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Thread: Ushers in da house!

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

    Default Ushers in da house!

    Just got hold of these this morning and I have to say I'm very impressed. They're the CP6371 model (Usher don't seem to be big on catchy names), tall and heavy 2.5 way rear ported floorstanders designed by Joe d'Appolito (famous for the MTM driver arrangement he championed). The weight is partly due to the large iron bases which jut out quite far behind them to keep them stable while leaning back to improve the time alignment of the drivers, and this weight is increased by sand filling in the base of these examples (a small compartment in the bottom permits this).

    Several aspects of their performance stand out. Firstly they have a big sound as you'd expect, but they work surprisingly well near the back wall despite their large ports, the biggest I've seen. Secondly, they have a window to fine detail without sounding bright, harsh or etched in any way. Thirdly the mid range is beautiful - I've always preferred a slight v shape in the response of my speakers (going back to my teenage years when I would set my graphic equaliser to a v) but the mids are so sweet in these I can live with them being as prominent as the rest of the frequency range. Lastly, they throw a wonderful soundstage and image really well, they truly do the disappearing act. They sound great with rock, with plenty of impact and roughness round the edges when required but they are equally at home with both large scale orchestral and more intimate chamber music. Piano in particular sounds very lifelike, they are tonally accurate and importantly have sufficient range to give the rich, resonant feeling of the instrument that smaller speakers can't do.

    Although Usher speakers are renowned for offering high quality sound and build at great value, I've held off from buying a pair of these before for two reasons. I wasn't sure about the wood side cheeks, and I was holding out for a pair of Dancers, their top range. However, I heard a pair at Kegworth and found they weren't to my taste. I also read a review that said these occupy the sweet spot of the ranges as the soft dome tweeter was very good and the Beryllium tweeter was not to everyone's taste. So I went for these, and I'm glad I did purely from a sonic perspective, but I also think they look nicer in the flesh than I expected too. I kind of like the "wooden standmount on a black stand" impression they give which if anything makes them feel smaller than they actually are, a big positive given the importance of domestic bliss in the speaker equation!

    Overall they are the best sounding speakers I have owned (after accounting for room matching) and I would say they are a true "endgame" speaker, I can't imagine needing anything more than these, for quite a while at least! Of course I should have learned to wait before judging, but they sound so nice I'm going to stick my neck out this time!

    I think I'll be listing my BKS 128 ribbon speakers on the forum soon, I've got to give a mate first dibs but if anyone's interested in hearing them, just let me know.

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

  2. #2
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,779
    I'm Martin.

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    Looking good. I like Ushers, not heard them all by any means but never heard any I couldn't live with.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

    Default Ushers in da house!

    Clever yet elegantly simple design, looks like treble diffraction issues and time alignment are well taken care of, which is rare.

    Also, those drivers look like they are critically damped, again, rare.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Sep 2017

    Location: Chichester, West Sussex UK

    Posts: 368
    I'm John.

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    Hi Lawrence.
    It was my Dancer Mini 2 diamond DMDs that you heard at Kegworth, I'm glad they helped you in your choice of speaker. I absolutely love them, but must admit I really would like to hear a pair of the big boys, the BE20s particularly as my mini2s are supposed to be voiced similarly.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

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    Nice

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lurch View Post
    Hi Lawrence.
    It was my Dancer Mini 2 diamond DMDs that you heard at Kegworth, I'm glad they helped you in your choice of speaker. I absolutely love them, but must admit I really would like to hear a pair of the big boys, the BE20s particularly as my mini2s are supposed to be voiced similarly.
    Hi John I hope you didn't take offence from my comment, there are so many factors like room effect, valves vs solid state, source etc, that's before we come to personal taste. If you thought your room was sounding just right, then it was definitely the taste thing, possibly metal dome vs silk, I also read mine are voiced a little more forward than the Dancers. On top of all that I've recently started shifting my preference back towards solid state after a few years preferring valves as well. Did you have your Mastersound amp driving the Ushers? It's quite possible the speakers, when the rest of the system is tuned to my taste, may have been perfect for me! Anyway I've saved myself a few bob and I'm more than happy with the sound, just sitting back listening to Diana Krall, Only Trust Your Heart CD as I type

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Also, I've just noticed you bought the pair I was thinking about over a year ago!

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: Sunny Portsmouth

    Posts: 9,165
    I'm TheMostHonestPersonYouWillMeet.

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    They look lovely Lawrence... look a little like Sonus Fabers
    Bev


    Mark Levinson N°390s CD Through:Atlas Elektra XLR's To: Mark Levinson N°383 To: Magneplanar .7's

  9. #9
    Join Date: Sep 2017

    Location: Chichester, West Sussex UK

    Posts: 368
    I'm John.

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    Yes I had my MasterSound Pre in the chain followed by the IA MB845SE Monoblocs

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ninanina View Post
    They look lovely Lawrence... look a little like Sonus Fabers
    Yes Usher were blatant copiers of style, I'm not sure about the drive units, but they're all made in house anyway.

    Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

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