Anybody heard/bought Usher Mini Dancer 1 or 2

I have heard both, there is a review of the mini-dancer 2 on avguide which pretty much sums it up. The MD-1 in comparision to the Be-718 (non-US version) - the MD-1 has less compression in the lower frequencies, better overall extension, more clarity in the midrange, not as laid back as the tiny dancers, image better.

cheers

I wonder if the MD-1 needs as much current as the Be718, which many reviews said needed at least 150W to sound their best

I heard both of them in an audio showroom in Iceland a few months ago. I liked the Mini Dancer 1 alot. They were hooked up to a NuForce d-class amp. The Mini 2's I wasn't as keen on, but it wasn't an equivelant comparison since it was hooked up to a different amp. It would be nice to do a direct comparison. They look beautiful and sound great across the spectrum. We also heard the Be-718s and felt that both the MD1 and 2 blew them away; no comparison. As noted above, they were accurate, but did not cover the full frequency spectrum well.

I have had the Mini 2's for about a month now. They were preceeded by the 6381's and prior to that Energgy Veritas 2.4i. I am running them with Bryston 4BSST and after burning in for about 100 hours I must admit I was not expecting such a significance of improvement over the 6381's which I loved for about 4 years. I have had many speakers in my 15 X 18 media room from Maggies, Mirage, Mission, PSB. I prefer a dynamic speaker becasue my room doubles as a home theater. Most of my listening to determine if I like a speaker is 2 channel analogue. My room is accousticaly treated and with the help of an RTA relatively flat.
The Mini 2's compared to the 6381's have:
Much wider soundstage, in my room they do "disappear"
More refined high frequencies, much better detail.
Tighetr more detailed bass, maybe because front port vs rear?
More dynamic
Better imaging.
I originally bought the 6381's becasue I thought they had all of these attributes over anything I had at the time.
The Min 2's take those attributes to the next level, in my opinion and in my room.
I have listened to most highly rated dynamic speakers in the $10K range and felt these were in my opinion not only the best sounding but by far bese value. I heard B&W, Focal, Wilson, Silverline, Paradigm, Sonus.
Fit and finish as good as anything I have seen (or felt).
I also have the new Be616 center and it is also tremendous value. The home theater experience was also an improvement. The BE616 is great but the improvement over the previous 616 was not as dramatic as the improvement between the 6381 and Mini 2.
I have been involved in this hobby for over 30 years and although I prefer to support North American manufacturers whenever I can the Usher products for me, represent tremendous value and engineering and impossible to ignore.
DRC