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The Official Usher Audio Owners Thread - Page 6

post #151 of 402
1/17/10 at 4:31am
anyone here own the x719's? any comments or thoughts? how would they compare to the new x718's?

thanks
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post #152 of 402
1/25/10 at 6:51pm
The X719 is a very old model right?
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post #153 of 402
2/1/10 at 6:35am
Could anyone advice me of a Usher dealer in Las Vegas. I have emailed the importer but no reply.
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post #154 of 402
2/1/10 at 9:07am
Audiovector

For reasons unknown to me, Usher's US distributor in Texas does not make it very easy to identify Usher's dealer network. I tried to find out this information last year. My impression is Usher does not have many US dealers, and the dealers they do have tend not to not stock anything close to the entire line. Hope they improve on this in 2010.
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post #155 of 402
2/1/10 at 9:26am
It's strange they took their dealer search feature off the site...

Audiovector, I don't know about LV but if you ever make a trip to LA there are two places I know of around here:
http://www.katli.com/speakers.htm
http://www.hometheaterdoctor.com/

The dealer network has always been sparse.
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post #156 of 402
2/1/10 at 12:57pm
Thanks. It's a pity though. Such a high class product deserves a better network. I'll see if Ketli can ship it to Las Vegas.
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post #157 of 402
2/3/10 at 7:08am
Has anyone used Katli? Reliable? How does it work with the different reps. Are they allowed to sell to a customer in another state? In this case California to Nevada.
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post #158 of 402
2/3/10 at 8:06am
Audiovector

I agree with you and ickysmits. It is difficult for purchasers of Usher speakers to see and listen to the entire line. A Rolls Royce product with limited dealer network.
From my research last year, I unscientifically concluded that the sparse U.S. Usher dealers have somewhat defined areas and are not supposed to sell "into" another dealer's area. But if Nevada or Las Vegas have no Usher dealers, my guess is any dealer can sell and ship to you.

Based on second hand info last year, I decided to buy from HTDr. But I would not judge these two dealers based on the quality of their internet sites. Katli's internet site is hands down superior to the HTDr site, but I don't think you'll see much difference between these two dealers, regarding the purchase of a single pair of Usher speakers as long as they have the model you want in stock.

BTW: Both Katli or HTDr are considered "good" dealers in the general LA OC area.

Hope this helps.

Jack
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post #159 of 402
2/3/10 at 1:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Audiovector View Post

Has anyone used Katli? Reliable? How does it work with the different reps. Are they allowed to sell to a customer in another state? In this case California to Nevada.

As above, I think both HTDr. and Katli might be able to work something out if there's not a dealer in Nevada. Katli has a shipping policy on the website so it seems like he's able to work something out, just give Fred a call.

Fred at Katli is a good guy. His location is in a residential area but man...he has a lot of high end equipment around. It's probably a good thing since you can hear the speakers in a typical suburban SoCal home. He schedules appointments and you get his full attention. He even did that for me and I only bought a pair of S520's and a S-525 - probably significantly less than the next expensive item he has. It was a lot of fun for me, no worries about Fred.
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post #160 of 402
2/3/10 at 2:17pm
Thanks for the info guys. I just got a mail from the local Nevada dealer. So at the moment I will try to work something out with him.
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post #161 of 402
2/3/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack7777 View Post

BTW: Both Katli or HTDr are considered "good" dealers in the general LA OC area.

FWIW, Home Theater Doctor is an excellent shop.
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post #162 of 402
2/7/10 at 7:26am
I have now ordered the BE-616 center to go with my Minidancer1. But in order to get the center into my media bench I will need to do some modification to the speaker. I need to take detach the wooden side panels. Can anyone advice on how this is done? Is it an Allen wrench bolt behind the golden caps on each side?
Anyone with a 616 speaker, what it the exact measurement in centimeters of the speaker excluding the wooden panels?
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post #163 of 402
2/7/10 at 2:58pm
Audiovector:

Glad to hear you found a local Usher dealer. I have not heard or seen the new BE-616 center, but by comparison, the wood side panels on my BE-718s are about 3/4 inch thick on each side, so the BE-616 could end up being about 1.5 inches shorter in width for your media bench. I am curious about the finish beneath the wood side panels, so when you remove them, please advise about whether it has the same gloss black surface underneath.

Jack
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post #164 of 402
2/12/10 at 1:25pm
I've been trying to get any info on the Mini Dancer 1 and 2. I've been to the website and gotten the specs and all but there are no reviews. I live in the Detroit Metro area and am having a hard time finding an Usher dealer. Audovector, how do they sound? What kind of music do you listen to? Are you using tubes or solidstate? Anything would help.
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post #165 of 402
2/12/10 at 3:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by coach55 View Post

I've been trying to get any info on the Mini Dancer 1 and 2. I've been to the website and gotten the specs and all but there are no reviews. I live in the Detroit Metro area and am having a hard time finding an Usher dealer. Audovector, how do they sound? What kind of music do you listen to? Are you using tubes or solidstate? Anything would help.

If you go to www.usheraudiousa.com under "new reviews" there is a review of the Mini Dancer Two. AFAIK, this is the only review of the speakers so far.

I bought my pair of MD2s based upon this review and I'm very happy. I have found that everything that Chris Martens says about the MD2s in his review are true -- they are a great sounding speaker that can compete with much more expensive speakers.

My musical tastes are mostly rock, although I prefer indie label stuff, but I've listened to some jazz and classical on them and the speakers don't get in the way of the recording. In other words, if the recording is poor, you'll hear it because these speakers don't color or add anything to the sound.

I only have one system, so I use it for music and HT.

My amps are Parasound JC-1 monoblocks and my preamp is a Classe SSP-800. MD2s are the mains and I am supposed to get a BE-616 next week for a center channel. All of my music collection (w/ exception of some DVD-A and SACD) are on a NAS and I use a Cullen modified Sonos ZP-80 as a source and a PS Audio PerfectWave DAC which is connected via analog to the Classe. IMO, it sounds very, very good.

Usher announced diamond tweeters for their entire BE line @ CES and a new version of the Mini Dancer 2 is coming out which I think they are calling Dancer Mini 2. In addition to the new tweeter, I believe the new models also include some additional internal bracing. Owners of the BE tweeter will be able to have their tweeter replaced with the diamond tweeter. In my case, Usher is going to replace the BE tweeters in my MD2s and the BE-616 at no charge since I just purchased them.
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post #166 of 402
2/12/10 at 8:21pm
Thanks 7ryder for the info. I just hope I can find a dealer close to home.
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post #167 of 402
2/13/10 at 6:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coach55 View Post

I've been trying to get any info on the Mini Dancer 1 and 2. I've been to the website and gotten the specs and all but there are no reviews. I live in the Detroit Metro area and am having a hard time finding an Usher dealer. Audovector, how do they sound? What kind of music do you listen to? Are you using tubes or solidstate? Anything would help.

I have not taken delivery yet. But when I was out listening prior to my purchase I had a friend with me who owns a pair of Be-10 running on Plinius electronics. After 10 sec of listening he just shook his head - what a sound stage. He was truly impressed - and so was I. We even moved the speakers to two different spots in the shop and used 2 different setups - just to get a feel for them and how sensitive they are (they're not). I think the two things that impressed us both the most was the tightness of the bass. The spec for MD 1 says it ends at 38 Hz. So before listening I was not expecting a lot of bass - but wow was I wrong. It is super tight all the way down.
The second thing that made them stand out from everything else we had listened to during our shopping tour was the width of the sound stage, the 3D feeling. When putting on a CD and the sound from one of the guitars came to the left of the left speaker - I was convinced. I had to have them. The only downside I can think of is that they are pretty demanding on the amp side to deliver all the way.
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post #168 of 402
2/13/10 at 8:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Audiovector View Post

The only downside I can think of is that they are pretty demanding on the amp side to deliver all the way.

Agreed. I first tried to use them with a class D amp and it wasn't a good fit. The Parasounds that I have are A/AB (class A up to 25 watts) and it is a much better fit.

I also agree about the bass extension. My listening room is also my HT so I have a couple of JL Audio f112s in the system and I use bass management on my Classe at all times, crossing over the subs at 40Hz on music, 80Hz on video. They do add a bit to the overall sound and probably allow my amps to run Class A most of the time, but the MD2s do a great job on the bass even without a traditional woofer.
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post #169 of 402
2/13/10 at 11:32am
My room also does double duty as HT and music. It's about 85% music though. I have the B&W 805's across the front. An ATI 1807 amp with the Anthem AVM 30 PrePro. This setup will stay in the family room. The new stuff will go in the basement when it's completed. It will be strictly a two channel system. Maybe a small monitor to access high rez disks, but no tv. The stuff I have now made it hard to leave the house sometime, but I'm still trying to dial in this new room I have it in.
The other brands I'm listening to are Sonus Faber, Vienna Accoustics, and Canton. But I'm leaning towards the Ushers. I'm also shopping Amps.
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post #170 of 402
2/14/10 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7ryder View Post

Agreed. I first tried to use them with a class D amp and it wasn't a good fit. The Parasounds that I have are A/AB (class A up to 25 watts) and it is a much better fit.

7ryder -
What Class D were you unsuccessful using? I am on the list at my local dealer for MD2's and a BE-616. I'm currently using a Wyred4Sound ClassD amp (250 wpc) that I was hoping would pair well with these. My dealer is always pushing me towards a Butler 5150.

Also - what are you using for surrounds?
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post #171 of 402
2/14/10 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vigga View Post

7ryder -
What Class D were you unsuccessful using? I am on the list at my local dealer for MD2's and a BE-616. I'm currently using a Wyred4Sound ClassD amp (250 wpc) that I was hoping would pair well with these. My dealer is always pushing me towards a Butler 5150.

Also - what are you using for surrounds?

Well, and YMMV, but it was a W4S MC500x5. I had a W4S STP SE for a little while and loved it, so based upon its performance I thought the amp would be great as well, but I felt that it wasn't very involving with the Ushers. For a 500 watt amp, it sure didn't sound like it had the slam and bass control that I would have expected and I also felt that they imaging wasn't that great. There is an interesting article at audioholics.com that explains that the problem with Class D amps is they really aren't designed to deliver their fully rated power at full bandwidth (even for a second) because of their design. If I had read this article before reviews of the W4S amps, I probably wouldn't had considered it. Also look at the link at the bottom of the article "Are Class D Amplifiers High Fidelity" as the Sound Quality Results on slide 15 pretty much sum up what I experienced with the W4S amp.

http://www.audioholics.com/education...one-amplifiers

I replaced it with a Parasound A51 amp and it was a big improvement. In fact, I liked the A51 so much that I bought a pair of JC-1s for my mains and I use the A51 for center and surrounds.

I haven't heard the Butler amp, but you can get a refurbished A51 from Audio Advisor for a little more than the MSRP of the Butler and get a 30 day in-home trial. As you can see from the specs, it has much greater power reserves than the W4S amp, which I think helps to explain why it doesn't suffer from the issues I had with the W4S amp.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=2PAHA51

As for surrounds, because of limitations in my room, I can only do 5.1 surround and the surrounds have to be in the ceiling just over the listening position and they are B&W CDS3
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post #172 of 402
2/15/10 at 5:07am
Chris -
Thanks for the candid feedback. The W4S is relatively new (I am actually still within my 30 day return window), and i've been happy so far, but my speakers are in a totally different league from the Ushers and I was a little worried in the back of my mind that it might not be a suitable pair. I consoled myself with the fact that they retain their value well in the used market, so it was worth a try for a little while. Your comments about the mis-pairing with the Ushers confirm my suspicions (my Usher dealer suggested that I'd hear the same thing). Right now, the MD2's far in the horizon in my area. My dealer says that they are in short supply right now due to a cabinet shortages, so I have some time to figure out the amp thing.

B&K, Odyssey, Emotiva were also on the list to take a listen to.
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post #173 of 402
3/3/10 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7ryder View Post

Usher announced diamond tweeters for their entire BE line @ CES and a new version of the Mini Dancer 2 is coming out which I think they are calling Dancer Mini 2. In addition to the new tweeter, I believe the new models also include some additional internal bracing. Owners of the BE tweeter will be able to have their tweeter replaced with the diamond tweeter. In my case, Usher is going to replace the BE tweeters in my MD2s and the BE-616 at no charge since I just purchased them.

Very interesting! Is this just marketing or is the tweeter actually any better than a regular metal dome?
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post #174 of 402
3/4/10 at 8:15am
Different sounding than the Be. listened to both this weekend.
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post #175 of 402
3/4/10 at 9:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vigga View Post

Different sounding than the Be. listened to both this weekend.

How so?
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post #176 of 402
3/14/10 at 4:07pm
"They told me to get in a car and drive. I'd like to help out, but I can't. I don't have the vocabulary." -- Cole Trickle

This pretty much describes me and speakers. I kinda lack the knowledge and vocabulary. What I can do is relate what my dealer said as we were listening at the meet-up where we swapped them out:
More smooth and detailed, less edgy. The new Diamonds are better... somehow finding a way to be more resolving, while at the same time being more relaxed. The Be tweeter is very good... but the Diamond was more to everyone's liking.
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post #177 of 402
4/10/10 at 7:17pm
hello, I just found this thread and love the info. I have the Bryston 14B sst2 (600wts pcx2) that I would like to power the dancer BE-10 if I purchase them. I also have the 6B sst2(3 channel 300wts ea.) to power center and rears. Please tell me if I'm wrong but it looks like I can order the BE-616 center in all piano black(no vaneer). This is because I want the be-10's in walnut and the BE-616 is only available in birch or piano black. Can anybody verify this? Also is the Bryston amps I have a good match for these(they are the newest version) ? This is a 60% HT and 40% 2ch system in a room thats 22ft. W / 24ft. L / 10.5ft. H.

It all started when I heard the BE-10's, I was blown away. All the different types of music I played sounded so involving. I was about to pull the trigger on the Focal 1038BE full 5.0 surround system but felt there was to many songs that I usually like that sounded harsh and edgy with the Focals. Only select songs souned good with them. When I auditioned the Usher BE-10 the same songs sounded crazy good , without the edge and harshness. I could play the music very loud without the harshness. With Everything I listened to, I was pulled into the music like I was never before!

As much as I wanted to like the Focals(awsome looks, almost purchased them) , they didn't have the emotion , just detail and imaging with to much harshness with it(don't get me wrong there great speakers).The Ushers pulled me right into the music with great detail, imaging, wide soundstage, and height too. I was truely wowed with these! But the Ushers are more, BE 10's are 17K (5K more than I want to spend BUT.....)vs. the Focal 1038 BE 13K. To me the Ushers sound is worth every penny more.

I listened to Revels, sonus faber, paradign, focal , psb, dynaudio, and B&W at about the same price range exept the PSB's (less). Usher had the most take you away sound that puts a smile on my face! I did listen to the mini dancer 2's (also very good) and realized Usher has that high end sound I was looking for!
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post #178 of 402
4/11/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 67steve View Post

hello, I just found this thread and love the info. I have the Bryston 14B sst2 (600wts pcx2) that I would like to power the dancer BE-10 if I purchase them. I also have the 6B sst2(3 channel 300wts ea.) to power center and rears. Please tell me if I'm wrong but it looks like I can order the BE-616 center in all piano black(no vaneer). This is because I want the be-10's in walnut and the BE-616 is only available in birch or piano black. Can anybody verify this? Also is the Bryston amps I have a good match for these(they are the newest version) ? This is a 60% HT and 40% 2ch system in a room thats 22ft. W / 24ft. L / 10.5ft. H.

It all started when I heard the BE-10's, I was blown away. All the different types of music I played sounded so involving. I was about to pull the trigger on the Focal 1038BE full 5.0 surround system but felt there was to many songs that I usually like that sounded harsh and edgy with the Focals. Only select songs souned good with them. When I auditioned the Usher BE-10 the same songs sounded crazy good , without the edge and harshness. I could play the music very loud without the harshness. With Everything I listened to, I was pulled into the music like I was never before!

As much as I wanted to like the Focals(awsome looks, almost purchased them) , they didn't have the emotion , just detail and imaging with to much harshness with it(don't get me wrong there great speakers).The Ushers pulled me right into the music with great detail, imaging, wide soundstage, and height too. I was truely wowed with these! But the Ushers are more, BE 10's are 17K (5K more than I want to spend BUT.....)vs. the Focal 1038 BE 13K. To me the Ushers sound is worth every penny more.

I listened to Revels, sonus faber, paradign, focal , psb, dynaudio, and B&W at about the same price range exept the PSB's (less). Usher had the most take you away sound that puts a smile on my face! I did listen to the mini dancer 2's (also very good) and realized Usher has that high end sound I was looking for!

According to Usher's website http://www.usheraudiousa.com/product...-series/Be-616 they do come in pioneer birch and piano black. Best bet is ask your dealer about availability. I have the MD2s and the BE-616...great sound for a great price.
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post #179 of 402
4/11/10 at 5:42pm
If it's not available in all black, the side panels can easily be removed if you want to have them painted in a different color.
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post #180 of 402
4/11/10 at 9:12pm
Ya, I hope they come in all black at least because we like the BE10's in the walnut vaneer. I don't want to alter the BE616 in any way( I'm thinking future resale value). Also, do you think the Brystons I mentioned in the above post will be a good match for these?
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