Usher 718BE or Dynaudio S1.4

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.

Ushers must be carefully matched.
I have heard those in good and bad dealer's setups.
They have potentials but......in my opinion, they are very difficult to work with and get the setup right.
Also for around the same amount you can have time piece minis or AAD 2001 which in my opinion are easier to setup and sound just as good or better (to my taste). With all three I would recommend powerful amp (Nuforce Ref, Butler, Parasound Halo, McCormack DNA) and tube preamp to add some warmth and lush liquidity to tone things down just a bit.

Just my 2 cents

Mariusz

Hello Semi, the speakers you mentioned are very expensive, that are most likely way out of the original posters price range.
I heard the Sapphire myself driven by MF(I am not touting MF here) and thought they sounded excellent.

I have never heard a Dynaudio I did not like, but for me they are too power hungry and need some juice to sound their best. Maybe not a good low listening level speaker?
That was the only reason I did not purchase the 72SE some 2 -3 years ago.

I have heard three models of Ushers - the one mentioned in the OP.
The CP-6311 - for the price it is really hard to beat - If you have the space/comfort/WAF for those huge Iron bases(which is why I did not purchase them).
The CP-6391 - Which I thought was excellent too but at that $$ range there are many contenders.
I am envious of your speakers though :o)