T.H.E. Show 2018 – MBL and United Home Audio; A Very Musical Combination

I don’t think I’ve ever heard an MBL system I haven’t enjoyed, but I sure think it looks better in black. I just don’t like the Maytag White look that I’ve seen at so many shows lately. Regardless of whether you like the white and gold or the black and gold, I think we can all agree on how great they sound.

This year they’ve also added a new source, one of Greg Beron’s United Home Audio reel to reel tape decks. Here, Greg is showing me his incredibly rigid take-up reel. What Greg has done for reel-to-reel tape decks is really amazing. He takes machines that could be compared in performance to Honda Accords and turns them into racing cars that could win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. They are also beautiful enough to be considered works of art.

Just check out the UHA website to see how innovative their engineering is, and their unbelievable attention to detail is also amazing. Not only do his machines look great and perform flawlessly, but they also bring to high-end audio what well may be the ultimate source.

I have not personally taken the plunge back into the tape world, although I once owned two Tandberg machines in the seventies. The only reason I haven’t though is the cost of the taped versions of the albums I would want to own on tape. That doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t hear just how incredible they sound on tape.

Combining one of the UHA reel to reel units with the MBL system was amazing, and it brought back some really good memories from my days as a Baylor student. One of my friends was both a recording engineer and an audiophile. He taped most of the performances at Baylor, and he would make me a first generation master that I could listen to on my Tandberg. Those tapes played over a pair of stacked Quad ESLs was revelatory, and so was hearing tapes played on Greg’s machine over the MBL 101 E MKII Radialstrahler Speakers.

MBL was also showcasing their newest MBL Noble Line of electronics. They are built by hand in their Berlin factory. The Noble Line draws on nearly four decades of high-end audio innovation. I was not surprised that these electronics really impressed me.

They were using their N11 Preamplifier that cost $14,600, and the N15 Monoblock Amplifiers at $17,800 each. Their source was the MBL N31 CD/DAC that cost $15,400.

The speakers were their 101 E Mk II Radialstrahler speakers that sell for $70,500 a pair. Omnidirectional speakers aren’t that common, and I think that’s because they are so difficult to manufacture. I can tell you,  it certainly not because of their sound. These speakers have been around for five or six years, and I have had the privilege to hear them before. I thought the sound was incredible with the Noble Line electronics. When you added the UHA reel to reel, well, as I said, it was a revelation.