MBL 101E Mkll | AVguide

Jon2020 -- Wed, 11/23/2011 - 12:13

I just finished reading a most gushing review of the MBL 101E Mkll in the latest issue of TAS. Try as I might, I could not find the reviewer's name. This has never happened in as many years of my reading TAS. Be that as it may, the review was well, simply too gushing, for want of a better word. There was none of the balanced reporting a la RH or JV. The problem with an unbalanced report is that it detracts a bit from the overall excellence of the product which would certainly have a few caveats of its own(which great speaker does not?). I have owned MBL speakers before, albeit the compact 121. And I can say that at this level of sensitivity in the low 80's, MBL speakers need very high current, high wattage amplifiers for them to sing at realistic concert levels. I had to upgrade my amps to the megawatt Brystons 28B SST before doing them full justice. Even so, I have since moved on to the Vienna Acoustics The Music which presents greater precision in image focus and specificity. The omnidirectional imaging of the MBL's may just not be to everyone's taste. Maybe, a follow-up review by another staff writer might help someone reading it to make a purchasing decision. $70k isn't something anyone would part with before reading the caveats.
Jon Goh, MD

Robert Harley -- Wed, 11/23/2011 - 15:29

Thanks for your comments on the MBL and on the review.
The reviewer of the MBL was Peter Breuninger. His byline is a little difficult to read because of the location in relation to the background image on page 147. He is identified as the author on the Table of Contents page.
Peter no longer writes for The Absolute Sound. He has one more review after the MBL.

Best regards,
Robert Harley

TraKtorman -- Mon, 12/05/2011 - 04:45

Reviewing high end audio is a literary form to itself. So I make no comment on the gushing or otherwise prose. However, as someone who recently bought a pair of these, I think their strengths are what they do not add to the sound. They are clean, detailed and generally inaudible. I was struck by how similar the reviewers experience was to my own. What are the limitations of these speakers? I would say their efficiency is perhaps limiting but I have not heard them with mbl electronics at home. Are they good? I think the review was on the money.

jdcapshew -- Fri, 11/25/2011 - 00:07

Dr. Goh's comments are curious, and biased-sounding to me. He thinks the reviewer likes the MBL's a bit too much, the reviewer is "simply too gushing". I've been a subscriber to TAS for a very long time and have read so many gushing reviews myself that it would be very hard for me to pick one or more in any issue that are a tad extreme. If a reviewer really loves a product, why not say so?
101E's require a lot of power to sound their best, well, so what? Goh's new speakers have "greater precision in image focus and specificity". OK, well that's nice but that's kind of vague. How do you measure that? Everyone hears music differently in many different styles and to me, just my opinion, MBL 101's are the most impressive and involving speakers I have ever heard. I have owned 3 different generations of 101's, each iteration a significant improvement over the previous one. If I were to move on as Dr.Goh has done, it will likely be to MBL 101F's whenever they might come along.
I have not met or heard of Peter Breuninger before, but I think he nailed it on his review.

Music Lover -- Fri, 11/25/2011 - 01:03

I believe that planars don't image as well as comparably priced box speakers either. Yet TAS has had gushing reviews by HP and JV of Magnepan and by JV of ML CLX. I don't remember severe critiques of "poor imaging" in those reviews, but my memory could be failing me. Yet no one seems to have compained or brought it to the attention of the editors. Imaging does not seem to occupy a high position in the audiophile hierarchy of needs.

As a music lover, I never give a hoot about image specifity. Is imaging something that only analytical audiophiles care about? Is there something about imaging of their hi fi system that people should care about ? Is it an invented audiophile term, or is it more of a "truth" of a recording?

Mr. Harley, as the guy who literally wrote the book on High End Audio, where do you stand on this? Anyone else, please feel free to comment as well.

eyolf -- Fri, 11/25/2011 - 12:42

The thing is- Mbl 101 are amazing speakers. Having owned the 101 E and now the 101 E mk II, I can just say that they are everything mr. Breuninger writes. They really sound like nothing else out there. There has been many gushing reviews in TAS, some I can understand why, others not. I see that there is a huge Magico buzz these days, and having heard the M5 and Q3(the new model in the Q line), I think they sound fine, but not nowhere close to the heavenly praise. I just think Mbl have a very different sound, and to me much better sound. I've heard better than than the 101 mk II, namely the big Mbl 101 extreme. I must also say that Audio Nec which I heard in the Munich show this year, blew me away, with many of the same sound features that Mbl have. The Audio Nec sounded so open, clean and lifelike that it was amazing, with 20 hz bass! Clearly top 2 in the Munich show. I was a bit surprised when JV only had a short notice like "quite good". If you like a big involving, grainless, open and live sound, wll 101 is hard to beat. If you like a soft rounded and not lively sound, then Mbl is not for you. Breuninger is right on the money, and I just think Goh's coments are a bit silly.

DEV -- Fri, 11/25/2011 - 18:44

MBL 101E speakers truly are amazing, they do things that no other speaker do period.
Are they perfect? No, no speaker or product is.
I would rather listen and appreciate what one design over the next has to offer but in the end really will be a personal prefference which involves your room, set-up along with your front end, cables and power all present a difference.
I just picked up the edition and boy does that pick look sexy, I quickly browsed. Peter most defiantly likes them and clearly demonstrates such in his writing, good for him. I have nothing wrong if someone likes something but in the end still does not mean it's for everyone.
A little back ground info. because this is my first posting here, I'm mostly active on another forum.
I'm a personal MBL 101E owner, I have owned and heard many others. I have also tried numerous amps and pre combo's with my speakers. I have been told by many that I have tried more likely than anyone else, Boulder 2050's, Karen 1200's, CAT JL3 Sig. MK2's, Bryston 28 SQ, MBL 9008's and 9011's just to name a few. I've owned a ARC Ref3, VTL 7.5 and MBL 6010d pre all at the same time trying this combo and that.
It most defiantely has been a very interesting journey, I have learned allot. I found these speakers aren't that bad once in a room load wise but they do like current.
What I found was I would like this or that from different manufactures but nothing really WOWED! me, I was still on the hunt.
I always wanted to hear a VAC pre in my set-up so I finally pulled the trigger, I was very impressed from what I heard right out of the box. First time this has actually ever happened.
Next I read about Vac's Statement 450 mono blocks, very interesting indeed. So an opportunity came about, had to book a flight and went off for three days of listening and evaluation. I was fortuante enought that this set-up was in a real world sitituation being in someones home with the same Vac pre and MBL 101E speakers but actually the 101E MK2 version.
As mentioned prior I have heard allot and liked this and that but nothing that actually combined everything all in one package, well listening with these absolutely awed me. When I left home my set-up was a pair of 9011's, 6010d, 1621a transport and AA REF TUBE dac and my TW Acustic Black Knight table with various arms and carts combos.
What I found listening to the Vac combo was;
- Lower floor noise
- Highs that just never ended, I have never heard these speakers create such before
- Bottom end, for the first time actually got to hear what it's supppose to sound like, ya.
- Micro & macro dynamics, amazing.
- Midrange well just absolutely glorious
- Musical, no matter what volume set at
They offered all of this and that much more leaving the rest well behind, an experience that you just never forget. I could not wait to order a pair and finally get off the merry-go-round. They aren't cheap @ close to $80k but if you really want to hear what your MBL's really have to offer, well this is the real deal.