Let’s face it, no matter how much technology goes into them, most speakers are variations on a classic theme: a bunch of cone- or dome-shaped drivers mounted in a box. But one glance at MBL’s trippy-looking 101E Radialstrahler, with its bulbous, shiny metallic main driver and sci-fi sculpture vibe, reveals something obviously and decidedly different.

It looks as if it were styled by Fritz Lang, director of the classic film Metropolis, rather than by a speaker engineer.

Although the 101E might look like a mere experiment in radical styling, its unique configuration is the result of one man’s striving for perfect sound. MBL—or, as it is formally called, Meletzky Berlin Loudspeaker—was launched in 1979 by an electrical engineer named Wolfgang Meletzky. A music lover since boyhood, Meletzky built his first portable radio at age 11, tinkered with speaker designs through high school, and, after receiving his engineering degree, would become more than a little obsessed with the notion of creating the “perfect” loudspeaker, one that would operate like a pulsating sphere.

The resulting prototype was actually made of three pulsating spheres: a large egg-shaped design for low frequencies, an avocado-sized unit for the middle frequencies, and a walnut-sized nub for the treble. Although it’s been refined over the ensuing quarter-century, today’s model is similarly configured, with the exception of the more conventional subwoofer housing on which the spheres sit.

Even though Meletzky’s creation looked like nothing else on the market, audiophiles tended to fall in love with it once they heard it. The heart of MBL’s Reference Series system, the 101E speakers not only “disappear” like nothing else out there, they can play any music you like—from a Bach solo violin piece to a Bill Evans piano trio to a Mahler symphony to the pulsating hip-hop beat of OutKast—with a staggeringly lifelike sense of scale and volume. It’s the single most exciting music playback system I’ve experienced.

According to MBL, “radialstrahl” means to “emit sound in a circular signal.” And as the name implies, the 101E radiates sound evenly, 360 degrees around the speaker—it does not simply fire forward as a traditional speaker does.

MBL prices the 101E at $49,900 per pair, which seems quite reasonable when you consider what it takes to create each handcrafted woofer, midrange, and tweeter module. The process is almost insanely labor-intensive; only six senior employees are skilled enough to manage it. The first step involves the precision cutting of the many individual strips that will eventually be assembled to make one spherical driver. The tweeter is fabricated from 24 small strips of carbon fiber, the midrange from 12 larger strips of carbon fiber, and the woofer is made of 12 still larger strips of a magnesium/aluminum alloy.

Each strip is then measured for its specified width and thickness; between 30 and 40 percent of the strips are rejected. Final assembly involves aligning the strips in a vertical circle, gluing the strips to a top plate, and aligning the bottom edges into a voice-coil similar to those used in conventional cone drivers. Although each driver covers a different frequency range, they all work the same basic way. When an amplified signal is applied, the voice coils move up and down, causing each sphere to pulse in a 360-degree pattern.

The 101E’s only enclosure is a skirt-like module that houses a 12-inch, downward-firing cone subwoofer. Like the rest of the speaker, the woofer module is meticulously built and gorgeously finished. “Nobody else in the world builds such a speaker,” Meletzky said, “and nobody has ever copied us because it is simply too expensive to make.”

MBL also manufactures Reference Series audio electronics, which equal the 101E in technical sophistication, construction quality, and exclusivity. The 1621A CD transport sells for $21,850, its companion 1611F digital-to-analog converter costs $22,310, and the 6010D preamplifier commands $19,680. But there’s something more: Most companies that build complete audio systems fall short in one or more aspects, but MBL’s engineering team has somehow managed to excel at everything it creates.

Because the sensitivity of the 101E speaker measures an unusually low 82 decibels, it requires huge amounts of amplifier power. To that end, MBL’s design team offers a trio of monoblock Reference Series power amplifiers. First among them is the 34-inch-deep, 198-pound, $76,420-per-pair model 9011, which delivers 840 continuous watts and 5,000 watts peak pulse power into the 101E’s 4-ohm load. The model 9008A costs $41,640 per pair, and has a similar continuous power rating but puts out half the peak power. The $27,660-per-pair 9007 is the baby of the group, a relatively diminutive 75-pounder that cranks out “only” 440 watts into 8 ohms and 570 watts into 4 ohms. Throw in a set of high-end interconnect cables, speaker cables, and AC power treatment, and the system can easily reach a few hundred grand.

Although I’ve heard MBL systems at industry trade shows, and have reviewed some of the company’s other components, my San Francisco home is too small to accommodate the Reference system. Fortunately, one of the country’s few MBL dealers is located just five minutes from me. (cont...)

Just a year old, Elite Audio Systems is blazing new trails in high-end audio/video retailing. With the help of an interior decorator, owner Michael Woods has created a series of exceptionally elegant, by-appointment-only showrooms in the top floor of a classic Victorian-era structure. And rather than marketing to the already-converted, Woods, who has a 25-year background in financial planning, is successfully introducing a new group of well-heeled clients to a world of sound and vision they’ve never before experienced. Woods graciously allowed me to spend several afternoons auditioning the system in his African art-themed front room.

The first thing you’ll notice about the MBL Reference system is that the sound doesn’t seem to be coming from the speakers but instead seems to fill the entire room with energized particles of air. This is the beauty of an essentially box-free design, and of the Radialstrahler technology.

Whether I was in the mood for an intimate vocal disc such as Nina Simone’s After Hours, the exotic jazz of James Carter’s Chasin’ The Gyspy, the San Francisco Symphony’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, or the eardrum blistering sounds of Led Zeppelin’s How The West Was Won, the MBL system seemed to morph in shape and size with each recording. Rather than bringing the venue to you, this system transports you to the event. It will play softly or scary-loud, sweetly or aggressively, big or small, with an absolutely thrilling sense of ease, refinement, and power.

Most importantly, no matter how impressive the sound is, the MBL Reference system ultimately makes you forget about the equipment, while bathing you in the glow of musical magic. Also note that unlike conventional speakers, the 101E’s do not force you to sit smack in the middle of your seat to hear proper stereo imaging. You can pretty much be anywhere in the room and they’ll sound their ravishing best.

MBL’s Radialstrahler technology is available in more accessible products, such as the stand-mounted 121 Radialstrahler Compact, which starts at $10,400 per pair. But the Reference System stands as the ultimate statement of Meletzky’s design philosophies—and as one of the most extraordinary audio systems one can hear and see today.

MBL: 888.224.4404, mbl-usa.com
Elite Audio Systems: 415.285.7645, eliteaudiosf.com