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Usher BE-10/20, what do you use to drive them?

Ready to take the plunge on one of big Usher. Heard them in Taipei HQ driven by Usher's own CD/pre/power with cheap wires and already sounded excellent, I am sure they can benefit from better front ends.

I have only seen one BE-10 in virtual system driven by Ayre MX-R. What are you using to drive your big Usher? BTW, is BE-10 "better" than BE-20 for music?
semi
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
BTW, I agree that the Ushers need a decent amount of power. I believe the impedance drops to 3ohms in the lower freqs.
tpsonic
1,092 posts
 
The 100W/ch Jadis might be a good combo (Defy 7?).
semi OP
649 posts
 
Currently I own a few amps, BAT 75SE (soon to be 150SE), Edge G8+, and Forte 4A. I think Edge is probably the best amp to drive the Usher or I can sell them and get Parasound JC-1 for about the same money but I don't care for Parasound's apperance. Edge sounds exceptional with my Amati Homage. Not as exceptional as BAT, but very fine for a solid state.

Since Edge is more on the clean & transparent side, I will think Edge is not a good match with Usher as Usher is also a bit lean. I know Tommy loves his Ayre MX-R with Usher, I normally would not think that's a good combination given Ayre's house sound. Exception does happen, something in that link must be balancing the sound so perfectly to make Ayre edging out the Pass XA.

Any Usher owner in SF bay area willing to hear what your speakers sound like with Edge? will be happy to bring them over to try out.
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
semi, normally I would agree with you about Ayre and Usher. before the MX-R I did not care for the Ayre house sound at all. I have always thought Ayre sounded clean and transparent but a bit thin. The MX-R retains the transparency but does not sound thin or tinny at all. By the way, I hope you do not think the Ushers sound too detailed or etched. Yes they sound transparent, dynamic, airy, etc but I dont think adding good components that share these same attributes will lead to a bright or etched sound. You will run into trouble if you mate the Ushers with upstream components that are too detailed since these speakers are so uncolored and true. Personally, I think the Edge would be a good match. By the way, I also have the MBL 5011 preamp which is incredibly musical which brought all of my components together nicely. Some say it is ever so slightly warm which may help.

Anyways, good luck!

Why not, bring your amps to a local dealer? I am sure they would allow you to hook them up.
spyddie
6 posts
 
I heard the BE-20s at dealer's place, they were using antiques soundlab monoblock at the time. They sound very good, indeed, I think they are one of the best sounding box type speakers I have heard so far, the beryllium tweeters and mid-ranges really work wonders. I have also heard Be-718s with a pair of newly arrived VTL MB450 signatures while I visited, again it sounds amazing, it hard to believe the sound (music) is actually coming from two smalled boxes. It will be very interesting to hear the BE-20/10 with the VTL MB450 sigatures.
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