I picked these up for $300 with stands in the local market place. For the piano black finish, I saw a pair for about $700 with shipping and tax on ebay, and these came with stands too which I will sell for $100 to get my total price down to $200 which is not too shabby.
Being an audiophile for about 10 years, I have heard not all, but many good speakers and many British ones that I also own, and the mid-range is just beautiful with not excessive, but good tight Bass! It can use a good sub-woofer to help fill the low end, but please use a good one, made for music, mine is a EPOS ELS Subwoofer and they pair magically good!
I was and am still impressed, this will stay in my collection!
The Usher S-520 was co-designed by Dr. Joseph D’Appolito (USA) and founder Tsai Lien-Shui (Taiwan). The model was directly inspired by classic British mini-monitors, with the build and voicing modeled after the famous BBC LS3/5A and Celestion 3—renowned UK speakers known for their compact form factor and musical accuracy.
Design and Modeling Inspiration
- The S-520 is explicitly a homage to British studio and consumer monitors, specifically the LS3/5A and small Celestion and Epos speakers.
- Its sound signature—lush mids, precise imaging, and compact, rigid cabinet—draws from British engineering ideals: neutrality and musicality over exaggerated bass.
- The proprietary “Symme-Motion” driver design (with careful attention to suspension and magnetic symmetry) was developed specifically for this monitor by Usher, not copied from a particular UK driver, though the sound target is the British mini-monitor tradition.
Drivers
- Uses an in-house Usher-designed 5″ polypropylene woofer and a 1″ silk-dome tweeter made in Taiwan but tailored by D’Appolito for the S-520.
- The crossover was also tuned to British standards for phase and tonal accuracy.
- These designs were not licensed from British companies but come from Usher’s own manufacturing, aiming to replicate the appeal of iconic UK monitors for a wider audience.
British Speaker References
- Directly compared to and modeled after the Celestion 3 and BBC LS3/5A in reviews and technical discussion.
- Several reviewers and designers note the “British sound” of the S-520—focused, revealing, and musical.