MBL omnidirectional speakers. How do they sound ?

Mapman,

Have you owned MBL speakers over some length of time in your home system?
Thanks in advance.

J.

jon,

No have never owned mbl but heard in demos on various occasions at dealers and shows.

I have owned OHM Walsh speakers for many years and these are still my go to speakers. They are radial designs that have a lot in common with mbl in regards to overall presentation but are much more affordable and designed to fit into most people’s rooms easier (closer placement to walls possible).

Most people including myself probably do not have the rooms needed to allow larger mbls to do their thing to the max. That and the cost make them a tough choice for many I would say. OHM Walsh speakers are a much more practical solution. Plus OHM is US based, has been around many years, and offer absolute top notch customer service in most every regard. TCO over time is much better with OHM I would expect, especially for US based customers.

I also suspect OHm Walsh is much easier to drive than most mbl speakers so easier to get the most out of them (which is a lot) with reasonably affordable good quality amplifiers available to most in the US.

They have always elicited the "WOW" factor.....  For ME, they sound nothing like real music...  They have all the "stuff", but much too much of all of it....cartoonish....

Well they definitely do not sound like most speakers, that much is for sure.

Teh best mbl demo I have heard (at dealer, set up almost nearfield with large space both behind me and the speakers) perhaps sounded the most like real music to me of any, mostly due to the wide and deep holographic soundstage with orchestra members placed cleanly within it.. Others not set up so well (at shows) were quite mediocre at best. So like most things it would seem to depend. I heard this setup with CD, phono and RTR tape source. All were impressive but the RTR was the most lifelike by a clean margin

Of course, tape rules.
So..they are for large rooms and require $100k amplification, bass integration can be questionable, imaging unusual.. Properly set-up can be considered by some among the very best.. Interesting speakers indeed.