. I spent an entire afternoon in their room and listened to the entire range of speakers they had brought to the show. Later that year, I heard them again at the Taipei electronic show and they sounded terrible with very boomy bass. I talked to the marketing manager and he told me that they basically only had one night to build the demo room on the trade-show floor, and it was very flimsy, and probably contributed to the boomy bass. He invited me to audition them at their showroom the following day. So I spent several hours the next day listening to the CP-8871 and 8872 at their "flagship" store in Taipei and was quite disappointed. They sounded thin and flat. No soundstage whatsoever.
I could have gotten a pair of CP-8871 (w/ shipping to the US) for less than $4k, and was planning to buy a pair based on my impression from the SF show alone. But after hearing them in Taiwan at two separate insances, I was having second thoughts and decided to turn down the offer. I do think they warrant another listen under a better setup condition. And I would love to hear them again in some dealer showrooms.