Usher S-520 amp

I use the Ushers with a Music Hall Mambo integrated amp in my home office system. It doesn't sound bright to me. The sound is very nice for a sub-$1000 system.

Before the Mambo, I used an old Kenwood receiver and it lacked detail and dimensionality.

Michael

Hi,

Bel Canto Design webpage under Products>Integrated Amplifiers have a photo of Usher S-520 with their integrated amp. Assuming BC used these fine speakers to audition their amps in the past. You may try auditioning the C5i integrated amp/dac or the new C7r.

I currently own the C5i and am enjoying it very much. The quality is superb, compact and cool running amp. Very musically involving, sounds warm with no digital harshness. Easy to use. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Usher S520's are not a particularly bright sounding speaker IMO. My suggestion is that your issue lies elsewhere. I'm currently driving mine with a Yarland 40 watt valve amp and they sound amazingly good given their price level.

Using mine with a Sound Quest SQ-84v2 15wpc 6v6 tube amp. Not bright at all.
Also use a Jungson JA-88D at 80wpc with no brightness. I use two different speaker cables, one set is all copper and the other is copper clad with silver. The copper is straight up smooth and the silver clad copper has a slight upward tilt compared to the all copper but is by no means bright.

Is your room reflective?
Are they at the right height?
Toe in or straight ahead?

Just these three things can ruin the baby Ushers and all are free to modify or test. I found that just a slight degree of toe in while spread at 7 ft. worked best for me. Someone who reviews and measures gear stated that the S520 measured better slightly off axis.
Quote below.
"Fig.4 shows that when the S-520's output is averaged across a 30° horizontal angle centered on the tweeter axis, this shelf evens out to give an impressively flat treble for an inexpensive model. "