MBL Owners: The "Why" Behind Our Choices and the Search for the Ultimate "Wow" Factor

My first exposure to MBL was in early 2000s eBay.  Their classic integrated amp from this era with black and gold cursive really caught my eye, so I began researching the brand.  Their speaker design always stood out to me and was my endgame goal.  Still wish I had purchased that integrated since I learned from a dealer, they're commanding roughly 4-5x the price these days.

Went through more than a few upgrades since then and own a pair of MBL 101s now.  I have everything tuned well enough so anything I put on sounds close to a live performance.  You don't get the bass drum kick feeling in your chest as you do with an actual live performance, but everything else is on par.  I go through different moods, but have found some amazing tracks I like to show off my setup with (or just sit back and unwind to: 

• Fleetwood Mac's live album, The Dance, is incredible.  Rhiannon and Silver Springs in particular have these chimes that seem to float around you. 
• Stevie Nick's Leather and Lace remaster, with it's floating hardly strummed acoustic guitar and synth melody is also one of a kind. 
• Journey's 2024 remaster of Faithfully also has this moment where the drums sneak up from the side then appear in front of you.
• Phil Collins In the Air Tonight is a classic that takes you on quite the trip before its epic drumline kicks in.
• For the full orchestral range, I love Afro Cuban All Stars and Buena Vista Social Club.  Afro Cuban All Stars' Los Sittio' Asere has layered vocals alongside these blaring trumpets and a blanket of instruments that really highlight MBL's magic.
• Tom Odell's Another Love has a wide piano with focused voice that gets broken up with this intensely enveloping choir that's a really cool first listen for people that have never heard MBL before. The Lumineers do a similar thing and also great demo tracks.
• Finally, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People.  They do this thing where they reverse the voice with the drums where the lead singer's voice comes from all around and the drums are actually the centered voice then the chorus comes in.

Too many others to list, but those are my current favorites.  My SO prefers stuff like Jeff Buckley's rendition of Hallelujah.  Just to add...  I'm a disabled veteran and the MBLs are my therapy.  I've had a great time and gotten lost in other speakers, but they didn't allow me to 'meditate' to the level of my MBLs.  On my bad days, I can step away, turn on my system and drown out the world.  The only thing that's come close is drugs (and I don't believe that's a viable long term option).

For alternatives, I love Michael Borresen's design and own a pair of his Scansonic's.  I was exploring his new line and almost pulled the trigger on a pair of 02.  Borresen is an excellent engineer, but his designs definitely come at a premium.  Much prefer the MBLs and my SO also thinks they "look cool" so I'm sticking with MBL for the foreseeable future.

Mbl done well is very special. Nothing compares. I’ve commented on mbl many times over the years. Search my posts if interested. I am currently a mere Ohm Walsh owner but their designer, the late John Strohbeen, posted on his website that mbl was one of the few speakers he had heard over the years (besides his own of course, and JS had probably pretty much heard it all over the years) that sounded right to him.  He may have regarded mbl as the very best with cost not a consideration and took pride that his Ohm Walsh speakers did a lot of what mbl does but at a cost more could afford and that his speakers were designed to work well in most any room and not far from the rear wall without a lot of special setup needed. 

Well, I don't have any MBL, but my story is just what you're looking for. Many years ago at AXPONA in Jacksonville, FL I was checking out the audio rooms. I had been to quite a few as I started at the top floor and worked my way down. One room on the bottom floor said MBL. I had kind of heard of them, but never heard their stuff. So anyway, this room is packed with people. So much that I can't even see the system, but the music is loud and I'm struck with the amazement that this is a room with a live band. How nice for them to have a live jazz event to compare to all the other rooms. Well, low and behold, I make my way up front only to see these "things" making the sound. WTF?? That was it for me. I have never forgotten that experience of being fooled into thinking it was a live band. It has never happened since then, as I now know that MBL is special, and I don't look for the band when I go into their rooms any longer.

I almost bought an MBL preamp because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I read a review and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for but I'm an impulse buyer and almost bought it.