MBL Conquers Room Acoustics

MBL's Jeremy Bryan had an interesting problem when set up his system at Axpona, in that while the hotel room was large, it was also double-story, with a 16' ceiling and an acoustic nightmare of a mezzanine level at the rear. Jeremy, shown in the photo next to the unanticipated in-room stairway, solved it by packing the mezzanine floor with queen-size mattresses that had been emptied from other hotel rooms. The system was the same used at SSI in Montreal two weeks ago—101E Mk.2 omnidirectional speakers driven by gigantic 9011 monoblock amplifiers, a 6010D preamp, a 1621A CD transport, and a 1611F D/A converter—and I listened to the same hi-rez solo piano recording made by MBL's long-time chief engineer Jürgen Reis, "Walchensee, Mondnacht," performed by Martin Vatter, from the album Klangbilder. Once again, the piano sound was disturbingly lifelike, with full-range dynamics.

COMMENTS
deckeda's picture

... room listeners were seated quite close to these beasties. The chair's edge barely visible at the right shows how close. What was it? 2 or 3 rows?

The 9011s had definitive control over the 101E Mk.2s, regardless of volume. Bass impacts drew enough current to dim the room lights, which were already quite subdued.

I heard something ... Chinese drums they said, that banged into everyone. People reflexively jumped. A final yell at the recording's end scared the hell out of a front row listener.

Throughout it all there was this ease, this wall of experience that filled the room, which in turn that liked the omnidirectional sources.

I couldn't however stay long enough to hear, um, real music. I've heard my share of Sonic Spectaculars before, so a minute or so of the drums was sufficient to get the point. I regret not being able to stay for well, something more musical.

soulful.terrain's picture

The lighting in this room should have been better so everyone could see the gear especially since it was located far to the left of the room once you entered in. This room stayed crowded most of the time which is a testament to MBL and the guys that handled to acoustic treatments to offset the bad room. They did a great job, the room sounded great.

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