Justifiably renowned for its game-changing – and still unique – Radialstrahler loudspeakers, German brand MBL’s three series of electronics also combine a distinctively elegant aesthetic with technical innovation to deliver a sonic performance that is, well, multi award-winning – again!
US magazine The Absolute Sound’s annual Editors’ Choice Awards select the audio components that the magazine’s editors and expert reviewers “have selected as most worthy of your consideration.” So much so, in fact, that “these are components that we ourselves would buy.”
Still unique in the world: the Radialstrahler loudspeakers
Unsurprisingly, MBL’s pioneering and peerless omni-directional loudspeaker range receives four awards, from the flagship jaw-dropping 101 Xtreme to the entry-level standmount 126.
“The 101 Xtremes simply own the third dimension,” writes reviewer Jonathan Valin. “Nothing else, dynamic or planar, sounds like these gargantuan Radialstrahlers, because very little else projects its energy from top to bottom throughout a true 360 degrees, like instruments themselves do.” “Listening to every other transducer is like going to a movie of a concert… listening to the 101 Xtremes is like going to the concert”.
One step down from the flagship is the 101 E Mk II, “always the thrill ride of the high-end audio amusement park, with sensational dynamic range, superb transients, high resolution of inner detail and the most surround-like soundstaging this side of a full bore home theater system.”
Moving from the top two models down to the company’s two entry level loudspeakers, the MBL 120, specially engineered for medium-sized rooms, “sounds fabulous” and “is the best small MBL yet”. The 126 standmount “contains much of the DNA of its bigger, upper-tier siblings but brings the cost of acquiring MBL magic way down” while creating “a holographic and immersive listening experience.”
Striving for perfection: the Reference line
MBL’s Reference line is the company’s ‘no constraints, no limits and no apologies’ flagship range of electronics and it picks up a duo of awards, for the 6010 D solid state preamplifier and 9008 A power amp.
The “superb” 6010 D “has a noise floor so incredibly low that it consistently resolves fine harmonic and dynamic details that simply aren’t audible through other preamps”. The 9008 A, meanwhile, is “a massive, high-current, high bandwidth, high power, very low distortion” monoblock, a “beast with a velvet voice” and a “bulletproof technical and sonic marvel.”
By name and by nature: the Noble line
MBL’s technically, sonically and aesthetically sophisticated Noble line equally earns two awards, again for a pre / power duo.
The N11 preamplifier “is equipped to handle just about everything in your system” but what really “makes this single-stage preamp stand out” is its noteworthy ‘unity gain’ volume control which lowers the amount of boost applied to incoming signals and thereby “audibly lowers noise, increases transparency and resolution, and expands dynamic range” – “a sonically remarkable bit of engineering”.
The N15 mono power amp is “unfailingly enjoyable, powerful and musical, fully capable of a realism that raises goosebumps and of a soundfield of head-slapping breadth, width and depth.”
‘Understated presence’: the Cadenza line
Cadenza is MBL’s entry-level series of electronics, yet its pin-sharp aesthetics and remarkable performance could give some other range-topping products a run for their money – which is no doubt why the series has picked up four Awards.
When it comes to the C51 integrated “with its soft, understated lines, svelte controls, versatile connectivity and jewelry-like finish” it might be “easy to misjudge the depth, complexity and sonic excellence” of this amplifier. To do so would of course be a mistake as the C51 is “a triumph in its category’.
The C11 preamplifier delivers “civilized sonics, both airy and open, dynamics that are lively, and dimensionality and imaging that are exceptional” and is “a joy to use”. It is also equipped with “one of the most sonically transparent analog volume controls (via a motorized potentiometer) that we’ve come across”.
The C21 stereo power amplifier sounds “more like a fine linear amp than the hybrid-switching amp it is” and offers “much of the sweetness, air and texture of MBL’s own Reference line 9011 amps”. It is, in conclusion, “an amp that can proudly stand next to the best in class”.
At the source end, the Cadenza C31 CD player “can just as reasonably be considered a ‘DAC with transport’. Either way, its performance is uncompromising” and it’s “a jewel of a player”.
Find out more and locate your nearest dealer at www.mbl.de/en
Discover the complete list of Award winners in the March 2023 issue of The Absolute Sound.
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 