mbl - is there a problem?

I've heard mbl sound quite decent, but IMO if you want that to happen you have to spend some time and money with them. They are not as hard to drive as you might think- 200 watts will suit most of the time. But your room had better have some good treatment, and the amp had better be pretty nimble else they will sound stilted. The speaker is plenty revealing to show off the front end of the system as well.

But for the money I think I would go with the Maggies. The two speakers have similar bandwidth and probably room issues, as well as drive-ability (I suspect the Maggies are a tad easier to drive). But Maggies are simply going to give you more bang for the buck, which is to say that they (IMO) will sound as good or better for a fraction of the price.

German tanks now, wow! don't hold back now.

I see you have a hidden adgenda.

Sorry but you have "O" credibility with your statements made so far.

Nottop..

this audio business is so personal & subjective. people will say their stuff is the best and I don't blame them. you will get alot of opions and that just that OPIONS. bottom line is, you really need to have a listen for yourself and see if you like it or not. for me, I value not just the sound, but the LOOK also and MBL is it for me. It give me chill and memerize their look every time i listen to it. as for warranty stuff, yes, mbl use to have distributor issue, but they have resolve that problem. their new distributor is MBL of North America in New York. Jeremy is their new distributor here in the US and he is very nice guy. I met him for the first time at the 2012 CES and listen to their 101 x-treme and was very very please. I'm sure they will take care of any problems you may have and thats go for every manufactures. what I'm trying to say is, don't worry about the gears breaking down before you even own it. find out what you like first then go from there. MBL being around for a long time now and they are not going anywhere. if you keep worry like that, you will never own any nice stuff/gears.

BTW, I'm about 40 minute away from Mr. Albert Porter and I have listen to his system before. He have a very nice system and he is very nice guy to boot. he is very knowledgable and really informative. I do have high respect for him but his taste is just different then my. again, it all come down to personal taste & preferences. if you ever in Dallas/Fort Worth, shoot us an email and you can listen to both system. good luck in your journey and decisions and please let us know what you end up.

Perfect response Mapman.
Any audiophile worth his/her salt knows that the act of 'just moving' a system creates a different sound than the system had 'before' the move. Further, that it takes a while for things to settle in, so that the sound is back to its normal self.
Why...I don't know.
Some people think it's the wires that have to get back to whatever.
I've never heard a plausible engineering explanation...but this brings us to the 'show experience.'
Having done more than a couple of shows as an exhibitor, I can say this...the show experience is usually a shadow of what any given system can do under what I'd have to call typical circumstances.
The MBL's being omni polar create one extra issue.
Generally the bi polars and omnis sound less than they are in show settings.
Maggies never, at least to me, sound as good as I have heard them.
The MBL's can sound downright awful...and seem to suffer more than other, traditional dynamic loudspeakers.
In Munich, if memory serves, I heard them, and they were something to behold.
They are simply the best speakers I've personally heard..not in all ways, but over all.
One time, after buying a pair of CS5 THIEL loudspeakers...breaking them in, enjoying them...subsequently selling more than any other dealer on the planet...(bragging), Jim Thiel and I were having dinner and wine.
I asked, 'Jim, how could you improve the CS5?'
Without hesitation he said, 'I'd put another pair back to back, making them sort of omni polar.'
Funny, that, at the time sounded like heresy...it wasn't 'til I heard the omni MBL's set up correctly, that I got it.
I do now.

Larry

..let me explain more fully... In the home system I have heard these, (MBL amp and preamp, Ortofon cartridge,) the bass is very boomy with no depth or space at all. If indeed it is the room, then it very well may be a design flaw if this expensive equipment also needs a special room. If I can compare it to video.... if you take your color intensity control and turn it way up so that the picture looks like a cartoon, you have what this stereo sounds like. Somneone made fun of my Vandersteen 5A's on these posts. Well one of the very important attributes of this speaker is that it can be made to sound excellent in any room. ...not to say it sounds exactly the same in every room I've heard it, but it always sounds good. Someone spending this amount of money for sound, should factor all attributes of any component, car, plane, wine, etc. including support.