Sad news. MBL has filed for insolvency.

[MarkusBarkus]

...this somewhat reminds me of the hoops and machinations locally regarding funding for a stadium. For lacrosse. The pitches. The hooks for taxpayers.

There is thinking in some quarters that there is an unlimited pool of customers (for lacrosse, audio, other), if one could just find the magic formula to unlock the boundless potential of the almighty customer (and their cash).

IMO, it may be a useful exercise to consider: Maybe everyone who wants to watch lacrosse *is* watching lacrosse!

If that's 3,500 people, maybe you can nudge that a wee bit...but building a 15,000 seat stadium (on the taxpayer) because you think the limitation is *seating* may not be the answer. Or exposure.

And audio? Perhaps the folks interested in audio are in audio. It will grow some, shrink some. New products will be developed. Old products will fall away. But some massive growth that would allow prices to come down to support that scale? I don't see it personally.

 

[Amir]

You use the word many for a small population. The reason today that small population is many, is that the industry cannot attract a bigger population due to the expensive crap it produces, and the many will only become lower in number.

Maybe I am wrong but what I see is less than 50% of audiophiles prefer natural sound of analog/tube/horn systems.

Romy the Cat, David @ddk, Kevin, Me, You, Tima, Peter and few others are in this category.

 

[mtemur]

MBL is/was an innovator in Speaker design , i wish them all the best .

Speaker innovation?

Box speakers with voicecoil / magnet driven membranes are about as old as rome .
A box , a Voicecoil / magnet driven membrane , some coils and caps for X overs and resistors for SPL adjustment is that " High Tech " lol

With all due respect to MBL’s driver design, it’s still a conventional dynamic driver at its core. Despite the unique appearance, MBL drivers use magnets, a voice coil, and a spider—essentially the same components as traditional dynamic drivers. The main difference lies in the cone design. Instead of a concave shape, the cone is shaped more like a melon. It’s connected to the spider at one end—just like a typical dynamic driver—and at the other end, it’s attached to the enclosure via a central rod.

So, despite the unconventional look, an MBL driver is still a conventional dynamic driver—just with a melon-shaped cone instead of a concave one.

That said, I’m not suggesting this isn’t innovative. I think it is, and I genuinely like the sound of the MBL 101.

 

[bonzo75]

Maybe I am wrong but what I see is less than 50% of audiophiles prefer natural sound of analog/tube/horn systems.

Romy the Cat, David @ddk, Kevin, Me, You, Tima, Peter and few others are in this category.

Number of audiophiles needs to grow, not looking at percentage of current set of audiophiles.

 

[sbo6]

Maybe I am wrong but what I see is less than 50% of audiophiles prefer natural sound of analog/tube/horn systems.

Romy the Cat, David @ddk, Kevin, Me, You, Tima, Peter and few others are in this category.

One man's "natural sound" from analog/tube/horns is another man's rolled off, dull, ear - piercing PA system.

 

[bonzo75]

One man's "natural sound" from analog/tube/horns is another man's rolled off, dull, ear - piercing PA system.

One man is experienced other is not

 

[Elliot G.]

no matter what the subject starts out as on WBF it always ends with Horns and Tubes.
I'm going to do an experiment and start a thread on anal warts and let's see what happens LOL

 

[fbhifi]

no matter what the subject starts out as on WBF it always ends with Horns and Tubes.
I'm going to do an experiment and start a thread on anal warts and let's see what happens LOL

With photos?

 

[ssfas]

And audio? Perhaps the folks interested in audio are in audio. It will grow some, shrink some. New products will be developed. Old products will fall away. But some massive growth that would allow prices to come down to support that scale? I don't see it personally.

Many mid-market manufacturers are providing better sound at lower prices.

I'm using a DAC from Holo Audio called Cyan2 that cost me £1,150 ( $1,300) new. Add to that HQ Player upsampling for $300. I was using a Holo May or a Gryphon DAC, I sort of preferred the Gryphon DAC.

How good can a $1,300 DAC be? Frankly, it's astonishingly good. It replaced the $6,000 product from the same company. It's a pared down version leaving just the essentials. As a result, they can't make them fast enough and there is always a waiting list.

When we move to Central London inside 5 years I will likely get a Grimm LS system, a relatively new brand with true cutting edge technology. Valves and horns? Do me a favour.

The MBL insolvency manager press release is weirdly uninformative.

PLUTA restructuring expert Frank Brachwitz seeks investor for MBL Akustikgeräte GmbH & Co. KG based in Berlin

www.pluta.net

"Things are great but we can't pay the staff". what am I missing?

 

[Amir]

One man's "natural sound" from analog/tube/horns is another man's rolled off, dull, ear - piercing PA system.

Ok no problem, I agree with you that there are audiophiles who do not like analog/tube/horns but please check how much time/effort they spend for audio.

You can read Romy the Cat forum and see he spend over 3600 hours for amplifier speaker design.
Romy posted Over 10,000 there and he described many complex subjects there.

Please read David @ddk posts here and you will find him a real expert. David was in this industry for many years and he listened to tons of expensive audio equipments. You can’t ignore his huge experience in audio.

Audio is very complex subject.

 

[sbo6]

One man is experienced other is not

I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught" --Winston Churchill.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ok no problem, I agree with you that there are audiophiles who do not like analog/tube/horns but please check how much time/effort they spend for audio.

You can read Romy the Cat forum and see he spend over 3600 hours for amplifier speaker design.
Romy posted Over 10,000 there and he described many complex subjects there.

Please read David @ddk posts here and you will find him a real expert. David was in this industry for many years and he listened to tons of expensive audio equipments. You can’t ignore his huge experience in audio.

Audio is very complex subject.

What is your implication, Amir? That analog/tube/horns objectively is superior to other stereo system configurations?

This appears to be your logic:

1) David is very experienced in audio

2) David likes analog/tube/horns

3) Therefore analog/tube/horns is the best

In a subjective hobby this logic fails.

By the way, Roman's positions on many audio issues are so obviously wacky that I consider him to have discredited himself entirely.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Ok no problem, I agree with you that there are audiophiles who do not like analog/tube/horns but please check how much time/effort they spend for audio.

no one philosophy of system building has the upper hand in time, energy and effort....or seriousness of purpose.

i think all hifi approaches deserve respect; but unfortunately i do observe that is a hard thing for some. we get so much of that in real life wish we did not get (so much of) it here.

 

[Lagonda]

Maybe its the side-firing woofers ?

From experience i can say its very difficult ( almost impossible ) to start up a new LS company .
People just like to buy established names , and to get a name it takes years and years .....
(Plus you have to behave on forums which i cannot , lol

 

[andromedaaudio]

Maybe its the side-firing woofers ?

For heretics / non believers like you ive designed these .
These you can turn 360 degrees around and stack them , so you can acustom yourself to the best which is , high placed side firing woofers.

 

[sbo6]

Ok no problem, I agree with you that there are audiophiles who do not like analog/tube/horns but please check how much time/effort they spend for audio.

You can read Romy the Cat forum and see he spend over 3600 hours for amplifier speaker design.
Romy posted Over 10,000 there and he described many complex subjects there.

Please read David @ddk posts here and you will find him a real expert. David was in this industry for many years and he listened to tons of expensive audio equipments. You can’t ignore his huge experience in audio.

Audio is very complex subject.

I've been to RTC's site and even watched a few videos. He's convinced himself that he knows best. See my quote above.

No one can tell you what sounds best, or right, it's completely subjective. It would be akin to someone telling you that Monet's paintings are the best, or steak is better than pasta.

In my many years on this rock one thing remains clear - People that say they know don't, people that don't say they know bring more value than the former. Forums are fun conversations and maybe you pick up a nugget of good info, that's it.

 

[Al M.]

No one can tell you what sounds best, or right, it's completely subjective.

Oooh -- no. Not on this forum

Subjective is for losers without sufficient experience. Once you have the right experience you know the objective truth of what's best (correct, Bonzo?).

 

[andromedaaudio]

No one can tell you what sounds best

Of course they can this is the WBF forum .
It doesnt mean they right.

On WBF we aim / claim for the " best " otherwise it could be called.


"The Mediocre Forum " TMF

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

---

The MBL insolvency manager press release is weirdly uninformative.

PLUTA restructuring expert Frank Brachwitz seeks investor for MBL Akustikgeräte GmbH & Co. KG based in Berlin

www.pluta.net

"Things are great but we can't pay the staff". what am I missing?

[please forgive my poor English]


Many thanks for that article.
I found it quite/rather informative. I note that
- "Business operations have since been maintained without restriction". This is actually a confirmation.
- "The US subsidiary is not affected by the insolvency."
- "We are already holding initial discussions with potential investors and are seeing strong interest in the company and its products,” The article is dated 23 June 2025. Today, nearly three weeks later, the investors are already found.

---

When we move to Central London inside 5 years I will likely get a Grimm LS system, a relatively new brand with true cutting edge technology

(BTW, the Grimm LS1 is a terrific active loudspeaker system.​

The first active LS that makes music, to my ears at least. Still a little constraint on dynamics (unless I'm mistaken).​

As for listening conditions, they nevertheless should be listened in the sweet spot only (difficult in shows), as the "bubble" is small; they are the opposite of MBL speakers in this regard.​

​

I discovered them on the Brussels show the year of their introduction to the market (2012). I sat on the ground in that unfortunately empty room (too small a speaker for a hifi show...). I listened to very demanding music for a speaker: a string quartet. After a few minutes, they were my Best Sound Of The Show (so were they in the show organizer's opinion, btw...).​

I spoke enthusiastically about it to two guys on the Grimm team, a tall brown-hair guy, and a nice and original guy who explained me a lot of things after I had been so enticed. They were Eelco Grimm and Bruno Putzeys respectively. I think they were flattered.​

​

Terrific speakers indeed (especially for someone who listen to digital only, mainly for practical reasons). Great choice ! Take the "best tweeter" option: it used to be a beryllium, but Seas stopped its production; it's now replaced by a new Seas model, with a compound made of carbon iirc.​

)​

​

 

[Massimo66]

Oooh -- no. Not on this forum

Subjective is for losers without sufficient experience. Once you have the right experience you know the objective truth of what's best (correct, Bonzo?).

The truth is anything but objective, try to think of it, given your technical knowledge, as a floating point or even as a quantum entanglement... and then wasting a Socratic paraphrase like that of "Sbo6" seems almost criminal and unwise to me.