Outstanding brands?

Detlof, you are correct. When I had MBL 6010d pre and 9008a monos, guitar string plucks were indeed 'like a rope' as you once said. I have heard an all ( including ref digital front end) MBL system set up right, once in a big room ( really wide- thrice the distance between the speakers, like 40 some ft, with 9011's and 101's and it sounded rather impressive. Although recalling that sound I would not compare it to Zanden's or Lamm's or Audio Note's. It was different, but still impressive and least like what I have heard same system at the displayer's (i would not name him) house( was horrible). Same system, different room and the sound was more than bearable.In the past I would have added a Jadis name plate here, but not so now, having had some experience with the sweet stuff.

Detlof and Mapman, Now that you are bringing up. Was that in same league. Emphatically, No!! I would not spend my money, again. Although the MBL preamp is drop dead gorgeous! On the other hand I am yearning to get my hands on another set of 9600 monos to drive my woofers. Am weighting for Dow to go up to 10000 plus ;-). Next year may be.

After that Black metal thread in the 'best of' , i did get some Meshuggah and the mastodon and the slipknot and the Opeth and the Rammstein and the porcupine tree records. Zanden Really does them justice. Never mind, that you feel nauseous after 60 minutes of metal assault. It is that good.;-)

BTW, Meshuggah and Mastodone does stand out as elite metal bands.

Back to the thread subject...

Mapman,
"Does it have something to do with the fact that they are omni's and the soundstage can go from wall to wall as would be the case listening to a live performance in most venues?"
Yes it does to my mind and just that is not natural to me.
A plugged guitar string should not go wall to wall, it should emanate from some point within the soundstage with high precision and natural in size (îf recorded right in the first place) and that is just that what (to my ears) the MBLs cannot do properly. To me they are for people who are unfamiliar with live concerts and I don't mean rock in big arenas. Of course they are impressive, but not particulary musical as far as I am concerned.

"A plugged guitar string should not go wall to wall, it should emanate from some point within the soundstage with high precision "

The MBL 111s I heard did this exceptionally well with all instruments in a very deep as well as wide soundstage. Similar results with the OHMs in my system.

"..and natural in size (îf recorded right in the first place) and that is just that what (to my ears) the MBLs cannot do properly."

This is where omni's like MBL and OHM will differ IMHO. Properly set up, the instrument will emanate from a specific location, but the location may fill more space vertically from floor to ceiling, which might sound unnatural in a nearfield listening scenarion, but then can spread from there more naturally, like a ripple in a pond or sound in a concert hall.

Too small a room or listening too nearfield might make this seem like an unnatural perspective, but not the case in a more typical non-nearfield listening location and in a larger room better suited for the presentation of omnis.

Given the nature of the beast (omnis), it seems like a stretch to me to not label MBL an outstanding brand just because it is not to everyone's personal tastes.

Good reasoning Mapmann, but allow me to remain sceptical. "Outstanding" is a subjective value statement, not an objectified label. I don't doubt that many people will find the MBLs outstanding as you find your OHMs. For me, I have some suspicion that they tend to screw with phase- the MBLs that is- and that is something I am finicky about. Opinions and tastes differ thankfully. Otherwise we would have nothing to talk about, would we.... (:

I think the innovative technology and resulting sound of the MBLs alone makes the brand distinctive and outstanding in certain ways that of course will not appeal to all. My only qualm is that this stuff is very expensive and beyond the means of even many audiophiles.

OHM, though similar in its sound in many ways, is a different case. Here, the emphasis is on making good sound, omni or otherwise, affordable to many not necessarily via major new innovations (the WALSH driver concept is a good 40 years old already) but through ongoing refinement of the original design and offering cost effective upgrade paths for anybody who owns any pair of OHMs. Its a very blue collar approach to delivering good sound to the masses.