MBL 126 or 120

@samuelmetzger

I love the MBL 121s.

I had been a fan of MBL for many years but they’d always been way beyond my budget, especially the big 101s. I happened on a deal for a used pair of 121s about 9 years ago and grabbed them.


I particularly loved the tonality of the 101s - I found them extremely subtle and rich in terms of reproducing instruments and voices.

As it turns out, the omni mids and tweeter of the smaller 121s really do give that same gorgeous tone as the big speakers, though reduced in size. There is a extremely natural detail, and such a wide tonal pallete to the sound, not to mention the famous MBL 3 dimensional imaging. On some recordings, especially some natural vocal recordings I have recorded in an old hall, it’s eerie how realistic the sound is. Closing my eyes it’s more effortless to think "I’m there" than any other speaker I’ve owned.

And despite the low sensitivity, I’ve actually found the 121s fairly forgiving in terms of amplifiers. They sound bold and beautiful using 140w of conrad johnson tube amps, and even sumptuous with 14W from an old Eico HF81 integrated tube amp. Though I’m sure they would strut their stuff even more, in ways, with some expensive juggernaut of a solid state amp, I’m very happy with their performance with my tube amps.
My room is 13’ x 15.’ It’s fairly well damped acoustically with a good combination of acoustic absorption, and live surfaces (walls). I tend to like listening from between 6 - 7 feet away from the speakers.


They also have pretty good "balls" insofar as they have a solid, punchy midbass presentation.

All that said, I normally use my larger Thiel speakers doing duty. I like the fuller range sound and certain aspects of the Thiel sound as well.


But I’m never going to sell my MBLs. They produce a sound that is too special and I want to be able to visit that sound whenever I want.

I only listen to classical, though big symphonic and organ included. But I have Martin Logan balanced force sub and a McIntosh Amp. Going to audition the 126. It’s very expensive compared to other high end though. I guess it’s all relative. 

cool.

The 126 would be a little small for my taste if used alone (the 121 is bigger, goes lower, and is fairly satisfying on it's own).   The 120, if you could swing it, would likely be the more satisfying overall, given it's a slightly bigger version of my 121s, slightly bigger woofer, goes lower, and is apparently even more refined than the 121s.

I finally decided to purchased a pair of the 126s from Engulf Audio. I absolutely love them! They are paired with two Martin Logan Balanced Force 210s, which still brings the system under the price
of the 120s.

Personally I think that because they have the same midrange and tweeter of all the other MBL speakers even the top model, this is an amazing option to get the MBL sound at a fraction of the price. 

@smetzger7 ,

Are you still digging the 126's?