MBL Pre-amp De-Thrones Benchmark?

[MattHooper]

Pricey pre-amp, and you can get transparent sound from the much cheaper Benchmark. But perhaps this crowd it might be interesting to see the measurements and comment from John Atkinson in recent Stereophile Review of the MBL N11 Pre-amp:


"I concluded my measurements of the Benchmark LA4 preamplifier in the January 2020 issue by writing "Benchmark's LA4 is the widest-bandwidth, widest-dynamic-range, lowest-noise, lowest-distortion preamplifier I have encountered." Its performance on the test bench reveals that MBL's N11 now takes that crown.—John Atkinson"



https://www.stereophile.com/content/mbl-noble-line-n11-line-preamplifier-measurements

 

[Feanor]

Pretty stunning ... and only 5X the price of the Benchmark

 

[pozz]

Only took $12k more per unit to do it.

Despite the price I'm really impressed.

 

[Vini darko]

Whistles through teeth.

 

[Wes]

Benchmark LA4 preamplifier lacks gold plate!

 

[MattHooper]

Comments about the price were a given, of course. But it appears MBL have some good engineering chops.
(I was very impressed by their omni speakers that I owned).

 

[DavidL]

OMG. It is so ugly, you would have to pay me $15,000 to take it.

 

[MattHooper]

OMG. It is so ugly, you would have to pay me $15,000 to take it.

While it is a little over-board in the attempt at bling, I would much prefer it over the industrial-looking Benchmark pre-amp. I don't mind a bit of bling and never have loved bland looking gear.

(I own a Benchmark DAC. Love it for it's engineering and features; not for it's looks though).

 

[JDragon]

I think there's a middle ground between this and Benchmark in terms of looks. Benchmark is boring, this is tacky.

 

[FrantzM]

Well this is what High End should be about ... Engineering and Visual Bling ... Not the kind of budget I would devote to a preamp, but great performance nonetheless...
Now they will make sure that their TOL preamp measures better, perhaps one less Zero in the THD for 4 times more money?

What has the World come to ? What Have you done to the High End Industry, ASR?

 

[JeffS7444]

There's a cute video drama on the "Company" page of their web site.

MBL would look out of place in my little apartment with it's worn formica counters and ill-fitting flooring.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I'm not surprised. MBL's other gear has measured very well in the past. It is grossly overpriced in my opinion. At least you get top notch gear for the money.

 

[McFly]

Meh. Nice engineering but Preamps are dying. Dacs will take over as digital preamps IMO

 

[MattHooper]

Well this is what High End should be about ... Engineering and Visual Bling ... Not the kind of budget I would devote to a preamp, but great performance nonetheless...

Something for us to keep in mind when kvetching about the price of a really expensive pre-amp like the MBL:
Many people hear laud the Benchmark gear. But much of this is due to an obsession with specs that "normal people" would find nutty.
An ASR member may justify his enthusiasm for his Benchmark amp/pre-amp - on which he spent thousands of dollars! - because of it's demonstrable state of the art measurements that tickle his gear-bells.

But surely essentially transparent performance in terms of audibility can be found in significantly less expensive gear, and diminishing returns sonically kicked in well before having to spend all that money on the Benchmark. So there can be a little bit of "careful throwing stones in glass houses" in kvetching about the idea of paying lots of money for gear.

(Not that it can't be warranted, of course!)

 

[RayDunzl]

Preamps are dying

I hope mine isn't dying.

 

[pozz]

Comments about the price were a given, of course. But it appears MBL have some good engineering chops.
(I was very impressed by their omni speakers that I owned).

Which speakers were those?

 

[JohnYang1997]

When I read the MBL one, looks pretty good, can be better. Then I check the Benchmark one, Ehh some graphs are just ugly......

 

[essence]

It performs a tiny bit better than Denafrips Hestia, 3rd party measurements here all for a fraction of the cost. I agree it looks kinda janky. For when you buy that $5k DAC without volume control. (I am looking at you Holo Audio May...)

I think these pre-amps need to offer something other than input switching and volume control for this sort of pricing? Such as higher line level output voltage. Which is even an option in a few select DACs now, Okto Dac8, Convert-2, MSB.

 

[MattHooper]

Which speakers were those?

MBL 121 monitors.

Example here:

https://skyfiaudio.com/products/mbl-121-speakers-with-stands

(Mine were in gloss black).

Omni mid and tweeter, side-loaded woofers. Imaged like no other speaker I've heard (aside from the other MBL omnis). Just a spooky sense of sonic images just "appearing" in the room in 3 dimensional sound. And crazy "transparent" in terms of the detail. Lots of fun.

 

[CDMC]

Amazing they were able to get it to measure so well and tune the sound. From the first page of the review:


In a series of Skype interviews, Reis explained, "The lines don't differ very much in measurements. In the 35 years I've developed preamps, I've had a lot of experience with different audiophiles. I have spent a lot of time at the homes of Reference Line customers, and I know their taste, how they've constructed their living rooms, and the sound they prefer. The typical Noble Line customer has a different living room and different taste. Therefore, the answer to the question, 'Which is the better preamp?' is, 'The preamp that works the best for you in your room.'

"I know the sound of every resistor, every capacitor—everything. I know what tonal balance will be created when I mix this with that. So, when I started to develop the N11, I had a sound in my head. I made the schematic, optimized the layout to measure well, and then began listening and tuning with small parts. I adjusted the capacitor contacts, chose the correct parts for the desired sound, and determined what kind of silk screen on the printed circuit board would create the sound that would best fit Noble Line target customers.

"Some of my work involved tuning the power supply. It may come as a surprise to learn that you can change tonality without even touching the signal path, because the signal originates from the power supply. The impedance curve of the N11's power supply is absolutely homogenous from DC to 200kHz, which creates a very balanced sound. I also tuned the resistors for the voltage gain, using a mix of carbon and metal resistors to create a neutral balance. There are a lot of preamps that claim to be 'neutral' or 'in balance,' but there are different shades of 'neutral.' If you have a tube preamp, for example, 'neutral' is at a different level than solid-state; it's not better or worse, but it is different. It took a lot of work to find the tonal balance I like a lot that measures well, with low noise, and fits very well in the Noble Line."