The Absolute Sound’s latest Editors’ Choice Awards feature the magazine’s selection of those hi-fi products that have the heft needed to ensure superb performance in larger systems and dedicated listening rooms. German MBL, no stranger to the Awards, has a raft of products from across its range that fit the bill.

In a league of their own: the game-changing Radialstrahler loudspeakers

MBL is rightly renowned for its pioneering their Radialstrahler loudspeakers, which have since remained unique in the world and arguably peerless. Perfect for high-performing systems are the range topping ‘101s’.

“How do you improve on a truly great loudspeaker, especially a sui generis one like the six-foot-tall, four-tower MBL 101 Xtreme?” wondered Jonathan Valin when the company announced its MkII edition. Valin later exclaimed “this is unbelievable!” when he heard the MkIIs, thanks to their new subwoofer stacks which deliver “16Hz notes at the same sound pressure level as 1kHz ones – resulting in a low-end extension, clarity, dimensionality and dynamic impact that [Valin had] never before experienced at home, at a show, or in anyone else’s listening room”.

This is “far and away, the best low-end reproduction JV has heard from a loudspeaker of any kind” which, when added to “the already nonpareil upper bass, midrange and treble… you end up with a sound that will raise goosebumps on just about every well-recorded track”.

One step down from the flagship Xtreme is the 101 E Mk II, “always the thrill rides 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,” says Valin. In short, they’re “more plain fun to listen to than just about anything else out there, short of the MBL Xtreme MkIIs.”

In pursuit of perfection: the ‘Reference’ line

MBL’s Reference line is the company’s ‘no constraints, no limits and no apologies’ flagship range of electronics and once again it picks up a duo of awards.

The “superb” 6010 D solid state preamplifier, which has long been one of the review team’s references, “has a noise floor so incredibly low that it consistently resolves fine harmonic and dynamic details that simply aren’t audible through other preamps”. What’s more, its “transient speed and authority are highly realistic” and, to ice the cake, “it  is neutral in tonal balance with excellent imaging and soundstaging, and superior ambience retrieval.”

The 9008 A power amp, another review team reference, 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.” It delivers “seemingly inexhaustible speed, power and plumb-the-depths resolution” with “a dark, rich, beautiful tonal palette,” resulting in  “a gorgeous bottom-up presentation with the solidity of an ebony pillar.”

A class act: the ‘Noble’ line

MBL’s technically, sonically and aesthetically sophisticated Noble line equally earns two awards, again for a pre / power duo.

Within seven inputs, seven outputs and an optional phonostage, the N11 preamplifier “is equipped to handle just about everything in your system”, but what “makes this single-stage preamp stand out” is its remarkable ‘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 “not only flat-out powerful” but also “unfailingly enjoyable and musical, fully capable of a realism that raises goosebumps and of a soundfield of head-slapping breadth, width and depth.”

The ‘Cadenza’ line: smooth, composed, satisfying – to both eye and ear

Cadenza is MBL’s entry-level series of electronics, yet its pin-sharp aesthetics and striking performance are designed to impress. This year, two source components take the Awards.

The C31 CD player can, in today’s computer-driven marketplace, “just as reasonably be considered a ‘DAC with transport’. Either way, its performance is uncompromising” and it’s “a jewel of a player”.

The relatively new C41 network player (“streamer / DAC / digital preamplifier”) was one of the winners of the The Absolute Sound’s 2025 Digital Product of the Year Awards. “It’s that good.” It was also one of the stars of last year’s Munich High End Show, when MBL used it as their sole source component (driving two pairs of the company’s 9011 amps and their 101 Xtreme MkII loudspeakers) and the magazine’s Robert Harley and Alan Taffel both named the system Best of Show.

MBL C41 network player

MBL C41 network player (in white) – lifestyle image

To find out more about the MBL range and locate your nearest UK specialist retailer, visit www.mbl.de/en

Discover the complete list of Editors’ Choice Award winners in the March issue of The Absolute Sound.