MBl 101e MKII Vs

G

griffithstrife

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Hey guys, I am currently using the 116fs. Great speaker, but some music just sucks on them. Thinking about moving to the 101e, but scared some music will still suck.

Is there anything you guys think I should listen to? Any speakers you guys think should be in the mix?

My problem with the 116f was with dance music. For example Dance off by Macklemore Sounded amazing on my Sopra 2s, it sounded equally well on my 802d3s.

But it feels empty on the 116f, I Really thought about the 801d4 or the magico A5 or S6 I think. But damn they can't compare to the MBL on any other genre.

Oh well, maybe I am just acting stupid, maybe Dance Off just sucks now.
 
griffithstrife said:
Hey guys, I am currently using the 116fs. Great speaker, but some music just sucks on them. Thinking about moving to the 101e, but scared some music will still suck.

Is there anything you guys think I should listen to? Any speakers you guys think should be in the mix?

My problem with the 116f was with dance music. For example Dance off by Macklemore Sounded amazing on my Sopra 2s, it sounded equally well on my 802d3s.

But it feels empty on the 116f, I Really thought about the 801d4 or the magico A5 or S6 I think. But damn they can't compare to the MBL on any other genre.

Oh well, maybe I am just acting stupid, maybe Dance Off just sucks now.
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Dance Off sucks, you are right. :)
However, since you like EDM and already have a good size room, consider adding a couple of subs (if you have not done so yet). BTW, I listen to and enjoy EDM music with the 101E (plus two subs).
 
nicoff said:
Dance Off sucks, you are right. :)
However, since you like EDM and already have a good size room, consider adding a couple of subs (if you have not done so yet). BTW, I listen to and enjoy EDM music with the 101E (plus two subs).
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Yeah I feel the same at the moment. What subs do you use?

Diablo 300 should run them till i get something more robust.
 
Magico S5 mk3 would be my vote for everything you’ve mentioned: amp, music style, room size, etc. Dance Off sounds amazing on them. PM me if you have any questions. I’m a Magico dealer (and MBL).
 
I also use a pair of 113s in my theatre. There will be no lack of bass with that pair. For me in the theatre I want speed and the JL delivers in spades but for music you might do better with REL.
 
Well, they arrived yesterday, and all my fear and trepidation vanished. As if Houdini himself whipped out his privates and shouted Abracadabra.



Everything I was missing with the 116f, is found in the 101e MKII, when I transitioned from Sopra 2s to 802d3. I really missed that bass, the 802 had great bass. But it was never boomy even when it should have been. But the strings and voices just sounded so much better.

But when I moved to the 116f I had everything the 802d3 had, except low volume listening. So now I no longer had the boomy boomy when called for, or low volume listening. I did however upgrade from a beautiful sweet spot of sound, to a force field of sound.



I was very nervous about the upgrade; I honestly was worried the trade off would be minuscule. I am very happy to say all glory to God, I now have the boomy boomy boom when called for, low volume listening and a holodeck of sound.



Absolutely amazing speakers, the thing that really gave me the courage was when I checked out the S5 MKIII. They sounded like high end Wilson speakers, not my cup of tea. But when I saw price of the S5, I realized, if that is an 80k speaker then what will the 101e be in the next 5 years?
 
griffithstrife said:
Well, they arrived yesterday, and all my fear and trepidation vanished. As if Houdini himself whipped out his privates and shouted Abracadabra.



Everything I was missing with the 116f, is found in the 101e MKII, when I transitioned from Sopra 2s to 802d3. I really missed that bass, the 802 had great bass. But it was never boomy even when it should have been. But the strings and voices just sounded so much better.

But when I moved to the 116f I had everything the 802d3 had, except low volume listening. So now I no longer had the boomy boomy when called for, or low volume listening. I did however upgrade from a beautiful sweet spot of sound, to a force field of sound.



I was very nervous about the upgrade; I honestly was worried the trade off would be minuscule. I am very happy to say all glory to God, I now have the boomy boomy boom when called for, low volume listening and a holodeck of sound.



Absolutely amazing speakers, the thing that really gave me the courage was when I checked out the S5 MKIII. They sounded like high end Wilson speakers, not my cup of tea. But when I saw price of the S5, I realized, if that is an 80k speaker then what will the 101e be in the next 5 years?
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You want “boomy boomy boom” bass? There’s a new one…luckily you have some bass adjustments on the 101.

Where are you located?

The 101 is already over $100k now with new tariff pricing here in the US.
 
Houston, TX I know everyone says bad bass is boomy. But songs like pursuit of happiness by Kid Cudi (steve aoki dance remix) are supposed to sound boomy. But some speakers can't pull it off
 
griffithstrife said:
Houston, TX I know everyone says bad bass is boomy. But songs like pursuit of happiness by Kid Cudi (steve aoki dance remix) are supposed to sound boomy. But some speakers can't pull it off
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If you record boomy sounding bass intentionally, any high resolution speaker that has deep bass capability will play the bass back with all the boom intact.
 
I hope this isn't getting too off track, I had a Krell system at one point and the bass control was so drastic even Rap didn't boom like it did on other systems. The bass was there it was so tight, no flab was allowed. That was with an older series of Dynaudio Contour. I typically don't listen to Rap it was just noteworthy the experience of such control.
 
mep said:
If you record boomy sounding bass intentionally, any high resolution speaker that has deep bass capability will play the bass back with all the boom intact.
Click to expand...
In theory sure 100, but that has not been my experience at all. The 802D3 I owned and the 801D4 I tested where not capable of the boom. They both delivered beautiful clean sound, but no boom. The 116f delivered an even more subdued bass.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I hope this isn't getting too off track, I had a Krell system at one point and the bass control was so drastic even Rap didn't boom like it did on other systems. The bass was there it was so tight, no flab was allowed. That was with an older series of Dynaudio Contour. I typically don't listen to Rap it was just noteworthy the experience of such control.
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Yes exactly I know the exact feeling, when I first got the 802D3 I thought I needed a new amp. Tried a bunch of stuff no improvement. After a bit I bought a sub, the benefits of the 802 plus sub was spectacular compared to the sopra 2.
 
griffithstrife said:
In theory sure 100, but that has not been my experience at all. The 802D3 I owned and the 801D4 I tested where not capable of the boom. They both delivered beautiful clean sound, but no boom. The 116f delivered an even more subdued bass.
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Then maybe the boom isn't real and only shows up on junk speakers.
 
mep said:
Then maybe the boom isn't real and only shows up on junk speakers.
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Well sure if I was some sort of freak of nature, I could easily see that point. If I was some binary being who could only see black or white 100%.

But being a person who understands society, I get that individuals have different needs and tastes.

The Sopra while being a high end speaker, was aimed at people who wanted to party. Maybe even designed to sound more boomy, to attract the younger crowd.

The 802s well I feel they B&W thought any boom, no matter how small or called for. Would be seen as a failure to their listeners.

The 116f I just believe did not have bass, I honestly feel MBL just did the best they could to fit it to price. Make no mistake, they are amazing speakers. But all of them are.

I personally hate the sound of Wilson and the Magico line, but at no point in time have I considered them to be shit. Shit to me yes of course, but that is my opinion. The fact is they are beautiful, well made works of art, just not for me.

Allow me to give you an example, I love The 10th Kingdom a mini series from 1999. I love it, it makes my heart happy. That is a fact I love it. But just because I personally love it, does not mean it is of quality. I honestly tell people its dog shit, but I love it.

So maybe the boom isnt real, well thats ok because I found the stuff that makes me believe.
 
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griffithstrife said:
Houston, TX I know everyone says bad bass is boomy. But songs like pursuit of happiness by Kid Cudi (steve aoki dance remix) are supposed to sound boomy. But some speakers can't pull it off
Click to expand...
For dance music, I would consider a separate speaker with a lot of headroom like the JBL K2, 4367s or s4700s. The old saw about any speaker should play ALL genres of music is BS. I have 5 different pairs I rotate in and out for various reasons and they all have different strengths. My dealer on the West coast just received the latest MBL 101 and they're superb within their limits, which are real. The sensitivity is an abysmal 83 db or thereabouts, suboptimal for EDM.
 
puroagave said:
For dance music, I would consider a separate speaker with a lot of headroom like the JBL K2, 4367s or s4700s. The old saw about any speaker should play ALL genres of music is BS. I have 5 different pairs I rotate in and out for various reasons and they all have different strengths. My dealer on the West coast just received the latest MBL 101 and they're superb within their limits, which are real. The sensitivity is an abysmal 83 db or thereabouts, suboptimal for EDM.
Click to expand...

Honestly until Thursday I would 100% agreed with you. I read the the sensitivity to be 81, which was even worse than the 83 db of the 116f. But I am happy to say I was wrong. Now I will say this if you have the space and time, then multiple speakers will save you money.
 
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