Price Paid:  $350.00 from Authorized Dealer

Summary:
Honestly, I bought this new based on the glowing reviews and found that it may not be up to my taste. The S-520 certainly has strong positives such as realistic imaging and clarity especially with solo instruments, but the brass needs more sparkle to sound realistic. The vocal also sound a bit thin unless it is paired with a real full sounding set of equipments. So it's a very focused speaker that can do most things at an acceptable level but to be as good as what the reviews said you need to pair these with some serious high end equipments and even then they'll sound excellent with certain types of music only. In the end you'll end up with a much more expensive amp and player than the speakers themselves. If I had to go back, I'd go straight to the PSB Alpha B1 that's much more flexible and has way better midrange. Though the highs on the Usher seems a bit more transparent.

Strengths:
Realistic imaging of instruments and vocals if positioned correctly with the right equipments. Unmatched cabinet and built quality at the price.

Weaknesses:
Vocals sound thin at the upper midrange. Inefficient means need a real powerful amp. Not good with bright equipments. Highs need more sparkle. Bass isn't deep nor tight enough.

Similar Products Used:
Pretty much all bookshelves from well known manufacturers.

Price Paid:  $335.00 from EBAY FROM USHER USA

Summary:
I bought these speakers off ebay more less for something to do. I have a pair of B&W cdm2 speakers I like. along with a pair energy 2.1e speakers I use sometimes just for something different to listen to. I mostly use the speakers for mixing and listening to mastered tracks that I recrcord with my home studio set up.

I had noticed on one of my tracks I had pro masterd on my brothers system who runs a denon receiver into some paradigm mini monitors V2 that there was just way to much high level background noise. I could here it at home on my B&W speakers that I run with a conrad johnson mf2250 but it never seemed that bad to care.

So, I set out to try and re eq the track myself to lower the treb and not loose the right amout of detail, esay, right ,well not really and it;s even harder when your speakers don't resolve to that level in a way that gives you the right idea of what you need to do.

So listening to my B&Ws I strained my ears to hear what I hear on my bros
paradimgs. after a few ab compairisons a realized the B&W speakers had all the detail and even a bit more but not much it was just more laid back and did not make some of the high level background noise less apparent but just more in the background like is should be.

I bought the ushers because I wanted to see what they had to offer and well I would have to say they don't really stack up to a pair of Paradigm mini monitors at all when it comes to ambiant sound actually they are almost void of it. witch leads me to think that they are almost worthless as a real honest monitor speaker. don't get me wrong they sound great but they are not honest.

I don't know what else to say about these speakes execpt that way back in the day when I just wanted pair of speakers the would make my cds sound good and would not get too bright and beaming a pair of these ushers would have been a god send big time.

However, things have changed for me and I need more than some smooth sounding speakers.

I would call the usher S-520 a stereo speaker made for home audio not monitoring.
I would also recomend them to anyone who wanted their music to sound good all the time and was not in need of objectivity for it's own sake.

I'm actually going to build a system around the ushers for just playing music and movies loud, real loud.

Strengths:
good bass, smooth highs, compact, great build quality and these speakers are just a whole bunch of fun to jam out loud to.

Weaknesses:
lack of ambiant sound almost bad for classical music, It's as if these speakers are cut short from being able to capture a concert hall.

Similar Products Used:
sonus faber, b&w, canton, energy, paradigm, boston a., wharfadale, aad, kef, psb

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Dealer

Summary:
The speakers are one of the best sounding speakers in the price range of 400 dollars or less. Currently, they sell for 400 dollars so I have no idea why the reviewer above stated them as expensive. There are numerous brands in the audio world that cost twice as much and do not look or perform on par with the Usher S-520. First, they look fantastic in glass black but are available in red, yellow, white and light-oak. You will not find too many high gloss finish in the $400 range. I love the smaller size and the non obtrusive look. Also, they blend in well with my black Samsung LCD and black racks.

Now, to the sound. The sound is amazing for the size (they sound larger than they really are). Immediately you will notice the detail mids and highs. They are warmly revealing but never harsh compare to Klipsch. Like all bookshelves, bass cannot compare to full standing towers but these smaller monitors hold their own against larger rivals such as B&W 601/600 S3 and even the 602!

I highly recommend these pair to anyone looking for monitors in the $400 range. In fact, these are the best pair at 400 dollars.


Great deal. These are the ultimate 5-star value speakers.

Strengths:
-low price
-imaging
-larger soundstage than size of speakers indicate
-excellent looks/build
-revealing but not harsh

Weaknesses:
-not very many local dealers carry them

Similar Products Used:
-B&W 600/601/602 S3
-Energy Veritas 2.1
-Energy RC10
-Klipsch RB15
-Monitor Audio B2 Bronze
-Dynaudio 52
-B&W 685
-KEF iQ3

Price Paid:  $275.00 from Mike Manning Audio

Summary:
Firstly i must say that i am no expert.... For sum time now i had been searching on line mainly for suitable book shelf sized speakers. B&W DM601 -602, kef Q Tannoy and so on were looked at. Due to fear of buying blind i visited my local Hi Fi specialist who had the above S-520 set up in his back room. What a stunnig little speaker was my first thoughts, Super build finish and to top wow wht sound. He said he believed these were one of best finds he had in his time as a retailer...How ever he did let me hear other speakers and my hears truely were taken back each time to the S-520. B&W were great but had a bass which was to Boomy (muddy) and the Kefs had poor treble and and a unbalance feel. (Honest non audiophile verdict) after trying various cds with in the shop i was hooked. They were purchased and are now proudly shown off in my lounge. Even my partner agreed she felt these little Beuties had lovely warm sound. Very happy

Strengths:
Fantastic build, looks good, sounds great with little change to quality as volume rises Mine is finnished in Birch. super mid and treble even for my untrained hears. good choice for entry level monitor speakers

Weaknesses:
A little expensive and yes as previous reviewer stated they can lack a little bass on certain music. oh sub does help. (bass is still very honest all the same) shame more shops dont take on this little beauty of a speaker.

Similar Products Used:
B&W dm601-602 kef

Price Paid:  $190.00 from audiogon.com

Summary:
I feel i got a super deal on these speakers about a year ago to be used in my bedroom. For their size, their is a surprising amount of bass that is adequate in a small room. The birch finish in a cherry wood type color is superb. These weigh a sturdy 14 lbs. each and our constructed from 3/4" mdf. Excellent build quality for the price. They are a front-ported design so that near-wall placement is possible without bloated bass. Drivers are a .19 mm soft dome vifa tweeter and a 5.25" woof with rubber surrounds.

I have these set up approx. 8 inches from the back of speakers to the wall behind them. They are 5 ft. apart. I am running these with just mass market gear: an onkyo tx-930 receiver and yamaha cdc-901 cd player.

The sound is nice, with the balance being on the warm side of neutral. No listener fatigue with these. I feel between the rock, jazz, and blues music i listen to, jazz sounds the best. Rockers should look elsewhere. Some buyers may feel a sub is required for serious listening. They are speced to go down to 55 hz, and i think that is fairly accurate. Low bass notes can take on a loose, bloated quality at times when played loud, showing the limitation of a small 5.25" woofer.

I feel that these speakers are perfect in my situation, which is using them in a small room and played at low to moderate volumes. The shortcomings in bass response may possibly be minimized by using better components with these speakers than what i am using now. I may try upgrading myself to see if the usher's can sound even better. I will post a follow-up review if i do.

Strengths:
Excellent fit and finish.
Superb build quality.
Warm, smooth sound.
Good with jazz.
Front port allows near-wall position.

Weaknesses:
Not a speaker for rockers.
Lack of deep, tight bass.
May need to use a sub.

Similar Products Used:
a/d/s L310's