CAF Report 2024

"There have been a number of shows where I couldn’t get into the MBL rooms because they were too crowded. Happily, I was able to get into their CAF exhibit at the end of the day. The company was showing its new, beautiful-looking C41 network player ($11,100), which incorporates the company’s True Peak Technology, said to correct for any potential sound-degrading signal overload from digital files. The system also included the 9011 mono amplifiers ($64,100 each) and the iconic 101 E MKII omnidirectional spherical-radiating-driver loudspeakers ($91,000 per pair).

Well, I learned yet another lesson or three – don’t go into a room with preconceived notions, listen with your ears, not your eyes, and don’t make snap judgments. The 101 E MKII speakers look like large striated shiny silver footballs with appendages top and bottom, and when I first sat down to listen, I felt the sound was too bright for my taste. It wasn’t the speakers; it was the track: “Sharing the Night Together” by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. The next selection (whose name escapes me), was just the opposite, with midrange body, extended but not bright upper midrange and treble, and bass reproduction that was among the best at the show. The imaging was excellent, palpable, with beautiful clarity to the electric guitar. If I would have heard just that one Dr. Hook song, it would have left me with an entirely different impression. And that’s exactly what you get from hearing systems at shows – impressions, not definitive auditions.

After the demo I told MBL representative Jeremy Bryan my thoughts about the excellent bass reproduction, and he thanked me for observing that, noting that he’d spent days setting up the speakers. I also asked him if the large bases of the 101 E MKIIs were passive or powered subwoofers – and he told me they were not subwoofers at all. Well, he certainly did an exemplary job of setting up the room. It underscored yet again the importance of taking time and care with system setup, and speaker placement in particular. Nicely done."