Lyden er også imponerende iflg. siste TAS.
Fra Editor's Choice Awards
MBL 9011
MONOBLOCKS
$74,000
Driven by the MBL 6010 D preamp,
the massive, super-powerful,
ultra-expensive MBL 9011
monoblocks are superior by a
wide margin to any other solidstate
and, frankly, to any other
tube amps JV has auditioned
past or present.
The ne plus ultra of front-to-back transparency,
low-level resolution,
large- and small-scale dynamics, low-end extension, detail, authority (unbelievable!), and
treble speed, detail, and punch, the 9011s are also blessed with gorgeous tone color and a
top-to-bottom liquidity that JV
has never before experienced
with transistors.
The first amplifiers JV has heard that
fully combine the signal virtues
of solid-state amps (extension, resolution, speed, sock) with those of triode tube amps (liquidity,
rich timbres, and very low-level harmonic and dynamic
detail), giving you nearly the whole note of any instrument, from starting transient to (and
this is a first with solid-state) lingering decay.
MBL 6010 D
$18,920
In many ways, the MBL 6010 D is not just the best solid-state preamp, it is the best preamp JV has
auditioned. Its noise floor is so incredibly low that it consistently resolves fine harmonic and
dynamic details that simply arent audible on other very fine preamps.
At the same time its transient speed and authority are
beyond compare. (The thing is in a class of its own when it comes to the bottom octavesand the
top ones.)
To ice the cake, it has absolutely gorgeous tone color,
the same liquidity and transparency that so distinguish MBLs 9010 amps, excellent imaging and
soundstaging (though JV has heard its superior in stage width), nonpareil ambience retrieval, and
the kind of living presence that can make instruments and vocalists sound there.
There was a time when JV thought tubes
owned low-level resolution, particularly
with instrumental decays.
The 6010 D has shown him that
that time has come and gone.
MBL 1621 A CD TRANSPORT AND
1611 E DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER
$42,510 ($21,010 and $21,500)
If youre heavily invested in Red Book CD, you may not know how good it can get until you audition
this pricey-but-worth-it transport and DAC from MBL.
If there is better CD playback, JV hasnt heard
itand hes heard and reviewed some mighty fine CD and SACD players.
It isnt just the magical level of musical detailmuch of it
previously unheardthat this combo is capable of eliciting from silver disc, nor its unusually lifelike
timbres, nor the unparalleled extension, definition, and slam of its bass.
It is the MBLs overall gestaltthe analog-like taste of
dimensionality and solidity that it adds to virtually every CDthat truly astonishes.
No, the 1621/1611 isnt a Walker turntable; it is darker, less delicately detailed, airy, bloomy, and
3-D than great analog playback.
That said, it comes as close to LPs virtues as any CD player JV has had in his system, with the bonuses of CDs superior bass, sea-swell large-scale dynamics,
lightning transients, and often astonishing clarity.
MBL 101E
$46,900
MBLs stunning-looking, four-way, omnidirectional adialstrahler References simply do it all: a treble
like Maggies ribbons, a midrange like SoundLabs stats,
bass like Nearfields eight 18" subwoofers, soundstaging and coherence like Kharmas RM 3.2s,
dynamics like Avantgardes Trios, and a disappearing act second to none.
To top all this off, the 101 Es have more lifelike presence
than any speaker JV has heard in several decadesactually sounding fool-you real at select moments on select cuts and are more convincingly stereophonic
listened to off-axis than anything else around.
Like the 111 Es, the 101 Es require careful room setup and treatment and, unlike the 111s, they are a bear
to drive.
For the ultimate in sonics (the best, overall, JV has heard in his home), you will also need the MBL 6010 D preamp and 9011 monoblock amplifiersmaking for
a very expensive system.
That said, the 101 Es also fare quite well with much more affordable Edge, Pass, Joule, and Kharma
amplification.
JVs new reference.