In my humble opinion, I have never heard a more 'perfect' loudspeaker than the MBL 101's. The 111's are no slouch either.

Great review Michael.

The MBL 101E MK II and it's big brother the X-Treme comes closer than any other speakers I can think of to bringing the live performance to the listener. The power, scale, and effortless, room-filling sound really transport the listener to the artist. It cannot be emphasized enough how these speakers can convey the emotion of music. 

I heard them at AXPONA last year and at CES this year. Each time it is really an experience. I can't wait to hear the them again at the New York AV show.

Hello Michael.

Can you give your thoughts on whether or not a higher measured efficiency rating for the 101E Mk IIs would improve the sound/performance?  Is it even possible to appreciably increase efficiency with this type of design?  I am in the "High Efficiency" camp for speakers, for the most part, and find the very low 81 dB(B) measured spec of the MBLs to be somewhat of a turn-off for me.  I'm trying to imagine how this speaker would perform if it had a sensitivity rating of 90 dB or higher.

Thanks, and take care.

Allen

Snatch them up while you can!

Despite Fremer's foray into cable silliness, this was a well written, hard hitting review. The speaker's unique design and the few aspects that were measured beckon for more detailed measurements. I suspect that distortion measurements conducted at different drive levels would be more revealing of the significant challenges posed by the design of the drivers in this speaker.

Stereophile should also be putting more of its limited financial resources into supplying ancillary equipment to support reviews like this. Instead of flying more "journalists" to the next social gathering trade show, why not invest in a few hundred square feet of room treatment panels to outfit the listening room of a reviewer who intends to audition a pair of omnidirectional speakers? This exercise was a little like test driving a Bugatti Veyron in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot full of aging Floridians pushing their Ensure and Depends laden shopping carts...