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.