In the end I purchased a pair of Ushers. I needed a second pair of speakers for use in another room, with a video projector. So for three months the Ushers have been making music.
They are on 22" stands - I experimented with heights and anywhere between 22" and 24" sounded fine. To address the power issue I've purchased a Wyred4Sound ST1000 power amp - the ICEpower modules provide something like 600 watts per channel given the Usher's resistive load. The pre-amp is an ARC SP9MkIII, disc player an ARC CD1, and cabling from Audioquest - Crystal 2 speaker cables, Quartz interconnects. And there's a REL Storm III sub.
The speakers and power amp have been run in for over three months - which equates to 300+ hours.
My impressions have shifted, but I still have reservations. The system has incredible transparency in the upper frequencies and midrange. There is an ease and naturalness to the sound. Obviously with the sub, the bass goes down deep. But the definition and clarity in the upper bass is still less than compelling. Needless to add I've experiemented with room placement and speaker isolation etc. My comparison is largely with the Wilson CUBs, but I also borrowed a friend's Proac Tablette 50s and even these little guys had more detailed presentation of upper bass information. Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, I took the amp and pre-amp to Audio Connection and listened to a pair of Revel Studio 2s - as far as lower-mid and upper-bass drive and rhythm this was another world; even the Wilsons, no slouches for definition in this spectrum, paled. But, to be fair, the Ushers had the sweeter high frequencies, and just as much appeal in the mids as the Revels - solo violin sounded better on the Ushers, which is saying something given a price differential in Australia of near to $20,000. Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" was marginally more alive on the Revels, but most of the difference was in the bass. Some orchestral music was, if anything, a little "colder" on the Revels, but stunning nonetheless. The Revel's beryllium tweeter has a different flavour compared to the Usher's - of other high-end speakers I've auditioned, with caveats re varying ancillaries etc, the high frequencies of the Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento seem most like the Usher's in tone (this is meant to be high praise).
There is nothing ultimately "wrong" with the Ushers. They present music in a no-nonsense, natural way. I find myself listening to the music, rather than being distracted by the vivid reproduction of this or that particular "sound". Although I should qualify this by saying that occasionally the bass becomes distracting in its bloom and lack of pace. The very transparent and high powered Wyred4sound amp is a great match, but even it can't overcome this issue. I still feel the tweeter is the star, while the 7" driver is a bit less than stellar.
Again, I admit that I'm comparing a speaker that costs Aus$2,500 against ones that are many times that new. Still, I hope this limited criticism is helpful, since most of the Usher reviews hardly voice a negative.
They are on 22" stands - I experimented with heights and anywhere between 22" and 24" sounded fine. To address the power issue I've purchased a Wyred4Sound ST1000 power amp - the ICEpower modules provide something like 600 watts per channel given the Usher's resistive load. The pre-amp is an ARC SP9MkIII, disc player an ARC CD1, and cabling from Audioquest - Crystal 2 speaker cables, Quartz interconnects. And there's a REL Storm III sub.
The speakers and power amp have been run in for over three months - which equates to 300+ hours.
My impressions have shifted, but I still have reservations. The system has incredible transparency in the upper frequencies and midrange. There is an ease and naturalness to the sound. Obviously with the sub, the bass goes down deep. But the definition and clarity in the upper bass is still less than compelling. Needless to add I've experiemented with room placement and speaker isolation etc. My comparison is largely with the Wilson CUBs, but I also borrowed a friend's Proac Tablette 50s and even these little guys had more detailed presentation of upper bass information. Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, I took the amp and pre-amp to Audio Connection and listened to a pair of Revel Studio 2s - as far as lower-mid and upper-bass drive and rhythm this was another world; even the Wilsons, no slouches for definition in this spectrum, paled. But, to be fair, the Ushers had the sweeter high frequencies, and just as much appeal in the mids as the Revels - solo violin sounded better on the Ushers, which is saying something given a price differential in Australia of near to $20,000. Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" was marginally more alive on the Revels, but most of the difference was in the bass. Some orchestral music was, if anything, a little "colder" on the Revels, but stunning nonetheless. The Revel's beryllium tweeter has a different flavour compared to the Usher's - of other high-end speakers I've auditioned, with caveats re varying ancillaries etc, the high frequencies of the Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento seem most like the Usher's in tone (this is meant to be high praise).
There is nothing ultimately "wrong" with the Ushers. They present music in a no-nonsense, natural way. I find myself listening to the music, rather than being distracted by the vivid reproduction of this or that particular "sound". Although I should qualify this by saying that occasionally the bass becomes distracting in its bloom and lack of pace. The very transparent and high powered Wyred4sound amp is a great match, but even it can't overcome this issue. I still feel the tweeter is the star, while the 7" driver is a bit less than stellar.
Again, I admit that I'm comparing a speaker that costs Aus$2,500 against ones that are many times that new. Still, I hope this limited criticism is helpful, since most of the Usher reviews hardly voice a negative.