mbl - is there a problem?


For a while now I've been planning on purchasing the new Magnepan 20.7's when they become available.
However I've always been intrigued by the idea of the MBL's - partly because they are so pretty and partly because it would be nice to have a speaker with a larger sweet spot.(I've owned and listened to Maggies for about 35 years but have never had the opportunity to hear the MBL's)
Since I've already purchased mongo electronics to power my new Maggies I think they would likely also power the MBL's.
And with the new discounts on the MBL's, they become more price competitive with the Maggies.
So I was thinking of flying somewhere to actually hear the MBL's.
But the website for MBL was disconcerting. Partly is is because the discounts are so large. Partly it is because they say that and warranty work now has to be arranged from Germany. As an experiment I tried to see what to do if I had an MBL speaker that needed to work and what would I do and I did not find an easy answer.
I have a fear of purchasing an expensive set of speakers and being unable to fix a problem.
From everything I've read on Audiogon these seem like wonderful speakers and maybe I should buy a cheap airplane ticket to where I can hear them. But I worry about the service. Maybe I'm just better off purchasing speakers from Magnepan - this company must be so succesful that even if the whole town was destroyed by a large meteor somebody else would pick it up.
Does anybody know if MBL is a safe speaker to purchase?
nottop
Synopsis...MBL Problem?
No...
Buy with confidence...
International distribution works.

Larry
String,

Can you elaborate a bit on how the German Tanks sounded?

DId you detect very accurate location of the tanks within a large and deep soundstage?

IF not, then something was not right.

mbl done right is a unique experience. It might take time to retrain your ears to hear what's happening if not used to it. That has been my experience with omnis in general.

mbl done poorly sounds like an unimpressive hifi system. That is what I have heard at shows even when done by the same dealer that did it right in their showroom. That tells me that it is very hard to get the setup right in most rooms.
i will chime in with my opinion as I have heard MBL many times and only at my local dealer and I am amazed every time I hear them! And the room has never been optimal.

I have considered going MBL and at some point might go that way. My only reservation thus far has been the expense and not having my room right yet....which I am doing now. If you can afford an mbl system I say go for it! Obviously YMMV.
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I've heard mbl sound quite decent, but IMO if you want that to happen you have to spend some time and money with them. They are not as hard to drive as you might think- 200 watts will suit most of the time. But your room had better have some good treatment, and the amp had better be pretty nimble else they will sound stilted. The speaker is plenty revealing to show off the front end of the system as well.

But for the money I think I would go with the Maggies. The two speakers have similar bandwidth and probably room issues, as well as drive-ability (I suspect the Maggies are a tad easier to drive). But Maggies are simply going to give you more bang for the buck, which is to say that they (IMO) will sound as good or better for a fraction of the price.