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MBL 101 (~1990) - amp suggestions.

Does anybody have experience with those speakers:
Designation was MBL 101, or MBL 101a/b/c (letters may designate colour).
They have _no_ cone drivers, only three 'Radialstrahler' units, the same size units as in later/current MBL 101 range, but lower crossover points. Subwoofers (MBL 201) were optional, I do not have them.
So far I have tried the following amps:
Pass Aleph 4: almost there, but feels like lacking authority. Also, female vocals seem to suffer (males fare better).
300B SET (glasshouse/hificollective): they make sound, even loud if pushed (circuit allows 300B to go A2), yet the match is poor, orchestra becomes a mess.
Moderate power SS AB amp ("INnovative Audio Ultrapath"): pointless. Sounds flat and gutless, worse than Aleph 4 or SET.
Mark Levinson 23: the best match so far. Controlled and effortless; merciless at times (poorer recordings are exposed for what they are).
-- Do you think I can [substantially] improve over ML 23?

inefficient

Showing 1 response by prof

prof
3,450 posts
 

Not that this is helpful for the OP, but...

I own MBL 121 monitors, which have essentially the same tough-to-drive specs as the big models.

And yet my CJ premier 12 140w tube amps seem to drive them great and even more wild, probably my favorite pairing has been my old Eico HF-81, 14W tube integrated.   They sound glorious driven by that Eico!

(I don't listen very loud, but even when I do crank it up, it still sounds great).
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