Description
Up for auction is an audiophile Usher Audio Compass X-718 in excellent condition. Please look at all pictures carefully regarding light hairline scratches and two light scratches on the wood. Please compare the speakers to the following speakers such as B&W, Anthony Gallo, Sonus Faber, Wharfedale, Description: Usher’s X series, of which the X-718 is part, is the second from the top, just under the flagship Dancer series. The X series comprises three bookshelf models, a center-channel, and a floorstander. The X-718 is a two-way bookshelf measuring 15.4H x 10W x 16D, weighing 30 pounds, and costing $1300 USD per pair. The speaker’s considerable weight owes itself in no small part to the 1.5-thick (!) MDF panels and solid-wood construction, which, combined with extensive internal bracing, makes for one of the least resonant cabinets I’ve ever rapped a knuckle on. Each of the five available finishes -- piano black, ivory, or silver; Gallardo yellow; and Enzo red -- is made using six coats of lacquer. The hand-rubbed wood side panels tone down the high luster of the cabinet a bit, to give the speaker a softer look. The review pair came finished in piano ivory, and I was surprised when I saw and held them for the first time. The styling is striking; the wood panels and sloped front and rear baffles give the X-718 a dramatic flair. And its substantial weight seemed a good sign; most of the heavy, well-braced speakers I’ve auditioned have had solid, well-damped sound. The X-718 boasts a wide rated frequency response for a bookshelf design: 42Hz-28kHz, +/-3dB. The high frequencies are reproduced by a 1 silk-dome tweeter fronting a chamber with a vented pole piece said to reduce internal resonances and thus allow the tweeter to play to lower frequencies, thereby making a smoother transition between it and the midrange/woofer at the crossover point, which is about 2kHz. The mid and low frequencies are reproduced by a 7 paper-cone midrange/woofer driver. This has a copper ring and a large aluminum phase plug that Usher claims improve its linearity. The magnet and suspension systems of all X-series woofers also employ Usher’s patented Symme-Motion technology, which is claimed to result in precise symmetry in the forward and rearward movement. In other words, each time the driver moves out, it then moves backward in a perfectly symmetrical motion. Furthermore, the slope of the X-718’s front baffle is said to improve the phase alignment of the drivers and to reduce internal resonances (presumably because of the fewer standing waves produced inside an asymmetrical enclosure). The X-718’s nominal impedance is rated at 8 ohms, its sensitivity at a moderate 86dB/W/m. The speaker has dual binding posts, should you wish to biwire them. Overall, the X-718s weren’t hard to drive, but I found myself turning up the volume knob of my integrated amplifier a little more than I usually do to get them to play at a level I found suitable.
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