NEWS RELEASE 12/28/07
Unveiling Our Statement Loudspeaker, the $199,000 101X-Treme
First shown in prototype form at the 2007 Las Vegas CES, MBL of Germany has been hard at work fine-tuning what can only be described as our most ambitious effort to date — the 101X-Treme.
Building a loudspeaker to significantly better our 101E Radialstrahler was hardly an easy task. And by using that world-class loudspeaker’s three pulsating spheres (for bass, midrange, and high frequencies) as a starting point, MBL’s engineers and craftspeople created this massive yet sculpturally beautiful four-tower speaker system.
The main tower holds a pair of mirror-imaged omnidirectional Radialstrahler driver arrays, supported by an armature of acrylic, steel, and wood, while the lacquered woofer columns house a quartet each of proprietary 12-inch bass drivers.
The entire array weighs in at 3600 pounds, and each 101X-Treme system requires 30 days to fabricate and calibrate, and undergoes a series of rigorous tests before final release.
Demanding massive amounts of amplifier power, the 101X-Treme System requires bi-amplification by four MBL 9011 Reference Series monoblock power amplifiers ($39,000 each), which deliver 480-watts of continuous power and 5,000-watts of peak power.
Demanding massive amounts of amplifier power, the 101X-Treme System requires bi-amplification by four MBL 9011 Reference Series monoblock power amplifiers ($39,000 each), which deliver 480-watts of continuous power and 5,000-watts of peak power.
Completing the system are MBL’s equally state-of-the-art 6010D preamplifier ($21,650) and unparalleled digital playback gear, the 1621A CD transport ($21,850) and the recently upgraded 1611F Digital-to-Analog converter ($22,500).
But reading about the 101X-Treme Reference System is one thing. Experiencing it is something else again. When it comes to recreating a musical event, any musical event—the 101X-Treme brings home the unbridled power of full symphony orchestra, the visceral wallop of a live rock or hip-hop concert, as well as the intimacy of a jazz trio or the delicacy of a solo flute. To call it extraordinary is an understatement.
Price: $199,000 per pair.
