Which of these is the best floorstander?

[madhurshankar]

Hi All,
Heard Usher BE-718 at ARN Systems. Man, it has got everything you want. High's were sweet. Mid and bottom end seem to be very very good. Especially bottom end can even beat some floor standers. Bottom end is very very tight. Sound stage was wider. And i'll recommend these for a medium or large size room. And must mention that Sridhar is a very nice person. He was very patient and ready to answer my queries.
Now how does it compare with dyns. Both had solid bottom end. Mids sounded good in Usher when compared to Dyns. Usher hi's can be love at first hear. But gradually we'll find that they are somewhat metallic. To me i liked the sound of dyns and i feel they are the best:clapping:. Overall Dyns reveal much more natural sound. While Usher has a bit of exaggeration in the overall sound. After hearing Dyns i started to love natural sound. My vote is for Dyns:yahoo:.

 

[neo]

I still think you should give the PMC & Theil's an audition. Theils you get a listen in chennai it self but for PMC you'll have to take a trip to b'bay.
Cheers

 

[madhurshankar]

I still think you should give the PMC & Theil's an audition. Theils you get a listen in chennai it self but for PMC you'll have to take a trip to b'bay.
Cheers

Neo,
Sure. I haven't finalised anything but just summarised Usher vs Dynaudio. I'll listen to Thiels and let you all know how it compares with others. Thanks man.

 

[odyssey]

Hi
Did you have the occasion to hear Ushers side by side with Dyns or with the same equipment? What equipment was used on the Dyns?
you may also be able to hear the Ushers in a enthusiast's place in Chennai with a completely different set of electronics if you are interested - just for the different experience

cheers

 

[madhurshankar]

Hi
Did you have the occasion to hear Ushers side by side with Dyns or with the same equipment? What equipment was used on the Dyns?
you may also be able to hear the Ushers in a enthusiast's place in Chennai with a completely different set of electronics if you are interested - just for the different experience

cheers

Sridhar,
Sorry i havent heard them side by side. BTW Dyns were powered by Primare Integrated amp not sure abt the model. Sure, i'm ready to try Ushers in chennai. Thank you.

 

[odyssey]

Hi
I can ping the person in Chennai who has it and let you know if he is ok with you coming over and you folks can take it from there. The reason I asked this question is that you didnt hear the speakers alone - you almost never do, you heard the entire system along with the room and music you didnt bring (and were probably not familiar with), while you can to some extent judge the system as a whole in that room, you cannot judge just the speaker as you havent heard any of these components before....so hearing it in another setup will give it a different perspective, better or worse is up to you to judge

cheers

 

[madhurshankar]

Hi
I can ping the person in Chennai who has it and let you know if he is ok with you coming over and you folks can take it from there. The reason I asked this question is that you didnt hear the speakers alone - you almost never do, you heard the entire system along with the room and music you didnt bring (and were probably not familiar with), while you can to some extent judge the system as a whole in that room, you cannot judge just the speaker as you havent heard any of these components before....so hearing it in another setup will give it a different perspective, better or worse is up to you to judge

cheers

You're absolutely right. I haven't carried my own disc. So it's quite possible that i might have made a mistake. BTW thanks for your arrangement.

Madhur

 

[neo]

Hey! Madhur which dyna's were you comparing to the usher???

 

[madhurshankar]

Hey! Madhur which dyna's were you comparing to the usher???

Buddy,
It's Audience 72.

Madhur

 

[reignofchaos]

Buddy,
It's Audience 72.

Madhur

There are quite a few folks on this board who dumped audience 72s for the be-718. I've compared the dyn contour 1.3se and be-718 side by side with same electronics - symphonic line, acoustic portrait and reimyo with a vrds transport - The former had more bass impact and a more distinct and better mid range. The usher was more laid back but at the same time had way more treble detail and amazing presence. The dyn sounded boxy in comparison. In the usher, imaging was better. the soundstage was wider and bass was tighter. There was no clear winner to be honest.

 

[neo]

Hey! Roc did you try to play with the placement of the 1.3se when you were comparing it with the dancers?? As i've heard the 1.3se almost disappear when placed correctly.

Also from madhur preference of the dyna 72 over the dancers may be indicates that he may not like a very detailed treble?? I guess madhur should give them both an extended listen with his music.
Cheers.

 

[madhurshankar]

There are quite a few folks on this board who dumped audience 72s for the be-718. I've compared the dyn contour 1.3se and be-718 side by side with same electronics - symphonic line, acoustic portrait and reimyo with a vrds transport - The former had more bass impact and a more distinct and better mid range. The usher was more laid back but at the same time had way more treble detail and amazing presence. The dyn sounded boxy in comparison. In the usher, imaging was better. the soundstage was wider and bass was tighter. There was no clear winner to be honest.

Same is the case for me. Both of them outperformed but comparatively dyns were natural atleast to my ears. That was the reason i opted for Dynas. Anyways i can't go wrong with either of these. BTW how is contour and audience is compared? Is there a dramatic difference?. Thanks for your post.:clapping:

 

[madhurshankar]

Hey! Roc did you try to play with the placement of the 1.3se when you were comparing it with the dancers?? As i've heard the 1.3se almost disappear when placed correctly.

Also from madhur preference of the dyna 72 over the dancers may be indicates that he may not like a very detailed treble?? I guess madhur should give them both an extended listen with his music.
Cheers.

Neo,
You're right too much detail causes an illusion that they sound unnatural. I won't say Usher's hi's are unnatural. But comparatively dyna sounded very natural. It doesn't mean i don't like Usher. I like them both but dyna's are one step ahead for my music preference. I can live with either of these. Thanks buddy.

 

[thevortex]

Same is the case for me. Both of them outperformed but comparatively dyns were natural atleast to my ears. That was the reason i opted for Dynas. Anyways i can't go wrong with either of these. BTW how is contour and audience is compared? Is there a dramatic difference?. Thanks for your post.:clapping:

I have heard the Contour bookshelf only once but that was enough to tell me that this was a speaker of a different class. No comparisons with the Audience - 52 or 72.

I dont know if many people (read 'any people') would think of the Contour as a bookshelf in a blindfolded test. It has presence and punch - without sacrificing detail or litheness. It gave a real fight to the Focal Electra floorstanders! And that is saying something.

 

[madhurshankar]

I have heard the Contour bookshelf only once but that was enough to tell me that this was a speaker of a different class. No comparisons with the Audience - 52 or 72.

I dont know if many people (read 'any people') would think of the Contour as a bookshelf in a blindfolded test. It has presence and punch - without sacrificing detail or litheness. It gave a real fight to the Focal Electra floorstanders! And that is saying something.

How much does contour costs?

 

[thevortex]

How much does contour costs?

I dont quite remember, Madhurshankar. If I remember right it was somewhere near a lakh of rupees.

 

[neo]

AFAIK the S 1.4 is arnd 2L
Cheers

 

[reignofchaos]

Hey! Roc did you try to play with the placement of the 1.3se when you were comparing it with the dancers?? As i've heard the 1.3se almost disappear when placed correctly.

Also from madhur preference of the dyna 72 over the dancers may be indicates that he may not like a very detailed treble?? I guess madhur should give them both an extended listen with his music.
Cheers.

Well the owner of the contours had tried all possible configurations and placements in the room over the course of a year and the position we heard them were what he considered as optimal. This setup is extremely well tweaked. I somehow felt the usher imaged better. However as I mentioned - the contours had better midrange where the ushers lacked. It was more balanced sounding too and produced insane amount of bass (though a tad overemphasised) for its size.

Also the 1.3SE is a much better speaker than the s1.4.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi
Contour 1.3 SE is better than the new S1.4 IMO. I had the SE for a while but it never really lived up to its potential as it was let down by poor electronics at the time. I dont think an audience will come close to these speakers.
Neo is right the new contour BS is almost 2L.
Problem with the contours is that there is tremendous bass which is difficult to control (too much of a good thing is also bad!!!) and one ends up spending huge amounts on amplification.
Recently a friend was raving about the Focus 140. When we all went together for an audition the speaker was driven by electronics costing about 50L!!!!! Not a real world pairing for sure.
From whatever i gather from friends who have heard the ushers the 718 is a good speaker in all aspects.
Rgds

 

[heliumflight]

Hi
electronics costing about 50L!!!!! Not a real world pairing for sure.

Whewww.