Audioquest4Life,
Just got back having an opportunity to listen to a state-of-the art system with no digital (except for my Wyred 4 Sound DAC1 which we installed for some light listening). First of all, very gracious host who could not have been any nicer, breathtaking historic home in the Maryland countryside and a top-to-bottom state of the art system with MBL 9007 Monoblocks, MBL 5011 preamp, MBL 111E loudspeakers, unidentified turntable including Tara Labs “The Zero” interconnects.
Sorry for not having the turntable and cartridge brands. Having been out of analog for over two decades, I have no sight reference on which turntable is which. It was, however, huge horizontally! Speakers or amps and preamps, not a problem, turntables, phono preamps and cartridges, forget about it.
First of all, I do get what people say about the sound of analog vs. digital. The orchestra instruments were more 3D and sweeter sounding than with the DAC1 in the system. It really was a thrill to hear records after so many years. I had flashbacks to my first days in audio. There was this feeling of "oh, so that's what I have been missing all these years" feeling about the sound.
Frankly, the Wyred 4 Sound DAC1 sounded a bit flat in this system. To be fair, we compared a $1K DAC to a $35K+ analog system comprised of turntable, cartridge, separate tube phono preamp with separate power supply, etc. However, I realized the next day we had the right and left interconnects reversed which may or may not have caused a little aural distress, we really did not give the DAC1 time to warm up as I do in my listening sessions, and we had it being fed by a older Rotel CD player within 3 feet of the left speaker. In fact, in my system with Magnepan 1.7s, the Wyred 4 Sound DAC1 sounded appreciably better than it did in his system.
Before I get into describing the MBL 111E speakers, here is my opinion of the room acoustics – not enough sound absorption for my tastes and some kind of mid bass hump that made complex musical passages a little overripe! Mostly wood floors with area rug, plaster walls and two doors form the “back wall” with equipment on the left and shelving on the right. I have these 4’ x 2’ x 2” sound absorption panels that I strategically place around my speakers cancelling reflections off of my equipment and furniture. I wish I would have had the panels for the listening event.
The MBL 111E are effortless loudspeakers. They project sound in the room in such a way that they disappear and when playing analog, I hear the instruments in 3D space. Having said that, I may be stripped of my rights to post on Audiogon to say that I feel the Magnepan 1.7s get me 90+% of the sound of the MBL 111E loudspeakers when the Maggies are augmented with good subwoofers. On paper that is an outrageous statement, but going back home and playing the same music I brought to the MBL listening, I felt, digital to digital, the Magnepan’s were not that far behind. And, I am playing through just a couple thousand dollars in electronics, not 10s of thousands as we listened to for the MBLs.
The Maggies have very similar sound mid-range and up with the MBL’s achieving the last little bits of realism from the recorded medium. The MBLs are the best high-priced, high-end speakers I have heard. Having said that, if you have any inkling to purchase Magnepan loudspeakers and are a little patient, I would wait at least 12 months to see if Magnepan introduces 20.2 or 3.7 versions. What they have done with the 1.7 is nothing short of amazing and I can only guess how good the 20.2 or 3.7 versions will be.
If my host is interested, I will bring over my Magnepan’s for a test listen at his home. Can the $2000 Magnepan 1.7s stand up face-to-face with the MBLs (or at least not get embarrassed by the comparison)??? I am ready for the competition!
