MBL 9011 v/s Boulder 2050 monos

Off topic, I am thinking of getting MBL 121's to go with my own powered bass units (to save money over the larger 116) and with my Atma-sphere MA1's.

I sit pretty close to the speaker position - 7 feet, and speakers can only live about 2 feet from the back wall - side walls are 5' and 10' away, in a fairly lively room.

I can't audition the speakers in my room, Any thoughts if this will be too much omni energy for me? I have corner tunes but can't do much more in terms of room treatment. I was also told I may have to get rid of my Acoustic Resonators with MBL's.

I love the 101e's but have not heard the smaller MBL's.

The MBL is not the most transparent amp. FM Acoustics and Telos 2500 from Goldmund beat it at that. I own all of them so I know. I also own the Krell One which is equally detailed, maybe even more. The thing that the MBLs do well is that they deliver amazing power without sounding powerful. They are a good compromise between the super resolution of some of the solid states and the beauty of some amps like the Wavacs which come very close to the detail, are very refined but can not drive tough speakers with anywhere the performance of the 9011s. I have "only" heard the 2060 in my system from Boulder, my impression is that the differences you described are quite accurate. That was using the amps on the full spectrum with difficult to drive speakers in a smallish room.

Speakers really matter, to state the obvious, in assessing amps. My comments are based on the amps driving above 200hz with Gryphon Poseidons or the full range with Marten Coltranes. Actually, one of the better results was bi amping with the 9011 and Wavac 833 v1.3s. Although there are techincal reasons this would not be the easiest match on earth, it actually worked fine, especially with some equalization.

A lot of people really liked the 6010d preamp. I have owned it and compared it with many of the preamps people write about such as teh VTL 7.5 mkii, Krell Two, wavac, Lyra connoisseur, audio research ref3 and other. Again, a mid point, great bass but not at the caliber of some of the very best preamps (also not at their price).

In my view, the 9011s are one of the best products from MBL including their front ends which are even better.

At this level this is all about taste!!

I did make an A/B comparison in my home of the 2050 monos with the Burmester 911 MK3.
The burmester had a liquidity that the boulders couldn't match. The Detail was better with burmester. The 911 was more open & transparent with a more natural tonality to it. The Boulder seemed constrained in the higher octaves compared to the german contender. The midrange was very clean on the 911s where the boulder produced an infused warmth.
The Boulders were better in imaging, I guess since they were monoblocks.
Well, I'm still in shock ....
I tried switching several cables and direct connections without the MBL 6010 preamp, but through all configurations the german amp was clearly better.
Any comments ?
Are the burmesters comparable to the MBLs ?
Thanks

Hi, to some FM Acoustics is da best amplifier in da world, period! This is regardless of loudspeaker impedance or capacitance. They are better than Boulder, MBL or Burmester. I know this is quite a statement, but if the ear is the judge this might be the truth.

Chris