Scansonic MB2.5 floor stander speaker. Does it complete with often speaker at $3500??

Title of the above thread should read: "Scansonic MB2.5 floor standing speaker. Does it compete with other $3500  speakers."

We tried a pair of the MB2.5 from a distributor to see if we might want to carry the line. We did extended break-in of the speakers, since the distributor said they probably only had about 100 hours of play. So, we proceeded to put on probably another 500-600 hours of break-in. In the end, we just couldn't get past the boomy bass. We had them in a couple of different rooms/systems where the speakers were plenty far away from room boundaries and we still were constantly dealing with boomy/bloated/undefined bass. The rest of the sound was quite decent, but really just in line with their price range. As soon as we'd go back to one of our usual speakers in these rooms, we were much happier with the sound. Needless to say, we sent the speakers back and didn't consider the line.

IMO the 2.5's compete with speakers generally twice the price. But with that said setup is extremely important. They need to be 9ft apart toed in pointing to your shoulders to sound the best. The farther you can get them off the back walls the better (bass can be a bit boomy otherwise). Also if buying new they will sound pretty crappy out of the box but get a lot better after about 500 hrs or more. I highly suggest pre owned for that reason.

As a former MB-2.5 owner; I feel they were one of the most competitive speakers in that price range. But they are definitely not very ’user friendly’ per se. If you can place the speakers like Xti16 said and feed them with quality source and amplification, they will amaze you big time. I followed his guidance and got great results. I sold mine after more than a year of ownership and moved up the ladder to something much more expensive but I still missed their sound every once in a while. 

We fed them with high quality gear and placement well away from room boundaries and still no luck. I can see where some may like the sound, but they weren't for us at all and we felt they didn't live up to the hype. We really wanted to like them as they were at a nice price point, attractive looking, etc, but with crazy long break in time and super fussy placement, they didn't make the grade. They did improve a lot over the extended break-in, but still not enough.

Thank you to members who responded.  Though, we all have different taste in sound quality, overall, it sounds from your responses the MB2.5 not the speaker for me. I appreciate your honesty.   S.J.

I know I am chiming in quite late. I have owned the MB-2.5's for a little over a year and find them to be incredible for the price. They do take time to place properly, but once done they are magic. Also, a high quality not necessarily high powered signal is necessary. My amp is the Bakoon AMR 12R (15Watts per side) and they make beautiful music and they show what the amp is capable of. 

I purchased them after a show in Newport Beach where they were in the same room as Raidho products. The were playing the Raidho D1.1 then swapped them out for the MB 2.5'S. I asked the price of both and was determined to secure the MB 2.5's. I am glad I did. 

Ive had the mb2.5 for about 6 months and I cant be more impressed with their performance and value for a full range floor stander under $4k

After owning and loving the MB2.5 for almost 2 years I upgraded to the Raidho C1.1

The MB2.5 remain the speaker I’ve held onto the longest and plan on keeping them for AV needs. I have to say thank you to Michael Børresen for making such a fine loudspeaker at a value price. Just make sure they are atleast 9 feet apart with 3 feet of breathing room from the rear wall.

Well...the problem with Raidho is there is a equally performing ribbon tweeter called the RAAL ribbon (140-15 and 70-20) which isn’t that expensive, and there are quite a few ID speakers with flagship RAAL tweeters and Scanspeak Revelator/Accuton domes that are competitive with RAAL’s best offerings.

We tried a pair of the MB2.5 from a distributor to see if we might want to carry the line. We did extended break-in of the speakers, since the distributor said they probably only had about 100 hours of play. So, we proceeded to put on probably another 500-600 hours of break-in. In the end, we just couldn’t get past the boomy bass. We had them in a couple of different rooms/systems where the speakers were plenty far away from room boundaries and we still were constantly dealing with boomy/bloated/undefined bass. The rest of the sound was quite decent, but really just in line with their price range. As soon as we’d go back to one of our usual speakers in these rooms, we were much happier with the sound. Needless to say, we sent the speakers back and didn’t consider the line.

My experience resonates the same as above, was not able to contain the Bass Boom and sold within 6 months of purchase, it was horrific experience, used Triangle,Harbeth speakers, never had bass boom issues with same electronics and Room.You can see my responses in scansonics speakers thread..