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Totem Mani 2 Signatures vs. Usher BE-718

I have the upgrade bug and I am looking to upgrade my speakers. I'm looking at the two speakers noted above but am open to other suggestions for comparable speakers. I have chosen these speakers because I currently have the Totem Model 1 Sigs and have heard great things about the Mani's as well as hearing them at the local audio store. I have not heard the Ushers but have chosen them because of all the positive reviews. I do not have a local Usher dealer.

I would like to hear what you have to stay about these speakers espcially if you have owned either of them or have been in a situation to compare them.

I know the Totem's have had great reviews and have been considered the best bang for the buck in the past and the reviews on the Ushers seem to indicate that they are the best speaker sub $5K. Would be interested to get your thoughts on that.

I will be driving them with a Bryston integrated amp with 100 watts at 8ohms and 170 watts at 4 ohms. I am a little concerned that it might not be powerful enough to drive the Totem's from what I've read. I am not sure about how they will drive the Usher's. Any comments or experiences with similar types of amps would be appreciated.

Thanks
audioman999
zenblaster
504 posts
 
Audiofeils comments are accurate in my opinion. Last year at CES Usher was set-up in a room right next Totem. They won't make that mistake again. I felt that the BE 718 was a good speaker but a bit btight, somewhat "digital" sounding, understandable for a mass market product made in China. Totem's are basically handmade speakers with a soul and purpose. Side by side the Totem's blew away the Usher in recreating music. Some may like the Usher house sound- most will prefer the build and musicality of Totem.
zenblaster
504 posts
 
Ernied44(one of the greatest college players)- Audiofeil has made no secret of his profession... and you??.. Could your professional interests jade your comments?
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
For the record Ernied44 is the national distributor for Usher USA despite the absence of a disclosure which is unprofessional and unethical to begin.

Now, in the summer of 2007 I auditioned a pair of BE-10 in anticipation of taking on the Usher line. I listened for 3 days using a pair of Atma-Sphere MA-1 and a Pass X350.5 and found the speakers intolerable. Soon thereafter I asked to return the speakers telling the distributor I could not in good conscience sell a product I wouldn’t myself own.

The product IMO is extremely low value vis a vis other speakers at their price point but most of all lacking in tonal purity and balance.

Needless to say Usher and I parted ways but not in the way our friend suggests. I was never turned down. I can document this with emails and other paperwork.

Later that year I took a pair of BE-718 in on trade and couldn’t move them for almost a month. It gave me plenty of time to evaluate them with basically the same results as the larger model. Chalk on a chalkboard IMO.

I would caution every potential buyer of Usher speakers to make sure you listen in your room with your equipment. Even then there’s a good chance you will be as disappointed as me.
raks
468 posts
 
I own the Usher BE 718’s and they’re amazing. The Usher’s replaced Acoustic Zen Adagio’s, which replaced ProAc Response D15’s. Based solely on the favorable reviews, I purchased both the Acoustic Zen’s and the Usher’s without auditioning them. I agree that’s not the smartest thing to do, but when I know I’m going to buy something on Audiogon, my rule is I don’t go to a dealer and do a dog and pony show. My favorite Chicagoland dealer is really high end and consequently doesn’t carry “everything”. I do make it a point to buy from him when he carries a line I’m interested in.

I’ll second what Larryrx7 says about the Usher’s… “These speakers have the potential to survive many bouts of upgrade-it is”. For example, I upgraded my stands from Target to Sound Anchors… immediate improvement. I upgraded the stock jumpers to JPS jumpers… immediate improvement. I plugged my Pre-Amp into my recently purchased Audience AR1p… immediate improvement. I put Finite Elemente pucs under my amp… immediate improvement.

As for power, mine are on a 5 channel 100 watt per channel Theta Intrepid, and while I’d love to hear what a higher power amp would do, I’m perfectly happy with the 100 watts.
kenk168
175 posts
 
I own the BE-718 and have been happy ever since. Its top end is transparent but if fed with mediocre upstream equipment and asynergistic cabling could proved disastrous. If you're willng to put the time and effort in paring the speakers with complementary electronics and really try to optimize them, you will be rewarded. Also, the build-quality is top-notch. Understand that you will get opinions that are on both the left and the right. Try to find balance among this differing of opinions--some passionately biased.

Kenobi
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