Usher 718BE or Dynaudio S1.4

I sell some of the best sounding speakers lines available.
Including Dali, Usher, PSB, Kef Reference and Volent.

Again, wise words from Audio Fail, the 718 monitors have won universal acclaim from most of the entire audio reviewing world, so it must either be his magnificent setups or his lack of audio accuity!

The 718 are terrific little mini monitors, the BE tweeter is very smooth, the soundstage is panoramic and the bass output is remarkable for a compact mini monitor.

It comes down to taste the Dynaudio's have a traditional flavor of greater warmth in the midrange and also have great punch, traditionally Dynaudio speakers have a very well balanced overall perspective which is why so many people like them.

That's real interesting Doc and here's my response.

I had a customer bring his 718 here to compare with a competitive product i.e. same size, price, etc.

After an hour of listening he traded in the 718 for the other speaker. So I then had the 718 for a couple weeks for a full evaluation. My assessment as posted remains. As a side note I'm not real impressed with reviews, awards, and dealers' opinions who sell the speakers.

I assure you that after almost 50 years in this hobby/business my "accuity" is far more developed, honed, and sophisticated than let's say, you for example.

I do appreciate your efforts however.

your quote: "As a side note I'm not real impressed with reviews, awards, and dealers' opinions who sell the speakers."
what does that say about you to the rest of us? it is very hard/impossible to say that 1 is better than the other. all personal preferences. people could say that the speaker is on the cool side/warm side, edgy, etc.. depending on what type of equipment they had (which means everything). so when you say that some one traded in their speakers for the dynaudio, what equipment were you using? tubes, ss, yamaha receiver, cd quality, etc... i can tell you that if you hook up my inefficient speakers to a 4 watt set amp they won't sound very good, hook them up to a nice quality 200-300 watt monoblock, they will sing.

Hello all.
I auditioned the 718's this past weekend and I was not that impressed to be honest. Now a disclaimer here, :o)
I believe alot may have been the room acoustics at the dealership.
The room was basically a 12 x 12(with room treatments)with the speakers set up with at least 7 feet between them. No toe in with the listening chair pretty close to the back wall, and changing the distance by moving the chair by oh so little changed the whole presentation greatly.
What I heard was a huge bloat in the upper bass when driven by the Cary -SLP-05 and CJ LP70S. I had the amp swapped with the Cary CAD120S and it did improve a bit, but still I got the feeling that there was a bloat.
I just could not warm up to them at all. Perhaps if I brought them home my impression would have changed, or maybe these are not tube friendly(CJ) in that type of room config.

No disrespect to the dealer at all(great guy) or anybody that owns a pair.
Just one mans opinion and experience.

here is another opinion.

I heard the newest member of Dynaudio, Sapphire, driven by top Plinius. I have already expressed my impression in another thread; I was not impressed.

On the other hand, first audition of BE-20 made me dropped my jaw. Other speakers that impressed me in the dealer show room: Analysis ribbon, Elac top model, Pioneer with Be tweeter, Burnmester, and Tidal. yes, I am lucky to hear some of the most exquisite brands on earth. Usher is in the same league at a much lower price point, this is coming from someone who had his check book ready to buy a pair of MBL 111E.