Usher Audio's S-520

I bought a pair last year with the intention of using them in my office at work. After bringing them home and setting them up in my second system to break in, I was so impressed that I decided to keep them at home.

I can't say I did much comparison with other speakers in the price range, but I think their build and sound are excellent.

Mf2, Same thing happened with me and the S-520s. I really wasn't expecting much, maybe a good bedroom speaker. Imagine my surprise when they sounded better than all the other bookself monitor type speakers in my possession, including some much more expensive units? geoh

I bought a pair of the 520's for my sons first system about 1 1/2 years ago. It is paired with a Sharp EX-SD111 AM/FM/CE all in one unit.

If you want to take them to the next level, Bill Baker of Response Audio provides a relatively inexpensive upgrade and transforms the speaker into simply the best monitor under $1K. Link: http://www.responseaudio.com/ultimate%20usher.htm.

Enjoy!

Well I'm still a happy S-520 owner but there's a new gun in town. I recently picked up a pair of NHT's SB3 for comparsions sake. A/B against each other..... the NHT's have come out of top! While the S-520's have a nice revealing mid-range and treble presentation, the SB3's have those frequencies covered and add a deeper, fuller, richer bass presentation. The S-520's acutally sound small by comparsion, which of course their woofer is considerably smaller than that of the SB3's. The S-520s are more efficent than the SB3s, and are a ported design with little to no port noise, but the NHTs sound is bigger, smoother and more dynamic.
So the new king of affordable small bookselves, for me at least, is the NHT SB3!

Geoh, I'm happy to read your favorable impressions of the NHT SB3. I've been a satisfied NHT SB3 owner for 2 years now. I haven't had the chance to compare them with many other speakers, so I hesitate to proclaim them "The best I've ever heard!", because that wouldn't mean much, but I am very impressed with their sound. I was disappointed when Stereophile rated them Class D after their very positive review (Novemeber 2002), but I see the latest Stereophile issue (April 2005) bumps them up to Class C. I don't place too much emphasis on such lists, but I do think the SB3 tends to get overlooked by many. I'd be curious to know how you think the SB3 stacks up against any other speakers you audition.

Best regards,
Todd