Rowland Amps with MBL Speakers vs. All MBL System

You raise a good question, as the mbl speakers pose special problems for amps due to their unusually low sensitivity, at +/-81 db./watt.

If you look at the threads, you'll see that there is much support for CAT amps with the mbl omnidirectional speakers, particularly the JL-1 monoblocks (discontinued) or JL-3 monoblocks. Michael Gindi, formerly editor of the hi-fi magazine Fi, evidently ran JL-1's with his mbl's. Here is one such thread:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1099200096&openfrom&1&4#1

If you are committed to a using Rowland 302, they do have excellent power supplies and current delivery, and would thus presumably be as good a match as any solid-state amp, power-wise, with a speaker like the mbl's (I do not have personal experience with this combo, however -- I am speculating). My only concern is that this combo might produce an overly detailed sound, as both the mbl speakers and Rowland 300 series amps excel at detail retrieval. This is mere speculation, however.

PS - I own a Coherence II and Cadence, and ran Model 6's w/ batteries in one of my systems for several years.

I can only attest to the fact that I have heard MBLs also sound magical with both Jadis JA500s (though a little lightweight in the bass) and Gryphon's big Class A stereo amp from the early 90s, so the magic is not exclusively due to their (admittedly very good) electronics. As Raquel says, though, they present a very difficult load, and seem to demand a lot of current. I'd probably check with Rowland, they may know of customers driving mbls with their amps.

I'm a big fan of these speakers--I'm going to a wedding in Berlin next week and noticed that the factory seems to be there, maybe I can convince my wife to let me take a factory tour while she's visiting with the bride!!

Feel free to contact me as I work for mbl and can answer any of your questions: jeremy@mbl-hifi.com

The speakers we played at the Hilton for HEE were the new 116 and 121 ($18,000 and $10,000), which share tweeter, midrange driver, and omni-directional radiation pattern with the famed radialstrahler mbl 101. The impedance load from all the mbl speakers is a relatively flat 4 Ohms, therefore not a difficult load for many amps. The speakers do like a large current delivery, but the 121, 116, and 111 are far easier to drive than the 101.

A note on the "sensitivity" issue; the standard measurement is for sound pressure with 1 watt of amplifier power at 1 meter from the speaker in a vacuum; no one listens to 1 watt amps and no one listens in a vacuum...my point is that the omni directional radiation pattern of the mbl radial speakers puts the sound pressure in room at a much higher level than conventional speakers can, hence their ease with dynamics and "live music" -esque presentation.

We have customers using the Rowland amps, both older and the ICE power amps, to good effect. We recommend 250 watts at 4 Ohms for the 121, 116, 111, and 300 watts or more at 4 Ohms for the 101.

The new mbl amp 9007 on display at the HEE show is a fully discrete diferentially balanced design...this is what accounts for it's large size, weight, price tag, and soundstage. It is the little brother to the massive 9011 and the 9008 amplifiers.

Thanks!

The MBLs deserve the reputation of sounding VERY life like. Dynamics are delivered in spades. MBLs have the most realistic soundstage I have heard to date. I can walk almost anywhere in my room and the relationship between the instruments changes very little. The speakers themselves just plain disapear!

MBLs (at least the 111Es) do NOT deserve the hard to drive tag they seem to have aquired. Jeremy is right, they do need an ample supply of current, which can be found in many quality amps like the Rowlands. My 111Es are much easier to drive than my Revel Salons and seem to be easier to drive than Wilson WP 7s.

To answer your question, the MBL speakers can make magic without MBL amps. I have proven that with my Berning tube mono block amps (140 watts a side but high current). I do not have much experiance with the MBL amps, but with what I did hear, I doubt that the Rowlands can match the MBLs in dynamics, especially with percussion instruments, but I am sure the Rowlands would give you a very musical experience that would be a little smoother on top and most enjoyable. I expect to have some MBL amps here to try soon and I will update my thoughts at that time.

To Jeremy:
I'm driving my MBL 111 with Pass Labs X-350, and considering changing to the new 350.5. Have you compared it to the new 9007s. The price difference is BIG, and I'm wondering if at all justified.