Usher Subwoofer

[Eunice Beady]

I have a pair of JPW Ruby's which are a step up on 520's (having had both) but I'm in Sydney and have no boxes to ship. Also, have a pair of Legend Kurres. Both sitting unused and both would be a step up.

As for the Ushers, it's not that I don't enjoy them it's just that I feel they might be the weak link, I have spent around $1k or more on all other components, turntable, amp etc and only $300 and am wondering if upgrading my speakers to something around the $1k mark would make it a more well rounded system.

I got into this hobby without knowing anything at all, just googled some well regarded components and purchased them. Since then I have been slowly educating myself. Obviously if I could do it all again I would do it differently, but alas here I am trying to see how best upgrade my system on a budget.

Knowing what I do abt what you have, you may wish for some deeper bass. The clarity on them is pretty decent and bang for buck you have a nice set of speakers. The ones I upgraded to after usher 520's were the JPW Ruby's and they have a bigger and warmer sound. They are of course a slightly larger enclosure.

Hard to describe with a lack of knowing the right words to use, but I've heard some high end systems and the biggest difference I could notice is that I could hear each instrument more clearly, as if the separation (soundstage?) was much better. Which really allowed me to immerse myself in the music.

I've worked with the same midwoofer that ascencion speakers use, they are excellent in every way. I have not heard the ribbon, but from friends that heard the AXIS speakers (prob use the same ribbon tweeter) seems all but praised.

If you're in Melbourne, Audio Trends have plenty of Australian brand of bookshelf such as Richter and Sub Sonic which were designed by Brad Serhan. I've heard both at their store, i think they are pretty good [emoji4].

Unfortunately it will not fit my current setup, I am limited for space and hence my home theater speakers and music speakers share the same footprint with my music bookshelves sitting (on stands) just above some medium sized floor standers.

My thoughts on the usher is they have their house sound, I've had the BE718 and the 520 the sound profile is very similar they have a recessed midrange which pushes vocals more back in the mix it is not veiled but certainly it can be hard to follow instruments and vocals with lots of midrange info. Their bottom end is a little slow but this adds a weight making them sound bigger then they are. top end is very smooth and non fratiguing again slightly on the recessed side so it appears as lack detail but it is actually there just doesn't throw it in your face. 520 got to 80% of the BE718 at 20% of the price so i was impressed with them, build quality also very good for $200.

The LS50 were very different, very upfront in the midrange and top end has more energy. I found them a more engaging listen with very good pace they seemed to add more rhythm. i would have happily kept them but their volume is limited due to small driver size and i would also recommend a small sub to fill in the lowest notes. will need a decent set of stands as well. What this speaker does exceptional well is image. listening to eric clapton unplugged on these and you can position every string on his acoustic with oodles of detail, put them up against the PMC22 and preferred the LS50 hence bought them. If you were putting together a 5.1 system in a small to mid room these are phenomenal

That said I've also had to order a better amp to drive the LS50's. I think my Virtue Audio tripath amp is holding the LS50's back a bit. I opted for the mINT Wyred 4 Sound amp, I can't wait for it to arrive and to listen to this pairing.

I'm thinking about posting up a review of the LS50's with my comments / thoughts on using them in a near field situation versus the more common stand mount / living room set-up. I'll get to witting it up over my Christmas break.

try dynaudio speaker. i find they are better sounding than the usher 520. but the usher 520 sound damn good too if you pair it with subwoofer. i think your weaker link maybe your kenwood amp, not the speaker. i few bad review on this amp. i had kenwood amps before, didn't like it myself. but these are just my humble opinion.

have you made a purchase yet? I bought some Usher s520's recently as rear speakers, and as a bit of fun, hooked them up to the front rig (see sig for system details). I was really gobsmacked at what these little speakers can do. Given my main speakers retailed for $18k when they were new, my first bet would be following other's suggestions and trying source and amp upgrades.

I have, purchased the Osborn Eos that were on here, very happy with the purchase. I don't doubt I was under-powering the Ushers, but the Eos have given me a much fuller sound, almost as if I was using floor standers, with a significant bass improvement.

glad that you're sorted. The EOS are rated to 45hz from memory - as opposed to the Usher's 50hz. I have a small room - so maybe that's why I thought that the Ushers were just fine. I'm used to listening to speakers that are rated to 31hz (they're lower than that when taking into account my room mode) - and the Ushers bass performance was still incredible. Feel free to come over for a listen one day to hear how good the Ushers can really sound (bring the Eos too if you like!).

I may actually take you up on that offer! For now I think it might actually be time to upgrade to a nicer amp. With a lot a vinyl listening I feel like I may benefit from a nice midrange Sansui or similar. Might chuck up a WTB and see what people have on offer. Happy to hear any sub $900 recommendations if you have any?

StereoNET (Australia) is part of an international network of publications owned wholly by Sound Media Group (Australia). Our publication is supported by its audience. By clicking links on our site, we may earn affiliate commission, but our editorial remains entirely independent and unbiased.

I’ve always loved the Celestion 3s’ effortless reproduction of everything but really hard rock, but the Usher S-520s beat them. The crossover from the mid-woofer to the tweeter was seamless -- each S-520 provided a near "point source," and the overall sound was extremely sonorous and of a piece. The S-520 also had slightly greater bass extension than the Celestion 3: when I compared the two without the subwoofer, the Ushers always gave more bass response. But in another regard, the Celestion and Usher were very close: the overall reproduction of each was quite smooth.

Especially in this period of the Corona when working from home and sitting for quite a few hours in front of a computer, we want to indulge ourselves with a speaker that on the one hand will not be too big and on the other hand will provide quality audio as it should. Because most of the USHER products I know are products with a very high line. And suddenly their product is NIS 2600? It intrigued me.

The 5 inch woofer is transparent, which is really, really beautiful. There is no doubt that USHER knows how to make speakers :). Sometimes it seems strange to me. How at such a price did they put such parts. The driver is protected by the speaker. The screws that hold the tweeter and the subwoofer are made of metal as it should be.

3a8082e126