My system currently comprises the following components:
MBL 111E Speakers
MBL 6010D Preamp
MBL 1621 Transport
MBL 1611 DA Converter
MBL 9008 Power Amplifiers
Rockport Capella 2 Air Bearing/Vacuum T.Table
Rockport 7000 Air Bearing Arm
Clearaudio Insider Reference Wood Cartridge
Kondo M7 KSL Phono Stage
Kondo ANScz Step Up
Kondo LPz Interconnects
Kondo SPz Speaker Cables
Shunyata Power Conditioner
Finite Element Pagoda Master Reference Stands
Kondo, Nordost,Gryphon & NBS Power Cords.
Numerous tweaks eg Shakti Hollographs, Black Diamond Racing
footers, Aurios, Finite Element Cerapucs.
I have been involved in this Hobby and the pursuit of the Ultimate Sound for over 25 years and feel I have come round full circle. I started with powerful solid state amps (Krells, Gryphons, Classe, VTL, etc ) and Dynamic speakers ( Duntechs, Infinitys, Sonus Fabers as well as Apogees and Martin Logan electrostatics, Audio Notes etc ) I've owned over 30 pairs of high end speakers over the years.
I then got the Single Ended High Efficiency bug and worked my way up to a Kondo( Shinri 300B, M7 Silver preamp, M7 KSL Phono etc as well as an Audio Note DAC 5 and CEC TLO Transport ), with Avantgarde Duo Speakers.
I was very content for a while until one day I went to my Audio Dealer The Audio Connection here in Sydney Australia. Josef Riediger the owner who I've known for many years was setting up an MBL Reference System for another customer and asked if I would like to have a listen. Up to that time I had heard many good quality high end systems but none had tempted me from my Kondo and Avantgarde set up.
Unfortunately this fateful day was to be different. What I heard was so natural and musical it shocked me, particularly coming from powerful solid state amps and inefficient speakers. It was treading that fine line combining the best of valves and solid state. I couldn't sleep that night and realised I had to have that sound. As you can guess I ended up buying the complete MBL Reference system which had a synergy I couldn't get by mixing my beloved Kondo gear.
So here I am going full circle, as I never thought I would be going back to poerful transistor amps and inefficient speakers. However the MBL gear is unique and shows you can never generalise or have preconceived ideas.
The other amazing component I was lucky to purchase was the Rockport Capella air bearing T.Table and arm. Andy Payor does not know what compromise is. It absolutely embarassed my earlier T.Table which was not cheap. I would love to one day get a Sirius 3 which is the bigger brother to mine but I'm more than happy with the Capella.
As always there is a never ending search for perfection. Looking forward to your feedback.
What a wonderful system! I had the 121s and was blown away. I have always had a thing for that mbl magic of which you speak even when I was listening to the old 101Cs that were way too bright and had all sorts of other warts, I still though all the good they did far outweighed their negatives and now that they have sorted most/all of these speakers flaws WATCH OUT!
But I do have a question for you: you are using the Shakti Hollographs with the mbls, and yet I was under the impression that these worked poorly with omni-speakers. Have you really gotten positive results with these or are they hold-overs from your direct-radiator (horn) days?
I remember using VPI magic bricks for quite a while after I got a new (air-suspended) rack because they worked so well on my old (rigid) rack. Then, one day, I took them off to prove to a non-believer friend that they did, in fact, work only to find that they had simply been KILLING my system, draining its life away, when placed on the new rack! It was not that the bricks were bad per se, just that they did not work synergistically in that set-up.
I wonder about the Shakti Hollographs, but then maybe you know something about them that I do not? I am interested in your observations. Cheers, nice system and happy listening.
