The New Era Has Been Ushered In - Review Of Usher 8571 Be II

Well here we go, but where to start this off?

I suppose a quick description of the Usher 8571 Be II will be as good a place as any.

The 8571 Be II are a 3-way design which consists of a Beryllium 1.25-inch tweeter, a 7-inch paper cone midrange and a single 8-inch carbon-impregnated paper-cone bass driver.

Build quality is without doubt, of outstanding quality. To the touch the finish is as solid yet silky smooth as the creation a master craftsman and only serves to enhance your initial impression that these are indeed something special.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...und/Usher1.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...und/Usher5.jpg

Some specs:

3-way system
Be dome tweeter 1.25" (9980-20BeA), mid-low woofer 7" (8948A), and low-bass woofer 8" (8955A)
Sensitivity
87 dB @ 1 watt / 1m
Nominal impedance
8 ohms
Frequency response (-3 dB)
28 Hz ~ 40 kHz
Power handling
150 watts
Crossover frequencies
282 Hz and 2.52 kHz
Weight
179 lbs (including base)
Dimensions (w x d x h)
12.4" x 29.9" x 48.8"

Having lived with these beasts for only a short time, I can honestly say I have never fallen in love with a speaker (or any other bit of kit for that matter) so quickly in my life. As I have avidly been into music and hi-fi equipment for over 30 years that’s quite a statement.

Right from the word go these speakers effortlessly did everything I had hoped they would. I previously owned and loved a pair of Dali Skyline 2000 speakers for 11 years, and foolishly sold them. The Dancers have now gone a long way to quelling my misgivings about the selling the Dali’s on, and I now look forward to exploring all that these speakers have to give.

Initially the speakers were placed in a rough guess position without spikes (5 per speaker), as this would allow me to play about with positioning without snagging the carpet. Speaker cables were hooked up to the superb and very substantial three way locking terminals and the kit was fired up.

As my earlier post says - Flippin Awesome

Instantly noticeable was the deep tuneful bass, with open and articulate mids and highs, without any sense of an aggressive or in your face presentation at all. When my initial (pleasant) shock was over and the appropriate grin was attached to my face, I left them to play to themselves for a while to let them get fully up to room temperature and settle down after they’re journey and subsequent night in the van.

On getting back to listening after allowing them a few hours, I sat there with the “appropriate grin” now permanently attached to my face. There’s no need to analyse these speakers at all, I tried but just kept getting drawn into the music, and that in itself can be no bad thing.

As an overall statement I would say that the Ushers have a neutral overall balance with excellent and well controlled deep bass extension, coupled with a treble that is clean, very focused and free from any HF nastiness. Part of this delicate treble sound could be that the speakers go up into the 40 KHz range, where most Super Tweeters operate. I am a Super Tweeter convert, but feel there will be no need for an extra influence here (I might still try my Super Tweeters at some point though). The imagery that they produce is holographic and the positioning of the separate instruments between and to either side of the speakers is precise, front to back depth is also easily apparent, you know exactly where that drummer is.

The bass is just awe-inspiring as it goes so low while staying in control of the note without a hint of bloom or overhang. The depth and impact and control at these low frequencies is something I have not experienced before, if your system can give you this I think it must be one of the most exciting / exhilarating sounds you could hear.

As noted the imagery produced is very realistic. The slight down side to this is they seem to be intolerant of poor recordings, as with any transparent speaker they will show up inadequate pressings or poorly executed sound engineering. Which while being great for good recordings, can be a pain on poorer ones.

You never get the impression that the music is being held back within the speakers, they are giving you a warts and all honest presentation. The dynamics of which just invite you to play more and more music of any style or source. The Ushers give you the boogie factor, as can be testified by my lodger who caught me in full ‘Air Guitar’ mode during Frank Gambale’s – rendition of ‘White Room’.

[Lodgers Note] – “Thought he was having a seizure”.

Having the need to see what effect different speaker positions made I set about playing with the back wall position. Too close and the bass just widened out a touch, never too much but was better a touch further forward of the rear wall, as the speakers were widened the image certainly grew greater in size, but from the listening position became less precise, I preferred the former. So back to their original positions, well just about anyway. The toe in was set to fire just ( about 0.5m ) behind my listening position, there is no rear wall behind me. When angled out the image grew but again became slightly unfocused, as they were toed back in the point was reached where they just snapped into a gorgeous presentation of music. Now that I knew that’s where they wanted to be it was time to fit the spikes, a poor description really as these aren’t just spikes. They’re cones milled from solid brass and there’s 5 per speaker. Fitting these brought even more control and a touch more depth to the bass as well as a touch more definition overall.

What more can I say about these absolutely gorgeous speakers, just look at the photo’s, you get everything, not only the sound but the looks and a real sense of pride of ownership.

As a testament to these speakers, almost from the start I very quickly stopped analysing the sound and just sat down to enjoy the music, which in my book is what this audio malarkey is all about.

Hope this review isn’t too disjointed and you can see what I am trying to put across.

To close I’ll say this, I already love them and can see me keeping them for at least as long as my previous Dali’s.

Its back to the music for me now, thanks for reading.

Andy – SDDW

Footnote:

Just been playing the album - Jazz at the Pawnshop - Good Vibes . I think that the Vibraphone is probably one of the most difficult instruments for a speaker to reproduce faithfully. On this LP, the Vibraphone is played hard and very fast and the Ushers coped easily without any anomalies appearing.

A testament to their capabilities methinks.

HI Andy

I am happy to have your write up in two parts. I have done this myself with the first part being a preview. Thank you for taking the time to write about your new Usher speakers and doing it so well. They sound amazing....next time I am at a show I will have to have a listen.

I must say I am surprised they don't need more space to breathe....its an odd thing and again something that shows one must never make assumptions about what will or won't work. I once visited a customer who is now a friend. He had a pair of rather large speakers in a tiny downstairs room. Lumley Lampros 100's. There was no way these could have worked. "Have a listen" he said, I did and they worked....not saying that more space would not have helped but the bass was quite good and not boomy. I played around with them for a bit, and I managed to improve imaging but not much else. That day really brought home that the room will always have the final say....and sometimes that really is a shock.

Glad you love them....you deserve it.



Regards D S D L