- Thread Author
- #41
Gentlemen,
Another great thread!
I hate to be the party pooper here, but not all 350W amps are the same. Unfortunately, most will not be able to drive the 101s right. For example, my local dealer had the 101s with Pass XA and X, and, unfortunately it *Sucked*. (Pass is great with Wilson, Martin Logan, and many others, and obviously with 111, but not 101.)
The 101 is a completely different animal than the 111. The difference is the melon, which covers the vital frequency range from 105 Hz to 600 Hz.
It's magical - when driven properly, and it's the premium one is paying for, over the 111. But it's also a B*TCH to drive properly. One needs A LOT of current. Yet very few amps could do it. If one is not willing to drop $110K on the big MBL 9011 reference amps, it sounds fantastic with the new Noble Class D amps.
Few other amps will work, exceptions being Bryston, bigger Musical Fidelity models, Symphonic Line Kraft, old Krell, and maybe a few others. And even if some of these are able to drive the speakers, one may not always like the result, of say, a dark old Krell or a Bryston with the 101s.
And once one finds the right monoblocks, doubling them is really worth while.
So unless one really wants to experiment with a lot of different heavy amps to uncertain results, the short path to happiness is to drive the 101s with MBLs new Noble Class D (or if the budget allows, the 9011s).
I couldn't have said it better myself, hence the reason I wasn't going to dare order the 101e MK2's without the MBL N15 monos --> http://www.mbl.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Feature-List-N15-EN.pdf
Agreed on the Pass with MBL. Not a match.
I was debating on the 9008, but Jurgen Reis said the N15 monos "just sound right". That comment struck me, plus they're more budget friendly, I don't need a forklift to move them and I like that entire Noble line with the slick preamp, mono and stereo amp options, an integrated and a CD/DAC with USB/Roon.
Agreed on the doubling as well. Four N15's would be insanely good. But I will start with two and two exactly same length speaker cables (AudioQuest Oak).
Also, a shout out to the amazing MBL NA team of Jeremy and his lovely wife Tara, a talented recording engineer in her own right. Very lucky to have them local to me. Terrific support.
