Omni Speaker Options

My only caution for an omni speaker is room interaction can be a bigger than normal issue since the speaker radiates in all directions. In some situations that can give a great sense of space while in others it can result in an uneven frequency response and vague or wandering imaging. It all depends on where things are bouncing around.

I say this having owned a pair of omnis (Ohm F) and also a pair of dipoles (Maggies) in the past. I enjoyed both greatly but neither would suit me in my current listening room.

Ideally you'd want to try the speaker in your listening room before making a final decision (or know there is a solid resale market if you buy used.)

I too looked for options, I believe if the mbl's do it for you then stick with them. No other speaker does what they do!!!!!
Being a big mbl fan I'll mention some speakers I like, not sure if that helps: Wilson Alexandria xa, but those are the only Wilsons I like, the Verity audio line, Magico mini's, Vienna Acoustics. The only speakers to have dethroned the mbl's are the Alexandria and just recently heard the Symposium reflection, awesome speaker, very dynamic and life-like. Worth giving a listen!!

The Gallo Reference series are nearly an omni with their CDT emitting sound in 330 degrees. I love mine.

These, similar to the Ohms, also look interesting...

http://www.decware.com/newsite/Radials.htm

but I haven't heard them or the Ohms.

add the shahinian hawk or diapason and the ohm 5000 to your shortlist of end-all omnis, though there many other non omnis that will go head to head with the mbl as well.

The MBL speakers are pretty distinctive sounding, even among the omni class (as fas as I've heard examples of the class). The Ohms that I own couldn't sound more different from MBL if the designer made a point of trying. I've auditioned 4 models pretty extensively. The 121 w/sub, the 111, the 116 and the 101. The octave to octave balance of all the MBLs struck me as really distinctive with lots of energy in the mid bass and presence region. Not particularly neutral to my ear, but reasonably balanced overall. YMMV.

The 101 is a "knock your socks off" design and IMHO in a different league than the others, each of which does, however, have some real strengths.

I would add that the model 111 you're looking at has disappointing low end extension (I want to say mid to high 30hz range IIRC)for a speaker at that price point. Bass is very powerful to that point, but the lowest frequencies are MIA. Depending on your taste in program material, this may not matter a whit, but I thought it worth bringing to your attention, anyway. IMO, the MBLs are very exciting designs: what they do well, they do uniquely well (IME). Overall, however, I'm not sure I could live with them over the long haul.

Good Luck

Marty