mbl loudspeakers and electronics at Walrus Systems hifi website

What does the picture above suggest to you? A strange artefact from the original Apollo moon landing mission? Perhaps something that came out of the old USSR during the Cold War? Or, just maybe you might look at it and think "this would be the ideal configuration for a sound radiator AKA a loudspeaker, in which case you would be right, although I doubt whether you would win any awards, as this is a hi-fi site. Alternatively, and much more likely, you already know about mbl loudspeakers!

mbl, a German manufacturer, make what quite a few enthusiasts rate as the finest loudspeakers in the world. They have, in fact, been around for nigh on 30 years, give or take, a fact which surprised me, but perhaps just shows my ignorance. When I first saw their unique radiators I immediately thought "wow - this has to be a stab at designing the ideal sound radiator" knowing what little I do about loudspeaker design and the ideal of producing a spherical radiation pattern. Quad tried it with the ESL-63 and its complex series of delay lines - I personally think the mbl scheme is far more elegant.

And, before I forget, mbl also make damned fine electronics too - see below for a small sample.

The unique proprietary mbl Radial drive units are constructed from ultra thin (120um) petals arranged in a 360 degree formation, uni-directional carbon fibre in the case of the tweeter, and cross-woven carbon fibre for the midrange. The petals are fixed at the top and driven by a voice coil at the base, and they bend in proportion to the driving current - what mbl call a "Bending Pulsar Driver" or B-Pulsar. This gives a three dimensional and natural sound field which other driver designs can't attain. The process of manufacturing these unique drivers is complex and time consuming, and they are, of course, patented.

* bass units - 2 by 140mm
* subwoofer - 2 by 200mm
* mid - Radial MT50 unit
* treble - Radial HT37 unit
* 300W continuous / 1800W peak
* 280mm by 430mm by 1200mm without cover

* bass units - 2 by 140mm
* mid - Radial MT50 unit
* treble - Radial HT37 unit
* 280W continuous / 1000W peak
*280mm by 350mm by 430mm without cover

* Cast Aluminium mechanism
* 3 dampers + MDF support for isolation
* Heavy sliding cover
* FR4 circuit boards
* Metal / MDF hybrid chassis
* 24bit DAC
* RCA phono and XLR outputs

* Only uses discrete components - no ICs or microprocessors
* Fully balanced design perfect for mono or stereo without compromise
* Very wide bandwidth (response to 350kHz)
* Multi layer FR4 circuit board
* Only pure copper wiring used
* Latest high spec components for wide bandwidth
* 132,000uF capacitance power supply + regulation for driver stages
* Mechanical construction of high integrity
* 130W/ch into 8 Ohms (stereo)
* 200W/ch into 4 Ohms (stereo) or 570W mono
* 340W/ch into 2 Ohms (stereo) or 440W mono
* XLR and RCA phono inputs

all information on this page is from mbl spec sheets and is subject to the usual warning about errors etc