Will either of the speakers work in 17X17 room.

"Having heard the MBL 101e in a big room I really wanted them to work. .....If i just had a few more feet in both directions...."

You and me both!

As much as I like mbl, I would be hard pressed to justify the extra expense.

My large OHMs are a perfect fit in my good sized L shaped room, where the room is decent size but distance to walls possible is constrained. It's the best sound I have certainly ever owned and having heard mbl and other very good high end systems, still floats my boat. I do not know if I would switch even if I had the room and extra dollars needed for mbl.

mbl will work but probably are designed for a larger room in order to realize the full value.

If you have heard and like mbl it might be worth checking out the OHM speaker line. There are large and small OHMs sized specifically for specific size rooms. If you like them , you might save a lot of $$$$S in the process as well. Plus there is a generous in-home audition policy for these as well so if they do not work out, little is lost in the process.

mbl 101e bass was fine, "tight and controlled", articulate detailed, etc. when I heard them , but audition room was fairly large and well tuned acoustically.

I would have some concern they might be a bit much in the bass in a 17X17 room out of the box, but probably ways to tame it if needed, but be prepared to treat out the room accordingly as needed.

Personally, I would want to be able to assure at least 5-6 feet to walls minimal in each direction to feel that I could set up a pair of 101s optimally in a room. That's one of the key to unleashing the mbl magic that others cannot touch. If not, then I think there are better options for a room like that.

If you like the mbl and room size is an issue, maybe smaller more monitor size mbl may work or again maybe consider the OHMs. GUaranteed one of the OHMs will be rightsized for that room, and they are designed to be able to go closer to walls than pure omnis like mbl.

Big expensive speakers are not always better. The room is the limiting factor. GEtting top notch sound in a room that size need not cost a small fortune. Quality speakers (and suitable amps to drive them) can be smaller and typically also not cost as much as their larger brethren.