Sonus Faber Dominus Grand Piano vs Usher 6831/6731


Today I auditioned some Grand Pianos from Sonus Faber, coming out of mid-range Arcam seperates.

I also auditioned some Focal JM Lab's Cobalt 816s, and frankly I really preferred the $2K Focals to the $5k Sonus. The Focals had more detail, revealed more of the music and seemed to allow the music to sound more natural. It did seem a bit bright without the help of a sub woofer.

In contrast the Sonus Grand Pianos were more fluid, more emmotional, definitely warmer. The soundstage was not as open as the Focals though, things seemed to be compressed in terms of depth of the stage. I honestly just wasn't that happy with them.

All that said, I am wondering how the Usher 6381 or 6371 compares to either of these two? Are the Ushers more revealing like the Focals or are they warmer and more fluid like the Sonus?
toysnob
I have a question about the usher cp 6371. It states that the max power handling is 120watts at 4ohms. So I can't use a powerfull amp? Right now I am using a Rotel 5x100 amp. I want to upgrade to a better ss amp for home theater use and vinyl music. I also noticed that most very expensive amps are 150wats and higher. Seems the more quality watts you go the higher the price. From looking at the stats of these speakers it seems I do not need a power amp. Any thoughts?
hello stylinlp-38.

do not worry about the power handling rating....these are just underated.
you can drive the 6371 with a 200 watt per channel tube amp if you want and they will only sound better,you will notice that when using an amp with 200 watts or 100 watts wichever, you never bring the volume further than a certain point on your preamp because you cannot hear anymore right! at that point when the volume is unbearable you might be pulling only 50 watts out of your 200 watt amp.
do not get fooled by power handling figures and all that, this is not that sensitive of a speaker and will only benefit from a good powerfull amp(just make sure you uprade to good watts), you will never be able to judge how good your 6371's are using the rotel amp thats for sure.
a very good solid state amp(150 watts a channel) or a good tube amp that delivers at least 100 watts in push-pull and you will ready to hear what these speakers can do!
thank you for the detailed reply. Sure is helpfull.

Ouch. 100watt tubeamp? Dang we talking serious money now. There is affordable under $1500 and under $800 50-60watt EL34 intergrated amps out there. But 100watts is alot more money. Of course a really good SS amp that makes you forget that tubes are better is very expensive too. Ive been following threads on damping factors on AA.

Do you have any SS or Tube amps that sells in my price range that matchs these speakers well?
Thanks :)
hello stylinlp-38.

do not worry, i meant top get the most out of them you could use the power ratings i have mentionned.
for solid state try the nuforce reference 8 which deliver 100 watts per mono...used you could maybe pick a pair for
around 900$ here, i had great success driving the 8571mk2 with the nuforce reference 9 amps(160 watts per channel)
and the 8571's are hard to drive with an 87 db efficiency.
if you like tube sound a good integrated with 50 to 60 watts per channel will do it! the more power your amp has in reserve means you will get more control over the speakers, what is called often as gripping and driving with authority,but i would rather get some good sounding
lower powered amps than an amp that dishes out 400 watss but sounds like crap, i have seen a marsh design a400s power amp here for 900$, thats a very good amp with a nice refined sound for the money( 200 watss per channel) mate that with a decent tube preamp or linestage and i think you would be real happy.....there is also a Mc cormack tlc-1 deluxe with separate power supply for sale for 850$.....
if you are willing to spend a tad morethan 1500$ that would be a very likeable combo!
Hello fellow Audiogoners. I just felt I had to chime in on the Usher CP 6381 debate and some of these posts.

I am Dave Lalin, the President, of Audiodoctor.com, we are a new company out of Jersey City New Jersey. We are the authorized New York City Usher dealer and I invite anyone in the New York City/North Jersey area to come and take a listen. We work by appointment and will do everything to guarantee you get a great demo whenever it is convienient for you to do so.

We have almost the entire line of Usher speakers on display. A properly set up pair of 6381's are awesome speakers and in my opinion are far better made and offer more than JM or Sonus Faber fare. Look at the construction and technology and of course listen, a single CP 6381 weighs in at almost 150lbs! I sold a pair of Watt Puppy 5, VR 4JR, Meadowlark Blue Herons, Amphion Xenons, after getting these speakers.
Yes technically the WP were more transparent and dynamic but the Usher's delivered a musical quality that was more engaging.

The CP 6381's do a lot of what $5,000-$8,000.00 speakes deliver! These things blow away most of what is out there, I know I sold them all!

I spent almost tweenty years in New York retail, and I can chime on on the dealer stories I can tell you all about, but one thing is clear there are "bad stores" with good and carring salespeople, and "good stores" with plenty of bad people.

I spent most of my time assuring my customers of good service which was beyond the call of duty of the store.

If the store is doing there job, then by all means you should give the store, the sale. Most people would be floored to find out how expensive it really is to start a high end audio company. I work out of my house but I have two professional sound rooms, two trucks, a million dollar liability policy and I do believe in service.

In around two weeks I am delivering a pair of BE 20 which weigh in at 300lbs each! We are delivering them and installing them. This service alone for three guys and my truck and time is worth over a $1,000.00 so believe me find a dealer you like and trust and do the right thing. It is the only way that good and carring dealers will survive.

Our website will be up in a few weeks audiodoctor.com our email is sales@audiodoctor.com I would love to demo these speakers for anyone interested in purchasing them. Thank you.