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MBL advice

I am considering the purchase of MBL speakers-- either the 101e's or more likely the 111f's. My room is approximately 16' wide by 25' long and has reflective surfaces (doors and 3 foot tall wood wainscoting all around) near where the speaker will be located. I feel like the room is large enough to get the speakers at least 4 feet from the side walls and 7 feet from the back wall. My amp should drive either with no problem.

I have heard these speakers at shows and thought they sounded great on rock music (great tuneful bass and huge soundstage) but the rooms were very highly damped with curtains, carpet and sound absorbtion at reflection points.

Am I taking on a difficult project to get these to sound good in my room? Would I be better served by more point source speakers that are not omnis?
teeshot
4 responses Add your response
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Ohhhh man, I have dreams about MBL speakers!! I'm a big fan of very dispersive speakers - have owned Ohms and now Gallo Reference - and my dream speakers are MBLs. I love the looks, the build quality, and the sound! The price has kept me from getting some, but who knows, maybe some day???

I envy you, my friend!

-RW-
gjrad
145 posts
 
Get the 111s or 101s if you can afford them and have the right amps to drive them properly. I have the 111b MBL speakers in a dedicated 14 x 17 room which is not overly damped. I do have bass traps and the room is carpeted but that is about it. These speakers sound fantastic, you will never look back. I have owned these for over 7 years and never thought once about changing them. I am driving them with MBL 9007 amps and a Thor TA1000 preamp.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
The 111 is a fine loudspeaker that I like a lot. OTOH, the 101 is IME one of the best loudspeakers that I've ever heard.....with one caveat:

The bandpass subwoofer can overload many rooms. To my ear, they sound most neutral in a very large space. Your room is probably somewhere near the cusp, but it's hard to say whether or not it's on the right side of that divide. Personally, I'd try for an in-room audition.
gjrad
145 posts
 
Since your room is larger you should not have any problem with overloading the room with bass. My room is rather bass shy so I need all the bass the 111s can throw out, not even close to overloading my room with bass. It's forcefull but very tight. No complains here. Now using the 101s in my room is another matter, that would be too much speaker for the room. I too actually prefer the band pass woofer design of the older 111s.
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