Hi Eric,

there use to be allot of info. in relation to others with not so positive experience in relation to the product reliability "amps" and service as a whole but have vanished. For me it's old news, been there and done that but if you would like more info send me a personal PM and I will share. You might even be able to look back threw my threads and find some.

Personally I have nothing against him as a person.

The Vac's I made mention of are in a whole other league "SUPERIOR" sonic wise, quality so if you were looking for tube amps for your MBL's these would be the ones I would highly recommend and your amp hunt would be complete.

dev April 03, 2013 00:46

Hi Eric,

I don't know if I would really call my self a veteran, was very educational though.

Yes Ken the owner of CAT utilizes the 101e's, unfortunately I would not recommend his amps due my bad experience.

Now the VAC 450 Statement mono's are a whole other story, absolutely gorgeous with out those reliability issues, by far not cheap but put a smile on my face every time when turned on.

There are numerous pics of my set-up floating around.

Babybear answered your question, to date anyone whom I know that has tried these Ultra 5's has had positive results, even Jeremy B of MBL. Some are even using under their turntables like Babybear with positive results.

Yes I'm also married, I am fortunate but still at times my wife does comment here and there but then again I don't really ask about her shopping ;-) Does remind me of what happened recently when I acquired those MM3 speakers, when they showed up she was home and they come in 6 good size wooden crates weighing 250+ lbs each. Comment was; what the heck are in those and when I replied she just shook her head.

Enjoy!

dev April 02, 2013 12:20

Congrats! I agree MBL 101e speakers truly are special. I also own a pair of EA MM3 speakers which are allot bigger and have 2 powered woofers in each speaker, both speakers offer their own sonic differences for sure.

A recommendation would be to place some SP Ultra 5's under your speakers, doing this will even further enhance their capabilities, not cheap but when you have such a system the return is well worth it.

I was pleasantly surprised on my amplification journey to have firstly tried CAT JL3 Sig MK2 tube mono blocks, upon trying numerous SS amps there were sonics that I NEVER FORGOT and missed.

I've had numerous SS amps paired up with mine over the years but for some time now I've been off the merry-go-round, my amps included 9008's same as yours with 1060d pre-amp - pair of 9011's - Boulder mono 2050's - Karan mono 1200's to just name a few

I found I would like this and that but never forgot what I heard when I owned those CAT's paired up. Unfortunately they did not stay due to reliability issues, at that point in my journey I had a pair of Bryston 28 Squared mono blocks and 9011's. I found the Bryston's to be more musical and to my liking, I know of a few individuals whom also owned the 9008's and once they tried the Bryston's actually sold the 9008's but you really would need a tube pre paired up with them like the ARC Ref 3 or 5, or Vac Sig MK2a which will still allow you to do your home theatre. The latter pre-amp being the preferred by many whom have heard and my current pce.

My current set-up consist of;

-MBL 101E's placed upon SP Ultra 5's
-Vac Sig MK2a pre with phono
-Vac 450 Statement mono blocks
-MS 5000 table with floating platter mod from Germany with various arms/carts which replaced my TW Acustic Black Knight table
-Minus K custom platform which my table sits upon
-Finite Ref Sig double wide 3 shelf high component stand
-Burmester 100 phono
-K-01 player for playing those shiny disc, I did own 1621a transport "gorgeous pce" paired up with a tube dac which was my preference but due to taking up so much real estate and basically collecting dust due to I mostly listen to vinyl and my tuner decided to sell and go with a single player. Tried numerous and for my taste this one was a winner, so many different options "filters" to try which changes the sonic flavour and also plays SACD which is nice
-MD 109T tuner and MR-78 moded, both amazing tuners.
-Stealth cables through out

dev April 01, 2013 00:21