I just last week purchased the 101e's replacing the Alto Be's I had. Thought it would be fun to show the start of a major upgrade, and then as I am adding room treatments, changing the decor, and changing equipment, to show the changes and the thought processes behind it. I have an open architecture house, with glass along one side, and as this is our living room, a way to figure out the aestetics. Challenges await! Comments or suggestions welcome. I got the MBLs primarily because the kitchen, family room, and dining area are all pretty much open, and I want great sound whatever we are doing in the primary listening space. To me, the best music should be for all my family to enjoy, even my daughter with her AFI fetish. The sweet spot matters, but more important to me is when we are having dinner, or hanging out, everybody gets to enjoy the music. The MBLs are worlds bettter than the Alto's in this regard from the first time I fired them up. I had a very very nice, clean system with the EmmLabs direct to the MC2000 and then the Altos, but I felt I was missing alot, and there is a ton of slap echo in the house. So here's the start. As I add, subtract and change, pix will follow. Thanks for looking.
My open architecture house mates well with omnis. My number one reason for purchase
HRS mrx 1921-3v
two shelf, in real curly maple. Visually stunning, and works well at vibration control
EMM Labs dcc-2, cdsd
non-SE units. The best I have had in my system but I have a problem giving somebody 5000 usd for an upgrade 6 months after I buy a unit.
Symposium Series 2 RollerBlocks
under the 101e's. Better inner dynamics than the bigger ones by far, and much better than spikes on hardwood floor, the bass locks in and is more tuneful, three under each speaker
MBL 6010d bal/w/mc
Preamp is about worlds better than running the Meitner direct to amp... I got it balanced, with MC cartridge module, it is just a fantastic pre-amp in every way, plus it adds the ability to quad-amp.. so I am trying tubes on top and solid state on da bottom!
MBL 9011
Monoblock amplifiers, I have tried, Halcro DM-88, MBL 9008, Accuphase, McIntosh MC200(still my fave amp of all time) AR vt100mkII, ref210... and the winner was... the big monos. They visually overpower the room, they are bulky, my wife says they look like coffins, but, Houston we have ignition
Tara Power Screen
replaced Shunyata Hydra. Instruments sound like instruments now
Tara The One bi-wired
After trying a ton of cables, this was the best. I still want to try 0.8s though.
Tara 0.8
As the Meitner sounds better balanced, but the preamp has less circuitry single-ended, I am trying both.. the balanced is punchier, more dynamic, the single ended is fuller, more harmonically rich, still can;t decide
Transrotor Tourbillon
3 motor, 3 arm potential turntable, I bought a used version, so it does not have the magnetic conversion
Graham Engineering Phantom
tonearm. why? I don't know, had to start somewhere
Transfiguration Orpheus
so far, I like it, very smooth, but I have to do something with the bass. I am just letting it run in right now
Gerrym5, thanks for the recommendations and compliments. I feel very fortunate with the view, the house and the system. All our way beyond my wildest dreams or hopes when I was growing up, they just kinda happenned. I think that first, I will ensure that the phono pre inside of the MBL 6010d is good, maybe bring in an Aestetix or Art Audio pre. Then I will attack the extra arms. What do you like about the Audionote wire? I have always liked Cardas cable, but never loved it. It always seems warm, inviting, and ultimately not very realistic. As turntable stuff is pretty hard to audition, I am going to have to rely on you guys' recommendations much heavier than in the past. Nobody that I know wants to bring a few arm/cartridge combos over to the house to let you borrow them for a week or two ;) no matter what the reviewers claim.
Congrats! Great looking view, room and music system must sound wonderful. On the Graham arm wiring, try Audio Note AN-Vx. It's very musical. On a second arm decide on a cartridge first. Your Graham has so much flexibility now for a wide cartridge variety with additional arm wands. There's tweaking involved when switching so a second arm might be a better solution. I'll recommend a Schroeder DPS arm with an Allaerts MC1B MK II cartridge. You love this combination.
Hi Dev, thoughts? In my old house, I had watt/puppies in the home theatre. Then, as I had money, I wanted to redo the living room as we spent much time in it. So I went through listening to about 10 pairs of speakers, both in the house and at dealer's, and eventually just bought another pair of watt/puppies.
See where I am going with this? For me, if I like a sound, and I am going to listen a lot, then I am going to go with the sound I liked in the first place. I wanted to go with something cheaper, and ended up with actually a better system in the living room, and wasted a lot of money.
So my advice, go with what you picked already, or some iteration thereof:)
Hi Chrisla I also had Revels but the Salons for aprox two years and tried everything and have to say I don't miss them. Replaced them with the W/P7s which I preferred but then replaced them with the Eggleston Andra's which were a big improvement and now the MBL 101E's WOW!
Did you get the pics I sent you?
Now that this system seems to be settling down and all I'm doing is enjoying but also waiting for the CAT's to arrive and then the Bernings I now am thinking about gear for my designated room as it sits empty.
Should this room surpass my current system set-up or possibly just be different? I'm not sure what route I want to go with. I went over last night to the persons home who bought my gear that was originally set-up in this room to have a listen and assist with dialing in, speakers were the Avalon Isis and VTL 750's and VTL 7.5 pre. Main reason I sold these is that they just didn't fill the room and I tried all kinds of combos, I have to say now that I have the 101's it was pretty hard listening to those Isis even though they are a great speaker. I much prefer the MBL's by a far margin.
Maybe I'll get a pair of Asento M speakers, when I went over to hear a pair of CAT JL3 mono blocks not the Sig's that I'm getting and heard his system it sounded great and the speakers look stunning also. In the back of my mind I was thinking about the MBL Extremes but have decided to decline as the price is just to high, maybe I should move my 101's to the designated room and pick-up a pair of 111's for upstairs, oh the decisions.
Hi Pantherdude. I am not allowed in the kitchen, and my office and office bathroom has been totally taken over by her. Also, the home theatre room has been suborned by her kohantsa? and a nice bedroom setup for her mom. So.... I gave up two rooms for 1/2 of one:) that still needs her approval ... so I am not sure I gots the best part of the deal.
I know of David Weinhart but do not know him. He was pretty insistent I come up to his showroom whereas my dealer has been very good at coming to my house. I would much rather audition things in my home, with my stuff, once I picked out the speakers, than go anywhere else... too many variables and this stuff is too expensive to make mistakes on. I once bought Revel Studios because they sounded great in a showroom, but I never could cotton to them at my house, no matter what I did with them.
System edited: Just added a turntable finally. Used Transrotor Tourbillon with Graham arm and Orpheus cartridge. I am using the internal preamp of the 6010d, which may or may not change. I want to run in the system, and think about the tonearm cable. It came with a Cardas Goldencross? Any suggestions for a cable change would be appreciated. This turntable is absolutely stunning looking though. Why get this particular system? I figure a three motor system inherently should be pretty good, and one has to start somewhere. The Graham is highly rated by most everybody, I like how it looks as well... in practice however, it seems pretty tweaky though, I'm kinda scared of messing with it. The Orpheus I have heard in two different systems, and hey, if I am really concerned, I can try more arms and cartridges, I can mount three after all. I can say that it is much more transparent and detailed than the previous basis 2001 and Koetsu Black that I had before.
Hi Chrisla send me a personal email and I'll forward back some over to you. I sent a couple pics over to Tboooe already and once I get the CAT's and Berning amps I'll send more.
Hi Chris, regarding your amps that is what is in the back of my mind and that is why I'm going through this exercise to educate myself and in the end not have to say what if.
Regarding connections for the amps, I've purchased the CAT's so really no connections here involved and which ever one I prefer stays and the other goes, it will be that easy or possibly not but in the end but it will be fun.
I really am looking foward to this!
I will then some time next year get the MBL's and compare.
nice deal, Dev. Glad you like your new MBLs. You may very well like the amps you are getting, and I am not surprised the Pass are good matches. They could very well end up the winners. I ended up getting a great deal on the amps, and they are, afterall, voiced for the speakers. I not have the time nor connections you seem to have to get all those amps, very jealous you get to try the CATs with them.
Hi Chrisla I read your answer on Tboooe's thread regarding the 9011's, Thanks. I am really enjoying my new MBL's and really happy with my purchase along with waiting to get a silver pair, great colour.
They are sounding marvelous with my current amp set-up being the Pass X600.5's but I can't wait to get the CAT JL3 Sig MK2 mono blocks which I'm told I'll get by year end and also a pair of Berning Quadrature-Z mono blocks which are scheduled for Jan. These are two marvelous sets of amps from two different designers both being well known for their designs and both amazing pieces, this should be real interesting I just can't wait. I'm more excited about getting these right now then getting my new Bently GT but then again only because I won't get it until later next year, gotta order these babies and I'm on the list.
I am really lucky that I seem to have a great room, not perfect but then again nothing is. I have had a few different speakers in this room and got them all to sound great and it sure is a bonus already have this all figured out because all I had to do is put the MBL's in the same place. I played around with the toe in along with putting them onto Sistrum Platforms which have worked with every other speaker I have placed them underneath.
Some time next year I'll get a pair of MBL 9008's to compare with which ever amp I prefer and stays in my system, this way I'll know and never have to say what if I tried.
Hey Snopro, I actually have a little bit going on, the rug was picked specifically for diffusion, and it has a pad under it. The plant and rack actually do diffuse the sound, I've tried the rack on the side, and gotten a different balance. And the fireplace rock is actually much more diverse in terms of different depths and angles than it looks in a pix. The couches, too, are very absorbant, I had them done in microfibre vs leather as it is more acoustically absorbant. AND, the ceiling is much like an acoustic venue, it arcs up from the state about 6 feet. So its not so bad. But it will be fun to try and fix it, while I get WAF:) If I was still a bachelor...I'd make the whole back wall a maple resonator. put the coach right agains the slider, get rid of the coffee table, and move my chair up..... wives, jeez.
Smart move, I can't believe that so many audiophiles still don't use any type of room treatments. The room is very important in your system achieving its full potential. Good Luck!
I agree with your opinion, the One biwires should be ok. I use MIT Oracle V1.1 speaker cable but I found the mid range not enough so I will try the One. Thanks for your advice. Best Regards
Hi Tellyfung. I have tried many speaker cables and overall, the Taras are my favorite by far for these speakers. I am using The One biwires. Most everybody I know who tries the Taras with 101e's ends up keeping it. The Tara has added a little extra bloom and realism for me in the midrange, and it seems to attenuate the high end just a hair, and the MBLs are tipped up in the high end. It is a pretty deep soundstage, although not particularly wide. So I have my speakers farther apart relative to the listening area than I ever have. I have been carefully building the system I have. First was source, then speakers, then preamp, then amp, and then speaker wires. Next up, final decision (sure) on interconnects.
Hi Molly,thanks for your kind words and words of wisdom re room treatments and turntable. I am very surprised, based on what I have read, that you like the SME better than the Walker, but, hey, nice to know. I think for room treatments, I am going to build a resonator as part of the fireplace, maybe move the rack to the side and put another natural shakti solidifier (read: plant) on that side, I don;t have any 45 degree angles in the house, so probably I need to diffuse rather than absorb. I tried an absorber for fun directly in front of the fireplace, it wasnt good. It fact it really took some life out of the music. I have a mid-l0w bass hump that I need to address though.
Hi Des, I am suspicioning that you will like the 600.5 with the 101s. M BLs tend to be a tad sweet, and the 600s should counter that. Hey, the Bentley GT convertible is a sweet car, my friend has one and loves it. Gotta envy you for that. oh yeah, speakers are about 60" apart, but again that is part of the first reflection thing I am trying to change.
Hi Chris, I have enjoyed following the evolution of your MBL 101E based system. I have taken a similar road and have come to many of the same conclusions that you have. I have the black 101s and do use and love the MBL 9008 amps (a perfect match for the 101s). I just purchased the 6010 pre amp and use the excellent Weiss transport and dac. I sold my Walker Proscenium Gold air bearing arm and table and replaced it with the SME 30 and Brueur arm. Here is a wonderful sounding combination that is trouble free. As for cartridges, you can't go wrong with the Dynavector DV XV1S, which I have used for 4 years, though I recently switched to the Clearaudio Insider Reference Wood whose strengths compliment the MBL speakers and electronics. I have had very good results with the Kubala Sosna bi-wire speaker cables and am in the process of sorting out the interconnects. The Audience Adept Response line conditioner works very well on the line level gear. I do not use conditioning on the amps. I love your house. Mine is a 2 year old soft contemporary on a great lot too - no ocean though. My room, like yours, has floor to ceiling windows on the left side. The length is similar to yours (31') but I am blessed with more width (18.5' minimum) but the dedicated audio room is in the lower level with a ceiling that is angled from the front (9') to the back (11'). I also have a fire place, but designed it on the right wall, about even with the listening position and it juts into the room at a 45 degree angle. Love those fire places, but did not want anything between the speakers. Decisions like this are easy when you design and build from scratch and have a dedicated room. The one thing that is different in our systems is damping or lack of it. This is an issue because it intersets both the sonic and aesthetic aspects of the presentation and you, obviously have done a thoughtful job in both. I found the using RealTraps (9) more or less in a "U" around the 101s did more to improve the sound than most of the electronic and cable changes. I only use 2 of them to the left, in front of the windows, but they barely block out the view. To my surprise, they actually look very good in the room. I wouldn't use them in a living area like yours, but they make the front end of my audio room look like a well designed studio. You have a knowledgable MBL dealer in your area, Weinhart Audio. Have you talked to David Weinhart about your needs? Send me your email and I will forward some pictures. They may give you ideas. I will follow your progress. We are on the same quest. I have been passionate about audio for over 30 years and nothing I have experienced (price and time no object) has come close to the MBL experience. I have probably uttered this a hundred times in the past, but I really do believe this is basically my final system. I really did not want to go all one brand (as in MBL) but there is a synergy there that I don't think can be beat. Of course, others will disagree, but that's what makes this a hobby and not science. Best of everything to you and your wonderful system and environment.
