The BE-10 was designed by Usher's Tsai Lien-Shui. Dr. Joseph D'Appolito serves as Usher's technical consultant, providing guidance in crossover design. (D'Appolito created the popular midrange/tweeter/midrange vertical array now used by dozens of manufacturers, and he is now head of engineering for Snell Acoustics.) Rigorous quality control procedures ensure individual drivers and stereo pairs of speakers are matched to exceedingly close tolerances. The BE-10's precise sound attests to that fact.

The BE-10's front baffle cradles a 1.25-inch beryllium tweeter, a 5-inch beryllium dome midrange, and an 11-inch woofer. (Click image to enlarge)

Audiophiles with a hankering for plus-size beauties will probably get a little weak in the knees at their first encounter with the curvaceously shapely BE-10. The 4-foot-tall speaker is weighty enough to require a team of two people to unpack, and besides, you won't want to accidentally mar the speakers' exquisitely crafted birch or walnut veneers. Maybe it's just me, but I think the 8.5-by-3-inch brushed metal nameplate, mounted on the lower edge of the gleaming black front baffle, seems out of place. The plaque is a nice enough hunk of metal, but methinks it belongs on the rear panel or hidden behind a grille. Unfortunately, Usher doesn't supply a grille with the BE-10; the drivers and the metal plate are exposed for all to see.

I move the speakers to and fro, and learn that repositioning by even a fraction of an inch makes an audible difference in their stereo imaging. Bass oomph is best with the BE-10s slightly closer together than most speakers in my room (just a bit under 7 feet apart is ideal). They also need to be placed 2 or more feet away from the wall behind them before the sound totally locks in. Your dealer/installer will probably need a little time to get the sound just right, but the BE-10s deserve the extra coddling.

Audiophile speakers supposedly reveal everything about the quality of the components and the wires used in the system. To test this theory, I swap out my Tributaries Silver wires for my Cardas Golden Reference cables and the differences are not subtle (the Tribs make the BE-10s sound too lean, the Cardas are just right). Next I replace my trusty Ayre C-5xe universal disc player with the new Nagra CDC CD player, and oh boy, the BE-10 instantly communicates the differences between the two fine players (the Nagra's bass is firmer, and soundstage depth is extended a few feet in every direction). The speaker's vivid character can be a little unrelenting on some recordings, so I find myself playing mostly my best-sounding music.

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