Review: Usher Be-718 Monitor


Category: Speakers

A second hand Wilson CUB costs about the same as a new Usher Be718. I’ve had the former for nine years, and I had the latter in my living room for three days. The CUB is large, aesthetically dubious, and garnered reviews that mixed positive comments with reservations. The Be718 is neatly proportioned, sweetly finished, and seems to be the darling of the audio press. Contemplating a change from the Wilson to the Usher, I was hoping to retain a level of audio performance while improving things visually. Wishful thinking? Well, look, we can all dream. I'm writing this review in part to address expectations that might be inspired in others reading reviews of the Ushers - should you buy them without an audition? Are they "that" good? Are they, as I've heard said, the "best bookshelf speaker in the world"?

A recent house renovation had left the CUBs looking more than a little out of place. These are bachelor speakers. They’re sixty centimetres deep, have grills made of air-conditioner foam or, alternately, a spray of chrome screws like buckshot embedded across their faces, sit on four-square black steel stands, and look ready to insult any house guest ornery enough to look their way. These are machines for making music. Yes, they are coated in gloss black automotive paint, but since when did anyone park their car in the living room? A smart wife will not be impressed, she’ll simply tell you to put them in the garage.

In contrast, the Be718s are polite and well-dressed. They too have a plane of gloss black, but this is more evocative of the effect of a Prada handbag, rather than the monolith from “2001”. They have decorative wooden appliques on their flanks. The flashing for the beryllium tweeter, and various plaques and Allen screws, tastefully come in a satin gunmetal. If your daughter was dating a speaker, you’d hope it was the Usher Be718.

The CUBs are routinely reviewed as sounding bright and forward. One man’s bright is another’s lively. For me, they make music sound involving. They have kick. There seems to be consensus at least on the fact that they image very well, provide detail to the midrange, and have a tight, punchy bass. The Ushers are frequently compared to speakers twice their price. Few flaws are mentioned. So what happened when they, adulterously, sat on the pedestals reserved for the CUBs?

Well, in short, not much. The beryllium tweeter is undoubtedly very smooth. It truly does make poor transfers and recordings listenable. There is detail, but fingernails never screech down the chalkboard. Everything is very relaxed. Too relaxed, however, blends in with soporific, and I think this is the danger with the Usher. Compared to the CUB there is notably less information, especially in the range of the larger cone. The performers are all still there, playing their little hearts out, but they sound more distant. Paradoxically, this relaxed presentation can actually prove tiring – having heard details on a recording once, you search for them again, and deciphering their presence can amount to a strain, even when this occurs semi-consciously.

Perhaps the simplest way to summarise my experience is to revisit an audio cliché. Reviews, and real life, have the story of playing all your favourite recordings deep into the night under the thrall of a new piece of equipment. You hear things you have never heard before. A recording you swore you knew suddenly reveals a whole new perspective. Time flies, and before you know it the clock shows the wee hours and you’re resigned to being sleep deprived at work the next day, but you’re happy. With the Ushers, I went to bed early. Even managed to read a chapter or two of a good book. Putting on a track I was inevitably impressed by the beautiful presentation…but often I would not finish listening to the song in its entirety.

Of course this comparison is less than fair. The Ushers were new out of the box. They were driven by a Jadis Orchestra Reference, a 40wpc tube amp, and they are said to like power. Perhaps they might have done better on stands higher than the 19” perfect for the CUBs. And I do not disagree that they do a great job for the price. Still, with all these caveats, there was the possibility that they would sit there, sing, and make the CUBs shrivel – but that didn’t happen.

As a fiscally irresponsible (and probably irrelevant) postscript I might mention that I listened to Wilson Duettes, brand new and not run in, with a Jadis Orchestra Reference, albeit in a retail showroom, and these provided more detail than the CUBs – not just detail, more everything, really. If your daughter was dating these, you’d be worried.

Associated gear
Jadis Orchestra Reference; Audio Research CD1; REL Storm III

Similar products
Wilson CUBs
bezimienny
Yes it is true the tiny dancers love power! We have used a number of different power configerations from 18w/channel to 150w/channel. all with success but a totally different presatation. When we demo them at our showroom (home demo room) the 150w/channel power amp (Usher R1.5) is our nicest match. The other note regarding all Usher speakers is that they need breakin time. The tiny dancers need at least 200 hours then you will see a larger soundstage smoother transition between top end and the mids, plus greater bass extension.

Dennis
PRIMEONE MEDIA
honest review stating your preferences and past experience but the speakers you reviewed weren't broken in and possibly underpowered.
Larry
Honest review, however, the Usher's do not come close to their potential when paired with under powered tube amplification. The Be-718s need a high current amp with a damping factor of at least 100 to truly reach their potential. Tube amps can work if they meet the criteria, but the Usher's really sing with solid state power. Recommended amp brands are Belles, Pass Labs, Bryston, Usher, NAD Master Series, Cambridge Audio, Oracle, NuForce, Moscode.
Thanks for the feedback. Your comments are in line with the professional reviews. Usher in Australia distribute to Sydney, a city of 5 million people, through two dealers - Kevin Low from E-home Solutions was kind enough to allow me to borrow a pair; the other distributor has no showroom, and did not offer any way of auditioning them. Kevin also recommended high power solid state amplification, but was interested to see what the Jadis could do. As mentioned in the review, I realise the limitations of my experience, and would still consider the Ushers in the future, but only for a second system with a SS amp. Perhaps it's also worth saying that these Be718s came from the official Australian distributor - I'm not sure if this means they have the "USA" modifications or not.

Cheers,
Robert.
The Be-718s I auditioned did NOT have the USA modifications. Stan Tracht from Musikmatters, the US distributor, clarified this for me via email. For non-USA consumers he stated that he is unable to sell the complete modified Be-718s outside the US, due to contractual obligations to Usher, but he is able to sell the crossovers and the JPS wires.

Robert.