MBL alternatives

In Chris Martens' review of the $7500/pair Mirage OMD-28 speakers, he writes:

Moreover, the Mirges distinguish themselves through their ability to vanish into the soundstage. Many speakers claim to offer "disappearing act" imaging, but I think the OMD-28s take this to a much higher level--one bettered, in my experiene, only by speakers such as the reference-class MBL 101E (an omnidirectional speaker against which all others can be judged).

For a downloadable pdf of the entire TAS review, click the link provided by AVGuide.com on this page.

"The best omnidirectional speakers besides MBL are Diapason by Shahinian"

Strong statement.

Why?

ATC SMC100's or any other ATC. thoughts?

Check out Dlanselm comments on ATC. He used to have the 50's and I think he still has the 20's. ATC are not necessarily "the last word" in sound in any one area but they load a room very evenly (wide dispersion) and have among the most convincing natural sound and timbre, IMHO. Kind of panel-like midrange but with some of the most serious dynamics a box speaker can deliver (close to big horn like dynamics/loudness). They don't have huge bass which is more understated - solid, tight and detailed - meaning most tracks sound markedly different in bass but very few are overwhelming (apart from organ or that occasional kick drum that hasn't been compressed by the sound engineer) Imaging/soudstage is excellent and solid life like convincing but they certainly won't play impressive tricks like some "holographic" speakers. I think they are very easy to listen too or non fatiguing non demanding on the ear, however, they do like to be played loud - so be warned - the thinner bass and effortless clarity, with low distortion at extremely high levels, will make you listen louder than normal - NOT a good thing if you are in an appartment. Two cents and yes I am biased.

In addition to their very sophisticated room-filling dispersion, the MIrage OMD-28s'
-10dB point measured anechoically is 18 Hz. In-room, these things are linear to around 22 Hz, which should give you more than a taste of the MBL experience.