Rowland Amps with MBL Speakers vs. All MBL System

After listening to the all MBL system at HE2005, if in the budget, I would keep it all MBL. Why change anything that can sound this terrific. The 116 speakers were absolutely more musical than any speaker I have auditioned in it's price range (in fact way above it's price range). It was in my opinion (and many others I spoke with) the best sounding music at the show. This was the only system I heard that demonstrated the dynamics and pace of live music. I tried numerous cd's I am intimately familiar with and I was simply amazed. I returned to this room 5 times and I never heard anything but great music (although I could pass on the Sheffield drums cd demo, who listens to this stuff in their home! Not me!). In all fairness I did not attend any of the Singer rooms as they seem to be more interested in their demo schedule than their customers (another opinion shared by many).

I appreciate everyone's input regrading the MBL speakers matching with my Rowland amp.

Having very little exposure to MBL, I now would like feedback on the sonic qualities of the MBL "Noble" amplifiers.

I have experienced solid state amps that (to my ears) offer very different sonic atributes.

For example, I will compare Krell to Rowland. Though at first the Krell FPB amps sounded impressive, to my ears, they eventually sounded sterile and ultimately fatiguing. Moving from Krell to Rowland brough in a lushy "warmer" rich midrange that really pulls me into the music.

Though Krell's bass "slam" was more powerful, Rowland goes just as low with lots of energy & offers a more "refined" sound that may not hit as hard, but is much more natural in its detail.

Another atribute that I like about Rowland's midrange is the presentation when listening to 70's/80's rock recordings that have a crappy recording quality. These were much harsher on the ears through the Krell amps...to the point that I could only enjoy them in the car.

Given that comparison, based on your experience, how would you describe the sound of MBL's amps?

Would the MBL amps lean towards a "warm" sound, like the Rowland amps?

How would they compare to the Rowland 302 in: frequency extension, quiet operation/self noise, speed, bass control & slam, etc?

Again, I appreciate whatever experience you can share.

Hi,

I recently upgraded to MBL 7008 (int. amp in Noble line). I previously had McIntosh C46/MC402 and still have Chord components. I think the MBL amp is very, very good. I've found it to have a somewhat lush midrange, great slam and bottom end kick, very extended, somewhat analytical treble, high pace and rythm - it's definitely a high current design. It is dead silent and build quality is very high. I've been told that it would be a good match for the MBL 121 speaker, but if you go further up the MBL speaker chain, it would be best to go to the 8011 or above.

I currently am driving a full compliment of Mbl speakers with Chord Electronics equipment and I think they sound fantastic together on anything/everything I have thrown at them! I have 101E's on the front L&R, 111RC center channel and 121's on the rear surrounds. I have a Chord DSP 8000 7.1 processor, Chord PM 6000 mono-amps on the front L&R and two Chord SPM 1200c's for the center and surrounds. I was lucky enough to audition the MBL 9008's and new Pass Labs X350.5's at home in my actual system in place of the two Chord 6000's and they both also sounded very good, but I preferred the sound with all the Chord pieces working together. Please understand the Mbl and Pass Labs amps are extrememly good pieces also and I can't think of 1 negative thing to say about them based on the performance in my system! FYI, I rated the X350.5's next best followed by the Mbl 9008's. It is hard to put my finger on exactly why or what caused the Chord amps to sound better to me in my system/room but maybe it is because I am also using a Chord processor and/or the combo with the my Esoteric UX-1.? The Chord pieces are really pretty amazing though in my viewpoint as the 6000's seem to very easily throw out a clean and quiet 1500 w/channel at 4 ohms without even breating hard or getting very hot!

One thing I have found that you probably already know, is that you have to have some pretty serious power/current at 4 ohms to really let the Mbl's, especially the 101E's, perform up to their capability.

I own Rowland 201's and plan on using them on the mbl 111E's.
My friend is using the mbl 5011 pre with his 201's and it's spectacular drving his Avalons.
I just took delivery of the mbl 6010D pre and hope to ultimately get the 101E spks. when I do, I will first try using two sets of 201's in a bi-amp configuration on the 101E's. There should be more than enough power and the cost compated to the mbl 9006's is so much less.