Well I have been listening to the speakers for a couple of hours now with the following material:
Muse, Radiohead, Diana Krall, Coldplay, Dido, Nine Inch Nails, Laura Pausini, and Esperanza Spalding. This pretty much covers from Rock to Jazz and instrumental like NIN Ghosts. I have a DTS cd of the swedish national symphony I will listen to later but when it comes to classical music I don't have much of a trained ear. I won't write about that mumbo jumbo you guys read about when it comes to the songs since everyone listens to different stuff so I will just write about the characteristics of the speaker.
If I had to sum up the speaker in a sentence or less I would characterize them as "Dynaudio at more than half the price". I have listened extensively to the Dynaudio Focus 140 and a bit of the 220 in the past and the MBS-01 are just like them. These speakers are very neutral. The other two speakers I have had hooked up in my system were the Epos ELS-3 which are a very forward speaker, and the Dali Ikon 2 which are laid back in the midrange. The MBS-01 is right in between those two speakers in terms of midrange. The midrange is very detailed and clear like the Dali but sounds a lot better since it's not as recessed.
In terms of highs the tweeter is very clear and detailed but it's not as airy. There is just something about the ribbon on the Dali that I love. I don't know if it's because I prefer ribbons or what but if the MBS-01 had a ribbon with the characteristics of the Dali I would be in heaven. I have only heard them with the tweeters facing in and set to +3dB but I will try other positions and settings later.
One thing the MBS-01 completely excels at compared to other speakers I have heard is the bass. I ran some test tones and these speakers can put out 30Hz with no problem. I am not talking about low SPL at 30Hz either, but clear and completely audible at normal listening levels.
Imaging wise they are very good but don't disappear as good as the Dali. This is probably because of placement and toe-in so I will reserve my final judgement on this later since I still have to play with placement.
Last but not least is the cabinet. On this aspect I can say that they have by far the best built cabinet I have seen on a speaker <$2500. The only speaker I can compare to in cabinet construction is the B&W 805S but the MBS-01 is a lot heavier.
I would also like to add that these are the 1st generation version without the upgraded crossover. From what I hear the upgraded crossover makes the speaker sound a lot better so if it's true it makes them an even bigger bargain. I will post more impressions later as wife is waiting on me to leave but I had to get my first impressions in about this wonderful speaker.
