“Over the years our editorial staff has hotly debated just which loudspeakers have had the greatest impact on high-end audio,” says US magazine The Absolute Sound in its recent ‘Ultimate Directory of High End Loudspeakers and Cables 2024’  issue. The result of that debate is a definitive list of 15 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time, which includes German MBL’s 101E.

The list focuses on those loudspeakers that have “introduced a new technology, changed the market, influenced future designs or revealed some previous unheard aspect of sound quality.”

MBL’s 101E omnidirectional Radialstrahler, now in its MkII edition, is without a doubt a worthy inclusion.

“In the history of high-end audio, there have been a number of fascinating and genuinely innovative drivers,” writes reviewer Jonathan Valin. While several of them failed to catch on for various reasons, MBL’s Radialstrahler was “truly ingenious” and “a brilliant concept” that has stood the test of time.

The Radialstrahler produces “the most enveloping soundstage this side of a surround system, absolutely thrilling large scale dynamics and timbres that are very true to life.” In a class of their own and still unique in the world, MBL’s Radialstrahlers have since grown into a range of world-leading loudspeakers while also continuing to push the envelope of the technology to further refine their design and sound. As a result, they “set a standard of excellence and sheer lifelike excitement,” not least in the company’s superlative flagship 101 XTreme MkII, an advancement of the 101E commended here and “one of the great loudspeakers currently on the market,” says The Absolute Sound.

If you’re the kind of music lover or audiophile who likes to dig into the tech of a system and to really understand what makes a particular design perform so uniquely well, then you’re in luck, since The Absolute Sound recently recorded a presentation by MBL’s chief designer Jürgen Reis, who is notably open and relaxed about discussing the whys and hows of the MBL’s omnidirectional approach. You can view the video below, and also read the transcript of the presentation at www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/mbls-juergen-reis-explains-the-101-x-treme-mk-ii-and-much-more

 

Read more about MBL’s unique Radialstrahler loudspeaker range and locate your nearest specialist retailer at www.mbl.de/en

Discover the complete list of The Absolute Sound’s ‘15 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time’ in the magazine’s 2024 Directory issue www.theabsolutesound.com