USHER Dancer Mini One Diamond

MJ24.09.2009

Floorstanding loudspeakers

Grieg’s Peer Gynt orchestral suite opens with a magic and moody flute that lures a listener into an early morning landscape. The soothing sound is supported by velvety strings that are joint by the rest of the orchestra with tour de force to make a wonderful contrast with the fragile intro. Try to listen to the first movement of Peer Gynt through the Ushers and you will agree that they are very mature speakers.

Function and form

90%
Ease of use
54%
Sound
90%
Appearance

The Usher’s Dancer series have been renowned for the 9980-20BeA 1“ beryllium dome tweeter. This extremely airy, detailed and sweet sounding unit have become a serious contender for top class drivers of JMLab Focal, Revel or even Dynaudio. Now the beryllium tweeter has been discontinued in production in favor of a new Diamond DMD driver.

In the past we have tested Usher’s BE-718 stand-mounted speakers and Dancer Mini One and BE-10 floorstanders. Any of these speakers showed a great price-to-performance ratio and have become a top ranking item on a potential buyer’s shopping list. All of them utilized beryllium tweeters that significantly contributed to their sound to be... just great. Have they really needed to be modified?

The new diamond dome is basically a layered structure: a shaped metal sheet is covered from both sides by a modified DLC carbon layer with chemical properties of diamond (you should know that diamonds are carbon modifications, shouldn’t you?). The diamond-metal-diamond sandwich is said to have excellent antiresonant properties, efficiency and speed.

Bass management

Weight
58
Slam
61
Articulation
52

The popular moment of Peer Gynt trying to escape from the mountain king’s cave is a monumental orchestral climax underlined by an excellent bass fundament making you hold your breath. I wish you could hear this with me as well as I wish the bass were a bit faster and more resolved. However, it is a minor quibble considering the price of the Ushers - they may easily challenge much pricier models.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail
82
Air
68
Transparency
62

Though we may discuss the performance of the Usher (Dancer Mini One) below 2kHz and put it to a question, there is no point in discussing what happens in highs. The Usher’s tweeter is a champion that readily reveals the tinniest details and nuancees. Listen, for instance, to the excellent Percussion Fantasia CD (First Impression Music); the CD features both popular and less known classics played by an orchestra of percussionists and provides ample studying material for those who are convinced that ´percussions´are just drums, cymbals and triangles. Once you taste the multilayered world of rattles, kettles, chimes and hammered strings you will learn that you need the tweeter from Usher to be able to savor it. Every delicate detail of Carmen Fantasy is precised and polished and conveyed to a listener with both authority and fragile textures. Metal sounds like metal, wood sounds like wood and emotions erupt when a big drum enters the score at around 6´00.
When I rave about the hyper-resolving tweeter I mean grace, charm, seamless integration and sweet presentation at the same time. The tad of the sweetness reminds me of Dynaudio´s silk domes. The combination of all these elements results in a very listenable pair of speakers that show no hint of sterility or exaggerated brilliance.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre
50
Dynamics
62
Temporal resolution
36

The DMD tweeter spits fast and well timed transients and percussive attacks show fine dynamic contrasts. I had a sense of transients to be slightly rounded, a bit more than they should. The sound of canvas mimicking blowing wind in The March to the Scaffolds (4´45 mark) is not an easy sound to reproduce, however, the Dancer Mini Ones DMD brought its textures alive. Yet again, I had the sense of enhanced softness as if I was sitting in an acoustically overdamped room.

Spatial resolution

Holography
64
Soundstage width
57
Soundstage depth
62

Sade only reconfirms the qualities of the Ushers (Love Deluxe). The smooth voice of Sade had the timbral accuracy including that slight veiling which lends erotic tension into Sade’s singing. The DMD driver definitely outperforms the previous model's beryllium here: though the beryllium provides more open and precise sound, the DMD is more natural and uses richer and truer colors to render the voice. With Sade I verified my former observations: should you are comfortable with the hint of oversmoothness (that may be corrected by a good choice of cables or amplifier), the Diamond DMD version is more sophisticated, refined and relaxed. If you are looking for a straightforward spark and energy, then it is OK to stay with beryllium.

Price as reviewed:85 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

Horizon Trading Prague, Praha, +420 222 715 959

PP HiFi Studio, Otrokovice, tel. +420 603 581 305

SK: Nisel SK, Bratislava, tel. +421 905 203 078

Associated components

  • Sources:  BMC AUDIO BD CD1 + DAC1, NAD M3 Masters
  • Amplifiers: NAD M5 Masters, Luxman L-550A II, McIntosh MC501 and BMC AMP C1
  • Interconnects and speaker cables: Rapport, Audioquest Gibraltar, WSS, Oehlbach Crystal Silver Star

Gallery

ACOUSTIQUE QUALITY AQ Passion

Acoustique Quality has been around since early 90’s. The company’s loudspeakers were always close to what can be characterized a good value for money, with a bit of pre-2000 vibe. Speaker by speaker the guys in Acoustique Quality ...

Recommended resellers

AQ s.r.o., Červenka, tel. +420 585 342 232

Sound
80%

ANTE Supersonic One

The Supersonics were visually inspired by Lamborghini Countach racer. The functional elegance of the Lamborghini does not come at budget costs and neither the Ante does. The price tag of €160,000 keeps the Supersonics in the company ...

Recommended resellers

Media Control, Bratislava, SK, +421 905 613 928

Sound
84%

AQ Canto 5

An experience that moves your soul. This is how Czech loudspeaker manufacturer presents the brand-new Canto range. For the company, the Canto is a milestone, so important that they decided to dedicate a special website to it. The ...

Recommended resellers

AQ s.r.o., Červenka, tel. +420 585 342 232

Sound
54%

AUDIO PHYSIC Avantera

The Audio Physic’s HHCM midrange drivers are fantastic. The realism of both male and female vocals through the Avanteras is nothing short of magic. The Avanteras skillfully blend a cocktail full of colors, sonority, textures, ...

Recommended resellers

CZ: High-End Audio Studio, Praha, tel. +420 224 256 844

SK: Platan Audio, Hlohovec / Bratislava, tel. +421 905 409 802

Sound
64%

AUDIO PHYSIC Cardeas Plus+

Audio Physic's original Cardeas was like an album of a respected band that was recorded just because  it had to be recorded due to a contract. Not like the album that was recorded because the band wanted to. I sighed with relief that ...

Recommended resellers

CZ: High-End Audio Studio, Praha, tel. +420 224 256 844

SK: Platan Audio, Hlohovec / Bratislava, tel. +421 905 409 802

Sound
81%

AURUM CANTUS V6F

The Aurum Cantus V6Fs have the ability to dissapear from your ear-view - they move an orchestra to your living room instead and let you bathe in an expanding and transparent soundstage. After listening to the V6Fs you'll find ...

Recommended resellers

Hifi studio MeLissa, Brno, tel. +420 777 04 1313

Sound
55%

AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC Uno Fino

Should your priority is to blend the speakers with your interior and make them visually disappear, the Avantgarde Acoustic Uno Fino is not for you. I am not in favor of color lacquers on speakers and prefer natural veneers where ...

Recommended resellers

HI-FI studio TYKON, Ostrava, tel. +420 723 449 894

Sound
60%
Back to category