Tube amp to drive MBL 101's

"but at this some what insane price range its all about synergy and personal preference."

I couldn't disagree with this statement any more strongly. Price level has nothing to do with the issue which is, quite simply, the ability of a tube amplifier to drive a highly insensitive (read current and voltage hungry) load.
That's the issue. Synergy has nothing to do with it.

You can try and try and try to synergize the wrong amplifier to a speaker by changing flavors of cables and flavors of sources and flavors of tubes but synergists are doomed to play synergy games which are all about flavors and taste and nothing to do with the accurate replication of the input signal. If the amplifiers don't have the appropriate linear power (read current and voltage) delivery capability, all the synergy and personal preference in the world ain't gonna make the system sound good. If you start with an amplifier that can drive the load, and easily drive it, you won't be left with playing a synergy game you can't win.

Hey I like VTL amps too. I kind of like Tube Research amps too though I don't believe they offer a terrific performance/value ratio. But just try a VTL amp, any VTL amp, on the mbl speakers and you'll hear that what I'm saying isn't bold, it's accurate. The CAT, on the other hand, drives this speaker with ease and that is what the original poster asked about.

Do you personally have experience with the 101's and all of these amps or are you just assuming? I do not have experience with mating any of those amps to those speakers and I don't know anyone who has used tube amps with 101's(c, d or e's) I acknowledge that all amps mentioned are highly regarded and I have heard them in various systems over the years and have been impressed in one way or another by something they have done. I find it VERY hard to believe that the huge VTL's would fall short on an 83dB current hungry speaker- I have an 84dB current hungry speaker and if I was in the market for a tube amp they would be at the top of my list.

I agree that an amplifier of the proper power is needed to mate well with the speakers, however, saying synergy doesn't matter is plain foolish. I don't think ANYONE can do more then surmise as to the outcome of this situation. Unless of course you do have 101's and have heard them mated with all 3 amps listed. If you have then I stand corrected, but its really hard to grasp that an amp capable of delivering 1250 watts can't handle a 83db speaker even if its only delivering 10 amps of current- that being said I've been wrong in the past.

If you are interested in talking with comeone who has heard the MBLs paired with the CAT amps, call Ken Stevens. Based on my conversation with him earlier this week, I gather that he has heard this combination extensively. I would caution you against bringing up the topic of synergy, however, as the mere word is likely to set him off. (He does not believe in "synergy" per se.)

Yes I agree, I have met Ken and while he is a very nice guy and we did get along, he is, how should I put it, eccentric. He may also have a some what bias-no pun intendid :o) opinion

The development of the CAT JL1s was mainly done using the older MBL101B, which at 78db, is even lower efficiency than the current model. Not only is the 101 very inefficient, it also has an impedance curve which can only be described as highly unusual -- actually bizarre would be a better description. It is EXTREMELY difficult to drive.

One man in NYC had 500 watt tube amps on his MBL101Bs. The MBL designer, Jurgen, visited and told him that those amps did not have enough power. The next time they visited the man had switched to the CAT JL1s. Jurgen was adamant that the man had gotten the 100 watt power rating wrong. He thought that they must have a 1000 watt rating. So they called me to confirm the rating.

This same man wrote the first US review for the JL1 for FI magazine, based upon his evaluation on the MBL101B - and he bought the amps.

The JL3s are even more linear than the JL1. They have much more energy storage and twice as many tubes driving, basically, the same output transformer. Although I haven't heard the combination I have at least two customers who own it and swear by it. I will see if the US owner is interested in posting his reaction.

Playing brute force games with "more powerful" amplifiers will not work. Not only will these amplifiers not sound as powerful and strain free as the JL3 - they will not have the level of transparency and refinement that the MBL needs. This is, after all, the most transparent speaker in the world. Many times it gets blamed for a harsh grainy sound because it is revealing the grain in the preceding system. Recently I had a conversation with an audiophile who described it as "soft, polite and fudgy." Clearly his 750 watt tube amp was not up to driving the speaker.

Ken Stevens
President
Convergent Audio Technology, Inc.