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THE Best for less

Clearaudio Master Innovation Turntable

ELECTRONICS Being There!

Brinkmann, Cambridge, and Cary MBL 101 X-treme Speaker

1500W of Glory Next-Gen Digital

D’Agostino Relentless Power Amp T+A’s New Flagship

16 Pages of Music
Top Ten rock, jazz, and classical releases of 2019,
Abbey Road 50th anniversary, Nat King Cole box set,
new titles from Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, and more!
The meticulously hand-crafted MBL Radialstrahler tweeter and midrange drivers in the Omni tower’s solid stainless steel exoskeleton.

January 2020 the absolute sound

MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker
Being There
Jonathan Valin

the trick of turning your lis- wine is a complex question

tening space into a near life- that requires a complex an-
sized diorama—an uncannily swer. As I have reviewed this
three-dimensional replica of speaker once before—rough-
the venue in which your mu- ly a decade ago (celebrating its
sic was recorded, of the artists tenth anniversary is the occa-
who were performing in that sion for this re-visit)—I will
space, and of the instruments be drawing in part on what
on which they were playing— I’ve previously written, in part
that seems less like it’s being on what the 101 X-treme’s
generated in bits and pieces brilliant designer Jürgen Reis
by membranes or cones and has shared with me, in part on
more like it’s been transport- what the late Siegfried Link-
ed whole and complete from witz, the highly influential
one place and moment in audio engineer recently eulo-
time to the here and now. It gized in TAS by my eloquent
is a simply amazing feat of colleague Robert E. Greene,
stereophonic magic that every had to say about loudspeaker
high-end audio system aspires design and practice (Linkwitz
to but that only the X-tremes was a great proponent of
(in my experience) can bring monopoles and dipoles), and
off. To hear the way Ben in largest part, of course, on
Webster’s tenor sax and Ger- what I’m currently hearing
ry Mulligan’s bari (along with from the newest iteration of
Jimmy Rowles’ piano, Mel these great transducers. I’ll
Lewis’ drumkit, and Leroy try to keep things fresh, but
Vinnegar’s standup bass) leap if I repeat myself it’s because
out at you in three dimen- the best things about the 101
sions on Billy Strayhorn’s X-treme (and the operating
“Chelsea Bridge” (from AP’s principle it embodies) have
Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Web- not changed.
ster) —completely “there” in
your room, only there within Why Omnidirectional
a soundfield that is manifest- Loudspeakers?
ly not that of your room but There was a time back in the
of your room resized and late 60s and early 70s when
blended with the acoustic of omnidirectional loudspeakers

T
he exceedingly large, extremely heavy (better the studio venue in which this were the audiophile rage. Of
than a ton and a half), eight-chassis, twenty-six-driver, set was recorded way back in course, it was the much-ma-
$263,000, omnidirectional MBL 101 X-tremes are, in 1959—is to feel the time-ma- ligned Bose 901s that chiefly
almost every way possible, the best loudspeakers I’ve chine chill that you only get spurred this craze, followed
heard in my home—or anyplace else, for that matter. As true when an approximation of by a busload of three-sid-
point sources (which is to say, literal pulsating spheres), they are musicians playing in a hall or a ed, four-sided, and six-sided
capable of feats of sonic legerdemain that neither dipoles nor studio suddenly verges on the imitators. Though the Boses
direct-radiating loudspeakers can match, chief among which is real thing. were not true omnis, which is
How the 101 X-treme is to say they weren’t generating
capable of turning water into equal amounts of sonic ener-
The Cutting Edge MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker
gy in all directions at all fre- behave like point sources, know, when you move right or left of center, so does the sound-
quencies, they did use the lis- loudspeakers should, too— stage, which tends to collapse towards the speaker you’re nearing,
tening room, and particularly that to accurately reproduce as if the instruments and vocalists were gradually sliding off a
the wall behind them, in a way what an instrument sounds tabletop tilted in the direction you’re heading.
that most other loudspeakers like in a concert hall or a This does not happen in real life. If you move from center-
of their day did not—and studio, speakers should also stage to a seat at stage left or stage right in a concert hall (or a
that acoustic instruments in mimic that instrument’s 3-D rock club, for that matter), the soundstage does not “collapse.”
concert halls always do. radiation pattern, which is so Oh, the instruments located in the direction you’ve moved sound
You see, better than 70% intimately tied to our percep- louder and more prominent (because they are, in fact, louder due
of what we hear at a live event tion of its tonality, dynamics, to your closer proximity to them), but the rest of the orchestra
is not direct sound but indi- durations, and presence. or band still spans the stage in the opposite direction, the solo-
rect sound bounced off the That’s the theory, at least. ist/vocalist still sounds roughly centered, the hall’s ambience still
walls, floor, and ceiling of the And as I pointed out on the encompasses all instruments evenly, rather than thinning down
venue—reflected energy that Gerry Mulligan/Ben Webster in the distant direction and thickening up in the proximate one.
profoundly affects the timbre, LP, with the 101 X-tremes With an omni, you get the very same effects you hear in real life.
the dynamics, the durations, the theory proves out be- Sitting, standing, shifting your head or your seat, you experience
the imaging, the very charac- yond highest expectations. I the same stable imaging and soundstaging.
ter of the sonic presentation. personally have never before As a dyed-in-the-wool audiophile, listening alone with your
Why hall reflections play heard a baritone or tenor sax- “head in a vise” may be something you’ve grown used to (as I
such a large part in what we ophone (or a piano or a bass have), but it is certainly not the most natural or relaxing way to
hear has to do with the way fiddle or a drumkit or…you enjoy music; nor, when it comes to your non-audiophile visitors,
instruments make music. A name it) reproduced with the is it the most congenial. I don’t know how many times I’ve told
violin, for example, doesn’t same density of color, weight, some bewildered newbie to “sit in the center”—and if, as is often
launch a series of notes in a solidity, and three-dimension- the case, there is more than one such visitor, to “let so-and-so
single plane or in a single di- ality—the sheer in-the-room- have the sweet spot.” It’s rude and embarrassing—and one of
rection, as if it were emitting with-you presence—that the the chief reasons, beyond the baffling complexity and absurd
a tightly focused beam aimed 101 X’s bring to the party. expense, that so many FNGs find high-end audio off-putting.
directly at you, the listener; it Those saxes (and other in- While omnis like the 101 X’s certainly won’t solve the complexity
radiates its energy through- struments) are just there, play- or expense problems, they will go far towards making listening to
out 360 degrees, both verti- ing for you in your listening music the non-conditional joy it is (and ought to be).
cally and horizontally, casting space. As I said ten years ago And then there’s the felicitous way omnis deal with an audio-
sound into space the way a in my review of the origi- phile’s chief bugaboo—the listening room and its inevitable “is-
softly glowing bulb casts light. nal version of the X-tremes, sues.” While some of our contributors seem to believe that every
Of course, that violin isn’t “while we all listen, perforce, room problem can be solved via a good dose of DSP salts, I
generating the same amount blind to stereo, the 101 X’s do not. EQ’ing outboard subs (whose output is inherently om-
of energy at every vector or go farther towards compen- nidirectional) to iron out room modes in the bass is one thing
at every pitch. But it is always sating for our hunger to see (and generally a salubrious one); DSP’ing an entire system (whose
radiating in three dimensions, what we hear—to fulfilling output is highly directional) to make it measure “flat” or rolled
and therefore always merging the definition of the word or whatever flavor you choose is another. In my experience, you
its direct sound with the indi- ‘stereo’ (which literally means may be able to get things close to the way you want them to be
rect sound it is reflecting off ‘three-dimensional’ or ‘sol- at one roughly microphone-sized spot right smack between your
the walls, floor, and ceiling of id’)—than anything else I’ve loudspeakers, but what is being scanted or ignored here is just
the hall in which it is being auditioned.” how much more completely and unavoidably such adjustments
played. Another way to put In addition to their incom- lock you into a single listening “sweet spot.” Talk about having
this is to say, as Amar Bose parably full and realistic re- your head in a vise! In a DSP’d system, if you move your noggin
famously did, that instru- production of tone color and sufficiently right or left or up or down, or (God forbid) switch
ments behave acoustically like 3-D presence, omnis have to a different chair, all that painstaking digital manipulation will
“pulsating spheres” (or point obvious sonic benefits when be audibly compromised. Sometimes, it will go right down the
sources), which because of it comes to soundstaging and drain—in fact, moving off-DSP’d-axis may make room problems
their spherical wavelaunch al- imaging—one of which you much worse.
ways produce a mix of direct can demonstrate to yourself Omnis in general (and the 101 X’s par excellence) deal with room
and reflected sound in any by merely abandoning the modes in an entirely different, rather more “generalized” and
room at any listening position. “sweet spot” midway between purely acoustic way—by flooding the entire listening space with
It is only a small (though those cone loudspeakers cur- full-range sound, coming (because the speakers radiate omnidi-
daunting) step to conclude rently ensconced in your lis- rectionally both horizontally and vertically) from a nearly infinite
that if instruments invariably tening room. As you already number of different elevations and a nearly infinite number of
January 2020 the absolute sound
The twin-layered 12” aluminum membrane subwoofer
driver, one of twelve in an X-Treme system.

Detail of the X-Treme’s subwoofer cabinet and grille,

with solid stainless steel exoskeleton.

The X-Treme’s master subwoofer control center, Subwoofer power amplifier with umbilical cord.
one for each channel .
The Cutting Edge MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker
different angles. You might think that en-
ergy being broadcast in equal amounts at Specs & Pricing
all frequencies toward literally every sur- Type: Four-way omnidirectional loud- MBL AKUSTIKGERATE GMBH
face of your room would make the sound speaker system with separate powered & CO. KD
you end up hearing a confusing, echo- subwoofer towers Kurfurstendamm 182
chamber-like mess. That it doesn’t has Drivers (per speaker side): Two Radi- 10707 Berlin, Germany
to do with two interrelated phenomena: al TT100 woofers, two Radial MT50/E +49 030-230-05840
a true omni’s (like the 101 X’s) frequen- midrange, two HT37/E Radial tweet- mbl.de
cy-independent, constant-directionality ers, one “ambience” dome tweeter, six
dispersion, and the Precedence Effect. 12" aluminum cone subwoofers MBL NORTH AMERICA, INC.
First, unlike conventional loudspeaker Frequency response: 20Hz–40kHz (U.S. Distributor)
drivers (particularly tweeters) that tend Sensitivity: 88dB/2.8V/2pi 217 North Seacrest Blvd. #276
to send intense spotlight-like beams of SPL: 109dB Boynton Beach, FL 33425
inherently more distorted off-axis sound Power handling: 500W (continuous), Contact: Jeremy Bryan
toward sidewalls, an omni doesn’t “se- 2200W (peak) (CEO & President)
lectively” energize specific spots on your Weight: 3600 pounds (561) 735-9300; (917) 306-7588
walls. As I noted, it doesn’t work like a Price: $263,000 the pair info@mbl-northamerica.com
specular flashlight. It works like a glowing mbl-northamerica.com
ball. It energizes your room uniformly at all
frequencies, so that any reflections will
comprise the entire signal and not a small
piece of it. JV’S REFERENCE SYSTEM Digital sources: MSB Reference DAC,
Of course, an omni is (by design) still Loudspeakers: MBL 101 X-treme, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2,
creating far more broadband room re- Magico M3, Voxativ 9.87, Avantgarde Cable: Crystal Cable Ultimate Dream,
flections than a direct radiator, but we Zero 1, MartinLogan CLX, Magnepan Synergistic Research Galileo UEF, An-
don’t hear them as echoes or distortions 1.7 and 30.7 suz Acoustics Diamond, Synergistic
because of the Precedence Effect. The Subwoofers: JL Audio Gotham (pair), Research Foundation
Precedence Effect is a psychoacoustic Magico QSub 15 (pair) Power cords: Crystal Cable Ultimate
phenomenon whereby the acoustic signal Linestage preamps: Soulution 725, Dream, Synergistic Research Galileo
arriving first at our ears suppresses our Constellation Audio Altair II, Siltech UEF, Ansuz Acoustics Diamond
ability to distinguish any other signals, SAGA System C1, Air Tight ATE-2001 Power conditioner: AudioQuest
including echoes and reverberations, that Reference, MBL 6010 D Niagara 5000 (two), Synergistic Re-
arrive up to about 40ms after that initial Phonostage preamps: Clearaudio search Galileo UEF, Technical Brain
signal (provided that the delayed signal Absolute Phono, Walker Proscenium Support systems: Critical Mass Sys-
is not 15dB or so louder than the first V, Soulution 755, Constellation Audio tems MAXXUM and QXK equipment
one). Instead of those late-arriving wave- Perseus racks, amp stands, and Center Stage2
fronts being heard independently, they are Power amplifiers: Soulution 711, Room treatments: Stein Music
“fused” by the brain with the first-arriving Constellation Audio Hercules II H2 Harmonizer system, Synergis-
wavefronts and perceived as coming from Stereo, Air Tight 3211, Air Tight ATM- tic Research UEF Acoustic Panels/
the same spatial location. (These later-ar- 2001, Zanden Audio Systems Model Atmosphere XL4/UEF Acoustic Dot
riving broadband reflections also add vol- 9600, Siltech SAGA System V1/P1, system, Synergistic Research ART
ume level and spaciousness—particularly Odyssey Audio Stratos, Voxativ Inte- system, Shakti Hallographs (6),
a sense of width—to the sound source, grated 805, MBL 9008 A Zanden Acoustic panels, A/V Room
which helps account for the greater sense Analog source: Clearaudio Master In- Services Metu acoustic panels and
of presence, openness, and dimensional- novation/TT1-M1, Acoustic Signature traps, ASC Tube Traps
ity that omnis, and the 101 X’s in particu- Invictus Jr./T-9000, Walker Audio Accessories: Symposium Isis and Ul-
lar, offer the listener.) Proscenium Black Diamond Mk V, tra equipment platforms, Symposium
Far from being more colored by room TW Acustic Black Knight/TW Raven Rollerblocks and Fat Padz, Walker
reflections, drivers, and enclosures, so- 10.5, AMG Viella 12 Prologue Reference equipment and
phisticated (and in the 101 X’s case, box- Tape deck: United Home Audio Ulti- amp stands, Walker Valid Points and
less) omnis can, in principle, be much mate 4 OPS Resonance Control discs, Clearaudio
less colored by all these things and much Phono cartridges: Clearaudio Gold- Double Matrix Professional Sonic
more faithful to sources (about which I finger Statement, Air Tight Opus 1, record cleaner, Synergistic Research
will have more to say) because with prop- Ortofon MC Anna, Ortofon MC A90 RED Quantum fuses
er setup they essentially take the room

January 2020 the absolute sound

 MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker The Cutting Edge
sound out of the equation. Thanks to the Precedence Effect ments of the spherical drivers out of sight on its roof. Struts
and the fact that the speakers are lighting up reflective surfaces flex, creating sound pressure and cross members provide
uniformly at all frequencies and all angles rather than selectively throughout 360 degrees, hori- top-to-bottom and side-to-
at specific frequencies and specific angles, your room no longer zontally and vertically. side structure and support.
exists as a separate entity—like a picture frame within which the As all drivers share the There is no enclosure. Each
recorded soundstage is mounted (which is the way soundstaging same central axis, the listener speaker weighs half-a-ton.
generally works with a direct-radiating loudspeaker). Instead, the gets, in designer Jürgen Reis’ In addition to the gigan-
entire listening room merges with the recorded room, producing words, the same “timing of tic Radialstrahler “towers,”
a wall-to-wall-to-floor-to-ceiling soundfield of astonishing lay- the woofer, midrange, and the 101 X-tremes come with
ered depth, width, and height, and uniform ambience. tweeter…our alignment al- two six-and-a-half-foot-tall
lows all frequencies to reach subwoofer towers that weigh
MBL Omnis and How They Work the listener’s ears at the same better than a quarter-of-a-ton
Despite the brilliance of their design principle and the import- moment, just as they do in each all by themselves. Each
ant things they got right, early omnis, such as the original Bose nature. sub array comprises three
901s and their many multifaceted descendants, were still essen- “With Radialstrahlers you ported, lacquered-birch and
tially cones in a box—and liable to all the problems that cones have the ‘naked’ membranes aluminum boxes, fitted on top
and boxes entail. Notwithstanding the Walsh driver (an incredibly and nothing else. No cabinets, of one another via heavy-duty
brilliant concept that suffered from a plethora of practical prob- no surrounds, no spiders—all aluminum pegs and sockets,
lems which initially limited its viability), it is puzzling that no one of which can absorb energy with the sub crossover con-
thought to make a pulsating spherical driver to imitate all those and vibrate afterwards. When trols and the MBL amplifier
pulsating spheres in an orchestra or a band. And then along came the Radialstrahlers’ moving that drives the entire array
MBL, which did that very thing, and then, a decade or so later, coils start to move, the mem- housed in the middle box.
along came a world-class engineer named Jürgen Reis, who per- branes start to move; they im- Two 12" aluminum-cone driv-
fected MBL’s Radialstrahler concept and eventually designed the mediately start to make sound ers with very wide and flexi-
101 X-treme that is the subject of this review. pressure. And when the mem- ble surrounds are mounted
In spite of all the genuine advances that have been made in branes stop, the music stops in a push-push configuration
the materials that cones and enclosures are made of (and, don’t immediately. No decay, no inside each of the three box-
get me wrong, those materials have greatly improved box-speaker wasted energy, nothing. We es—one woofer on the right
sound), there isn’t anything fundamentally new about moving-coil have no delay or time smear at side of the enclosure, one on
loudspeakers (or about planars or ’stats or horns, for that mat- the beginning of an impulse the left, both stabilized and
ter). They are mature technologies, several of which have been and no delay or time smear at cross-braced by a massive alu-
around for almost a hundred years (more than that for horns). the stop of an impulse.” minum rod running between
Yes, a carbon-fiber woofer is different (and sounds markedly dif- them to prevent the drivers
ferent) than a paper or a plastic or a woven-fiber or a ceramic The 101 X-tremes from passing resonant energy
one. But it’s still a cone woofer with a surround and a spider, and MBL’s flagship loudspeaker, to each other and to the box
it’s still sitting in a gigantic box (nowadays made of aluminum the 101 X-treme is essential- itself. That makes a total of
or carbon-fiber or some mystery-meat material called “X,” “Y,” ly two 101 Es without their six 12" woofers per speak-
or “Z”). A Radialstrahler, folks, isn’t like that. It’s not just another subwoofers and subwoofer er-side, twelve 12" woofers
pretty face in the same old annual beauty pageant. cabinets. One trio of radial altogether. That, my friends, is
What is a Radialstrahler? It is a free-standing (unenclosed) drivers (woofer, midrange, a lot of bass.
spherical driver using a membrane made of bent segments that tweeter) faces upward and Although the 101 X-tremes
are fixed on one side and connected to a voice coil on the oth- another, immediately above break down into pieces, the
er. In MBL’s classic 101 E floorstander—the current version it, down, in a mirror-image pieces themselves are mas-
of the company’s original “radial loudspeaker” (which is what or D’Appolito array. The bot- sive (roughly 300 to over 500
Radialstrahler means)—there are three spherical drivers mounted tom trio of Radialstrahlers is pounds each). With the in-
directly atop each other (and a conventional, ported subwoofer mounted on a massive (over valuable help of three of the
mounted beneath the radial array). The woofer (the large, bottom- 500 pounds) base constructed strongest human beings on
most radial driver) comprises 12 bent segments (called “lamella”) of birchwood, brass, and alu- earth (piano movers from the
made of a proprietary alloy of magnesium and aluminum and minum in a constrained-layer Cincinnati company of Elam
arranged in a quasi-spherical (or melon-like) shape. The smaller sandwich; the upper set is and Sons), Jürgen Reis (who
midrange driver, which sits atop the cap piece of the woofer, also bolted to a similarly massive had come over from Germa-
comprises 12 bent segments, made of a woven carbon-fiber ma- top piece, also made of a con- ny to assist) and Jeremy Bryan
terial and arranged in a sphere. The even smaller tweeter perched strained-layer sandwich of (MBL’s U.S. importer and set-
atop the midrange’s cap piece has 24 bent segments, made of a birch, brass, and aluminum, up expert) managed to haul
proprietary unidirectional carbon material and also arranged in a with a high-quality dynamic the 101 X’s upstairs to my
spherical shape. When the drivers’ moving coils move, the seg- “ambience tweeter” nestled third-floor listening room.
the absolute sound January 2020
The Cutting Edge MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker
As was the case when I had the 101 X’s ten years ago, setting up I’ve already repeatedly noted, icy and incomparable Elek-
and dialing in the system was a two-day affair. The original instal- is a soundfield that seems to tra from the eponymous
lation involved many large and small adjustments in the physical have been magically import- Strauss opera), from Hans
location of the Radialstrahler towers and their woofer stacks; the ed in toto from some other Theessink’s Johnny-Cash-like
second install went more smoothly, as Jürgen and Jeremy were place—from a concert hall or bass-baritone on his terrif-
familiar with the sound and layout of my room. Adjustments of a studio—and plopped down ic cover of “Sympathy for
the controls for each of the twelve Radialstrahler drivers and the in your listening room with the Devil” (from Jedermann
two ambient tweeters on top of the Radialstrahler towers were all three of its dimensions Remixed/The Soundtrack) to
done by ear, but tweaking of the gain, group delay (phase), and intact. To quote again from Richard Manuel’s scorched
Q of the woofer stacks was augmented by measurements. (The my first review, “where other baritone on “The Shape I’m
crossover point between the woofer stacks and the Radialstrahlers transducers sound the way In” (from The Last Waltz—of
is fixed at 105Hz with a 24dB/octave slope.) a film looks—like a two-di- course—though the versions
Unlike the last time I had the X’s, Jürgen and Jeremy used (at mensional medium imitating on Stage Fright or Rock of Ages
my request) a DSP device ahead of the subs, between the MBL a three-dimensional reality— are just as memorable) to Neil
6010 D preamp and the subwoofers’ built-in Class AB power am- the 101 X-tremes sound the Young’s sweet shaky tenor on
plifiers. As I said earlier, DSP’ing or analog EQ’ing subwoofers way a theatrical play looks—no “One Of These Days” (from
has been a positive in my experience—and it certainly was here. ersatz third dimension, but the wonderful autumnal al-
Other differences from Jürgen’s first visit involved factory-in- actual people on an actual bum Harvest Moon), vocalists
stalled improvements to the 101 X-tremes that MBL has made stage right there in front of never sound less than lifelike
over the years: 1) the voice-coil formers of the tweeter and mid- you.” (having heard three of these
range are now constructed of a non-conductive material that Tonally, the 101 X’s are a singers in concert I can attest
eliminates eddy currents during the movement of the voice coil bit bottom-up in balance—at to this from experience). If
and, thus, any brakes on current flow; 2) the midrange support least, they are when driven anything, the touch of extra
plate and support rods have been moved from the outer to the in- by the bottom-up-sounding fullness, very similar to what
ner section to improve stabilization and shift any resonances out MBL 6010 D preamp and two you hear in a concert hall
of the driver’s working range; 3) the cool-down process used in pairs of MBL’s 840W/40A (and for the same reason),
making the aircraft-grade aluminum segments of the radial woof- 9008 A monoblock power adds to the realism of vo-
er has been improved to reduce tension in the material and get amps. (I’m using two pairs of cals by enriching timbre and
a more fluid and “stressless” sound; 4) the group delay response 9008’s, one pair per speak- augmenting the solidity and
of the woofer has been refined; and 5) composite materials are er side, because having two dimensionality—the sense
now used in construction of the struts and rods in the D’Ap- nominally 4-ohm 101 E’s in of rootedness in ambient
polito tower’s support system to further suppress resonances and each Radialstrahler tower low- space—that these speakers
improve stability. ers their joint impedance to 2 are very nearly incompara-
After the boys left, I fiddled a wee bit with the controls on ohms—a tough load for any ble at reproducing. (Instru-
the subwoofers and with the level of the ambient tweeter atop amplifier. To be safe rather ments—from Fender bass
the Radialstrahler stack to get the blend I preferred on the bot- than sorry, I use one mono- to violin, from contrabass to
tom and at the very top. Like everything else MBL makes, these block amp for each individu- piccolo, from kickdrum to
controls worked with extraordinary precision, so no big changes al 101 E in the mirror-image ride cymbal, from tuba to ten-
were necessary—just a turn of a minute or so on the dials and I pairs, and thereby sidestep the or—benefit no less complete-
was ready to listen. impedance-drop issue. I will ly from this fullness of tone
be finding out how a single and 3-D rootedness.)
The Sound pair of monoblocks fares in Possessed of the most
Auditioning the 101 X’s was a virtual replay of their original the near future, when Vitus’ seamless blend with main
sojourn in my room. Then as now I can’t stop listening to the Signature Series SM-101 and speakers I’ve heard, the sub
things. Then as now visitors—friends, colleagues, and manufac- Constellation’s top-flight Her- stacks delve very very deep
turers—think they are the best transducers they’ve ever heard (as cules II amplifiers are slated and do so with precisely the
do I), and each of them has had the same slack-jawed initial reac- to come my way.) kind of richness you hear
tion to hearing them, expressed in almost exactly the same words: Though timbre tends to be from bass-range instruments
“Where are the speakers?” rich and darkish through the in real life—nothing is thin
Despite any shortcomings (and I will come to these), the X’s, it is not excessively so. or razor-cut (all transient and
MBL 101 X’s (properly situated and adjusted) sound less like From Diana Krall’s playfully no body); on the contrary, ev-
loudspeakers than any other system I’ve heard. As I wrote the sultry contralto (on her won- erything is warm, round, fast,
first time around, “all of the various ways in which conventional derful cover of Joni Mitchell’s cleanly defined in pitch, beau-
transducers betray that their sound is being projected in narrower great song “Amelia” from Joni tifully robust in timbre, per-
or broader dispersion patterns by individual drivers in resonant 75) to Birgit Nilsson’s steely fectly timed in duration, and
enclosures simply aren’t present.” What you hear, instead, as Wagnerian soprano (on her immensely powerful in inten-
January 2020 the absolute sound
Hand-crafted, woven carbon-fibre segments in a midrange driver.

Construction of a push-push subwoofer cabinet. Attaching structural copper rods to the woofer.

Completed Radiastrahler woofers waiting to be mounted.

The Cutting Edge MBL 101 X-treme Omnidirectional Loudspeaker
sity. (On the descending swirl of chords at the start of Bach’s or they don’t at low-to-mod- has to do with the absence of
famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which ends on a pedal erate volumes. Turn things noisy, energy-storing enclo-
of thunderous power, E. Power Biggs’ Flentrop organ plunges up, however, and it is a differ- sures, surrounds, and spiders,
through the floor and shakes the room just like the real article.) ent story. For all their many the radial drivers’ inherent
You simply never hear these subs as separate sound sources, in virtues, other speakers just time-and-phase coherence,
spite of the fact that they comprise twelve 12" cones. As with the don’t do three-dimensional their low distortion, their
Radialstrahlers themselves, those push-push drivers are radiating volume or lifelike size (with- ability to stop and start on a
their energy omnidirectionally—and radiating it at a multitude out oversize) the way the 101 dime, and possibly the sheer
of heights and angles (thereby reducing the excitement of room X-tremes do, so where the volume of sound they gen-
modes, particularly when the subs are used in combination with drum stroke on a tom or a erate, but the fact is I haven’t
DSP). bass drum may be very clear had a speaker in my house
Dynamically, the 101 X’s are a wonder, as anyone who has through a good cone speaker, that can tell me more clearly
heard them playing all-out at trade show can attest. (At very loud the sense of the volume of and quickly what is right or
levels they can even make a jazz or rock drum kit, one of the larg- air being excited in the drum’s wrong about a recording or a
est and hardest-hitting of instruments, sound as “there” in the circular shell isn’t as true-to- piece of ancillary gear. (It was
room as an oboe or a flute—a sonic feat I’ve only heard once be- life as it is through the X’s. In- simply amazing, for example,
fore with the Nearfield Acoustic Pipedreams, though the Pipes’ arguably, Radialstrahlers are not to hear the way the 101 X’s
tar-barrel-sized subs were anything but seamlessly blended with as extended on top as the best sussed out the advantages of
their main columns.) dome tweeters and ribbons. a very expensive cable vis-à-
Part of the reason that MBL Radialstrahlers are so famously and Indeed, the X’s’ radial tweet- vis a cheaper, but still quite
enjoyably dynamic is the sheer amount of energy they are gen- ers roll off steeply and quickly good one. Reviewing cables
erating thanks to the unusually large surface area of their drivers. above 16kHz (and are already is always a chore, precisely
Consider a Radialstrahler woofer (the big silver melon-like driver at a bit softer in intensity below because—outside of tonal
the bottoms and tops of the Radialstrahler towers). Every square that), which is one of the rea- balance and resolution—the
inch of these large spheres is producing sound with the same sons for the ambience tweeter differences among them take
intensity as the central portion of a conventional dynamic woof- on top of each Radialstrahler a while to gauge. Through the
er (and without any of the center-to-edge drop-off in force or array. Having said this, I X’s it took all of two seconds
increase in distortion of a conventional woofer). In radiating area must quickly add that MBL’s to hear the way the new cables
a Radialstrahler woofer is the equivalent of something like twelve radial tweeters are still gen- removed the subtle sibilance
12" cones (the same number found in the sub towers). And each uine marvels—the only HF and midrange forwardness of
side of the 101 X-treme has two of them! The same thing is true transducers I’ve heard that do the older ones.)
of the Radialstrahler midrange and tweeter. volumes as well as transients
You might think that drivers this large in area would be slowed and colors. Through the X’s, Conclusion
down by their mass and would ring like bells being struck when cymbals have something you You already know what I
hit with an electrical signal, but their size actually works to their rarely if ever hear with domes think. These are the most
advantage. Since they’re driven over the entire surfaces, they only and membranes—a disc-like realistic speakers I’ve heard,
have to move very small amounts to make very loud sounds (a bit roundedness that makes them and though this has never
like horn-loaded compression drivers). These small excursions sound three-dimensional, just before been the case, they
also mean that they don’t have to move very much to stop making as they do in life. (I should are also the most musical and
sounds. Plus they are made of lightweight materials, and because also point out that the 101 E’s unconditionally enjoyable.
of the volume of air inside them are virtually self-damping. roll in the treble means that Having eliminated almost all
What do the X-tremes not do as well as (or far better than) the they will not etch transients the things that make stereo
competition? or artificially brighten up or systems sound like stereo sys-
Well, they don’t image at center stage with the razor-cut pre- add unpleasant edginess to tems, they are very nearly as
cision of Magico M3s or M6s, though there is certainly an argu- harmonics.) unique in their non-stop son-
ment to be made for the somewhat larger, slightly more relaxed, With their plethora of re- ic appeal as they are in their
far more three-dimensional imaging (and heart-stopping imme- flections and darker balance, ingenious operating principle
diacy and presence) of solo vocalists or instrumentalists through you might well think that an- and brilliant engineering. Ev-
the X’s. They aren’t quite as detailed as MartinLogan CLX’s, other of the X’s weaknesses ery time you listen to them is
though they’re certainly no slouches when it comes to resolution would be transparency to a pleasure and an amazement.
(on a par with the very best dynamics), and it is well to remember sources, but you would be And every time you stop lis-
that their detail is being folded into a three-dimensional image very wrong. Indeed, the 101 tening to them, you want to
(and therefore not as nakedly exposed and separately audible as it X’s are high among the most come back. There is, quite lit-
is when details ride on the surface of a two-dimensional image, as transparent-to-source loud- erally, nothing else like them.
they do with a ’stat or a planar or a cone). They don’t have quite speakers I’ve had in my home. Had I the money, I would buy
the same slam or bottom-octave clarity of JL Audio Gothams— Why this is the case probably them in a minute.
January 2020 the absolute sound
 A WORLD OF PERFECT SOUND

126 120 116 F 111 F 101 E MKII 101 X-Treme

The MBL Radialstrahler family: legendary since 1979.

This changes everything!

 This changes everything!

These are the most realistic speakers I’ve heard,

and though this has never before been the case, they are
also the most musical and unconditionally enjoyable.
… There is, quite literally, nothing else like them.
Had I the money, I would buy them in a minute.

Jonathan Valin

mbl-northamerica.com