MBL 101 Speakers.. anyone heard 'em?

corwin99 · « **on:** 7 Mar 2005, 10:40 pm »

Just wondering if anyone's ever heard these? I was reading about them and they are just about the weirdest looking speakers i have ever seen.

http://www.mbl-germany.de/Reference_html/101_e.html

-neL

suits_me · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Mar 2005, 02:29 am »

Only at the S'phile Show in NYC, so I can't tell you much that is reliable.

They do work despite appearances (!), they eat power, they're hugely expensive and according to the review of one model at stereophile.com the fancy metal mesh hat messes things up.

Now, they're not junk. You would have to like the omni idea as a concept, which to me means having a relatively large and well treated room. They also are not shy below about 120 hz, so you'd have to like that.

I would never buy them if I were looking for just one pair of speakers in that price range unless on the basis of looks. But they can be fairly magical at times in spite of everything I've said.

I'll be curious to hear others' impressions.

corwin99 · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Mar 2005, 06:25 pm »

Wow i had no idea they were that expensive until i just looked at the pricelist. I missed it the first time around

beemer · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 12:35 am »

I have a friend who has an earlier pair of MBL 101c.

Souund much like a planar, spooky holographic soundstage that may or may not be to your liking. He drives them with a pair of big Conrad-Johnson tube monoblocks. They do like power.

To me they sound a bit cold even with all the tubes he's got in front.
I like a warmer, more music-friendly sound.

Best,

Paul

speaker · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 12:58 am »

Quote from: beemer

Souund much like a planar, spooky holographic soundstage that may or may not be to your liking.

How about a soundstage that you can get up, walk around and go behind instruments in? That was my impression the first time I heard them. Holographic is not hyperbolic rhetoric in this case. (Wow, 3 "ic" suffixes in the same sentence!)

speaker

Val · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 Mar 2005, 05:52 pm »

Agree with much of what has been said about the MBLs except for the planar-like sound, very different to my ears. Omnis give a unique combination of point source plus enveloping soundstage reproduction which I like very much. Another example is the German Physiks/Huff sound. To each his own, but I have never liked big planars.

Val

ekovalsky · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Mar 2005, 07:53 pm »

I heard them at the 2004 CES. They were fantastic, in both appearance and sound quality.

ekovalsky · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Mar 2005, 06:21 am »

Well strangely enough, it turns out the mbl distributor for the USA is practically a neighbor of mine!

With any luck he'll bring over a pair of 101E to try out in my room. I hadn't considered omni's before, but my room may actually be a good match for them since it is perfectly symmetrical and there are lots of absorption panels on the front and side walls, and all the walls are covered with thick fabric (not unlike the room at CES 2004). Also its not too big which is a good thing since these speakers are quite inefficient (82 dB per watt @ 1M).

If and when I get to hear them in my room I will report back.