Hansen Emperor or MBL 101E or Avalon Isis

Bonjour Emigene,

I haven't heard the Hansens, but really like Avalon as well as MBL. I would probably be an Avalon dealer if I wasn't pursuing my own speaker venture.

I have worked with speakers having polydirectional radiation characteristics, conceptually similar to the MBL's as far as room interaction goes. In my opinion the MBL's should be positioned far enough from room boundaries that the extra reverberant energy arrives 10 milliseconds (or more) behind the direct sound. This corresponds to a path length difference of about 11 feet, or 3.4 meters. You see, the ear/brain system tends to interpret early-arriving reflections as colorations, but late-arriving reflections are interpreted as ambience and richness. Given proper setup and proper amplification, the MBLs would be my choice from your list.

But as Gerrym5 says, everything on that menu looks good!

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

p.s. - You may be wondering why I said I'd consider being an Avalon dealer when here I'm picking MBL over Avalon (by a slim margin, and stipulating correct setup and amplification). The reason is, I'm already dealer for a speaker line that (in my opinion) is competitive with MBL in the dipole/bipole/polydirectional/omnidirectional/quasiomnidirectional category.

Hello Emigene,

For the sidewall, a distance of two meters (6.5 feet) would be nice but is not necessary if you treat the first sidewall reflection area. I prefer diffusion instead of absorption, but if your room is too bright then use absorption.

For the wall behind the speakers, I would like about the same distance, two meters or 6.5 feet. Even more would be better, if it is practical. This distance is more important than the sidewall distance, as it affects clarity more and also depth of soundstage more. You may want to use diffusion in the reflection zone even if you have sufficient distance.

This is my opinion based on owning wide-pattern fullrange electrostats and designing bipolar speakers, but I have not owned an omnidirectional speaker. Still, I think the MBLs will work fine as long as you can get the speakers out in front of the wall by about 2 meters or more. I would not worry as much about the sidewall distance - just treat the wall if you have to.

Best of luck to you,

Duke