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mbl - is there a problem?

For a while now I've been planning on purchasing the new Magnepan 20.7's when they become available.
However I've always been intrigued by the idea of the MBL's - partly because they are so pretty and partly because it would be nice to have a speaker with a larger sweet spot.(I've owned and listened to Maggies for about 35 years but have never had the opportunity to hear the MBL's)
Since I've already purchased mongo electronics to power my new Maggies I think they would likely also power the MBL's.
And with the new discounts on the MBL's, they become more price competitive with the Maggies.
So I was thinking of flying somewhere to actually hear the MBL's.
But the website for MBL was disconcerting. Partly is is because the discounts are so large. Partly it is because they say that and warranty work now has to be arranged from Germany. As an experiment I tried to see what to do if I had an MBL speaker that needed to work and what would I do and I did not find an easy answer.
I have a fear of purchasing an expensive set of speakers and being unable to fix a problem.
From everything I've read on Audiogon these seem like wonderful speakers and maybe I should buy a cheap airplane ticket to where I can hear them. But I worry about the service. Maybe I'm just better off purchasing speakers from Magnepan - this company must be so succesful that even if the whole town was destroyed by a large meteor somebody else would pick it up.
Does anybody know if MBL is a safe speaker to purchase?
nottop
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
835 posts
 
"Partly it is because they say that and warranty work now has to be arranged from Germany. As an experiment I tried to see what to do if I had an MBL speaker that needed to work and what would I do and I did not find an easy answer."

Does this mean that all repair work is done in Germany? I wouldn't read it that way, certainly warrants a deeper investigation.
What Lrsky said - Call 'em up.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Okay, it appears to be a bit more complicated than anyone here has addressed, but here's what (I think) is going on:

Audiogon links you to the web site of the former American MBL distributor (MBL North America, evidently an independent company) which is unloading inventory at 50% (or more) off. I'm guessing that these serial #s won't be serviced by the new (parent company owned) distributor MBL-USA.

As Larry advised, make some phoe calls....but be sure to call both firms.

Good Luck

Marty

BTW, I like both MBLs and Maggies very much...different strengths. The Maggies might be more neutral, but - if you can get the bottom two octaves reasonably balanced in your listening room, the 101s are showstoppers (IMHO).
dev's avatar
dev
832 posts
 
WOW! I just went onto the site, I was not privy.

I would most defiantly be in conatact with both USA and Germany to confirm prior to purchase what the heck is going on.

This whole situation is not good for the actual manufacture.

I don't know why there would be any service issues due to a new distributor coming into play, MBL Germany should still be reinbursing whom ever deals with any warranty issue, in the end it is MBL's product.

If they don't then I would not buy such product period.
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Dev, your comment:
What's NBL? Most likly a error on your part as I have done many times in pushing of the wrong key and suppose to be MBL right.

Is your comment directed at me? The only line I can find that could be mistaken as a mistype of MBL is:
I was the factory rep for JBL many, years ago.

That text is correct, JBL is not intended to be MBL.

"Systems" meaning more than one, I'm very curious please share some more information, who's systems were these and how long ago? Were they when you were that JBL rep that you made mention of many years ago and before I was into HiFi, Ha! Ha!

MBL was not around when I was rep for JBL, as I said it was a long time ago. The auditions were during the Stereophile show in NYC at a private residence and also when I was on location doing photography several years ago for Southwest Airlines. I've attended many audio shows in the past 29 years. MBL has been prominent at multiple locations over the years.

What was the associated electronics because what you wrote above saying "The dozen or so times I've listened to the MBL it never connected to me musically."

Mostly with MBL electronics which is the obvious pairing for their speaker.

Also when one sugests "not their cup of tea" is a polite way of saying they don't like which is okay

Everyone here have preferences and when providing a response it's obvious the statement represents ones own feelings. Silly to have to state the obvious every time.

The opening post of this forum Nottop stated that he had owned and enjoyed Magneplanar for 35 years. It's not out of line for me to suggest his satisfaction is well deserved.

As for others feelings about MBL performance their opinion is as valid as mine and all of us should feel welcome to state such in the forums as long as we are respectful of each other.
nottop OP
19 posts
 
Shoot -

I was not trying to start a thread - are Maggie or MBL speakers the better choice?

I love the Maggies but have never heard the MBL's so it was be arrogant of me to state an opinion.

But I've put a lot into my room - not just stereo. New carpeting, new paint, new sofa, new artwork. I have incredible new electronics from Sanders and I'm passing on my old M. Levinsons to my son.

Now everything is ready but I'm sitting around for the new Maggies to be realeased. The dealer thinks sometime in March - but new products sometimes don't come out exactly on schedule

So it seemed to me that while I am waiting -
just in case -
might I consider a speaker other than the Maggie?

I greatly respect the comments from the people at Audiogon. I have no respect for the magazines.

From what I've read it looks like MBL might be a rational different choice from Maggie - but due to the issues of service I should just keep on with "Plan A"
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