Premiere Design

Over a year ago, I profiled the amazing 101 X-treme speaker system from MBL. If you don't have a quarter-million dollars or a floor capable of supporting its 3600-pound bulk, consider the newly refined 101E Mk II.

Like the 101 X-treme, the 101E Mk II is based on MBL's Radialstrahler design, in which the drivers are segmented ovoids that vibrate in and out, sending sound waves in all directions. In the 101E Mk II, the high, mid, and mid-low frequencies are reproduced by three separate ovoids as shown here, while a 12-inch cone subwoofer handles the deep bass in a ported cabinet that forms the base of the speaker, resulting frequency range from 24Hz to 40kHz. Among its refinements are new bass drivers that offer more control, an improved upper midrange, a new subwoofer cabinet design, and new crossover technology.

As Michael Fremer wrote in his review of the original 101E for Stereophile, "The 101Es are tricky to set up, and when everything's not right, they're not fun to listen to...But when they and all of the associated equipment were right, the sound—and it's a big sound—floated effortlessly in three-dimensional space as with no other speaker in my experience." I have no doubt that the Mk II is no less impressive—and probably even more so—as it should be for $67,200/pair.