SCANSONIC MB1 B & MB10 SUB

Scansonic speakers come from Denmark, a Scandinavian country known for design aesthetics, and for those in the know, refined high end audio products. There are a number of notable HiFi brands that are based there, and one such company is Raidho, who make stellar loudspeakers. One listen, and it would be apparent their transducers are at the upper echelon. Raidho speakers are not inexpensive, and Scansonic is their daughter company, and the goal is to make speakers with Raidho goodness, but at prices that more people can afford. Raidho’s parent company also owns Gamut, another celebrated brand.

With that in mind, we have the Scansonic MB1 B stand mount monitors in house, along with the matching stands, and the MB10 subwoofer. The MB1 B retails for $2699 for either a black or white finish, with a walnut finish fetching $3499. The speaker features a 1 inch ribbon tweeter, and a 5.25 inch driver, in a curved pyramid shape. Around back are two high quality WBT style binding posts, and there is a front firing port.

The MB1 B is designed and manufactured in the Raidho factory in Denmark, not outsourced to Asia or Eastern Europe, which is surprising considering their relatively low price. Scansonic / Raidho takes great pride in their factory and quality control, and in fact for prospective customers, this link is worth checking out https://scansonichd.dk/the-factory/

The MB10 subwoofer is unusual in that Scansonic uses a class A/B ampliﬁer instead of the typical Class D amp, They pack a low mass 10 inch woofer, and combine that with an enclosure ”tuned to match the woofer”. There are a number of fine tuning options on the back panel.

Brace Ball, principal at AV Luxury Group International, personally delivered the MB1 B and stands, and the MB10 subwoofer to our home. I happened to be the lucky recipient of the walnut finish, which was gorgeous. The subwoofer was in gloss black. The workmanship on both products and the stands was top tier, and even more impressive considering they cost a fraction of Raidho products.

Set Up & Listening:

The MB1 B was set up in a system driven by the Parasound Halo Hint 6 Integrated amplifier (review forthcoming), a Sonore microRendu streamer, and a Rega Planar 3 turntable and a Lounge Audio phono preamp. Cabling was a mix of Transparent, and Black Cat. Everything was plugged into an Audience power conditioner. The MB10 offers several connection options, but we went with subwoofer RCA line out from the Parasound amp, and ran the speakers full range. Dialing it in took a few days, but once we did, it was “set it and forget it”.

After some hours of running the MB1 B and MB10 in, we got into some serious listening. And the time flew by. Before we knew it two months had flown by. As the summer dawned, we were really craving 60’s rock and folk. We started with a rather obscure UK band called Living Daylights.The Cherry Red / Grapefruit label just released a digital anthology, Let’s Live For Today: The Complete Recordings. It is beautifully mastered, with alternate takes, stereo and mono mixes. Their best known song, “Let’s Live For Today” is presented in several forms, including UK, US, and Japanese versions.

The jangly Rickenbacker guitars, the Lennonesque vocals, and the psychedelic overtones make it a true representation of the period, and also illustrates how influential the Beatles were at the time. The Scansonic speakers sorted out all the pieces of the sonic puzzle magnificently. All of the analog fingerprints and mix particulars were there. Other songs, like “Up So High” with fuzz guitar and quaint drug references, were amusing, and highly enjoyable. The Scansonics were particularly adept at rendering the mono mixes!

Because they share a song in common, we moved directly to the legendary psych pop band, The Grass Roots. Their version of “Let’s Live For Today” is less Beatleseque, and more trippy. The Scansonics were a like a time machine, presenting the tracks from The Complete ABC / Dunhill Hit Singles with no sugar coating, or smoothing over of the recording artifacts of the day.

Early hits like "Where Were You When I Needed You", and “Midnight Confessions” were great fun, and the MB1 B provided a looking glass into how rock, pop, and soul were being blended at the time.

Perhaps one of the most seminal bands to emerge in the mid 60’s was The Velvet Underground. Ironically, they sold very few records, but became incredibly influential. Their album covers alone are iconic. We went with The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary 24/192 remaster) with it’s incredible underground folk / pop / rock stylings.

In fact, tracks like “Sunday Morning”, “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and “There She Goes Again” gave me great joy, bringing me back to my early teenage days, when my friends and I first discovered the album. The Scansonics were scary good at presenting Lou Reed’s guitar and vocals, and the odd ball touches, like electric viola, and the singing of German actress, model, and singer Nico. The speakers also perfectly accentuated the dark mood the album conjures up midway through, with songs like “Venus In Furs”, “Heroin”, and “Black Angel Death Song”.

We then reversed course and listened to numerous new recordings, with better fidelity, but with no less creativity. One such example is the recent release from singer / songwriter Diane Coffee, With People, a 24 bit download. The album is sophisticated, incredibly melodic, and cleverly produced. There are a number of champer pop touches, and the perfect amount of layering to compliment Coffee’s cinematic songs. The Scansonic made this album sound wide and spacious, yet intimate at the same time! The opening track “Corinna With Colina” is worth the price of admission alone. The MB1 B made all the layers easy to process and also created a coherence that glued it all together.

We also have had a somewhat of an obsession with Nordic style “Viking folk”, which many artists from Scandinavia have recently produced, especially after the blockbuster success of the History Channel show, The Vikings. Heling, is one such band, with members from Denmark and Norway. Their new album, Drif, is chock full of ancient sounding chants, intoxicating rhythms, and hints of electronica. It is hypnotic, and breathtaking at times. The MB1 B recreated the panoramic scope of this music, and really quite amazed us with how much texture and precision it rendered the thumping drums and bass drones.

A vinyl spin that really crystalised the strengths of the MB1 B and MB10 combo was English songstress Marianne Faithful’s Greatest Hits. Her version of Jagger / Richards’ “As Tears Go By” is devastating, and the Scansonic trio let us hear the utter purity of her voice from her early days, and how the producers sought to not overwhelm her vocals with tasteful folk rock arrangements. A true highlight of our listening.

We came to realize towards the end of our time with the MB1 B, that its midrange was silky, and transparent, and that allowed the overall presentation to be so wonderfully balanced. The speaker has the least coloration of any we have heard in its price range. It also showed no strain at higher volumes, at least in our smaller listening room.

We must comment on how beautifully the MB1 B and the MB10 blended, and were seamless in presentation when dialed in. The MB10 added that additional layer of weight and substance. But note, the MB1 B offers very commendable bass performance, but of course, within the limitations of a 5.25 woofer. For smaller rooms, they are pure magic. The MB10 is an excellent partner for larger rooms. Even in my smaller listening room, the Scansonic trio was beyond reproach.

Conclusion:

The Scansonic MB1 B standmounts are the best monitors we have heard to date under $3000, by quite a large margin. In fact, when my Spendors eventually have seen better days, the MB1 B will take their place. They are refined, addicting to listen to, and are lookers to boot. The optional stands work beautifully with the speakers, and even improve them visually, but their cost may give some pause, but they are very nicely made. If they were priced more modestly we would say they are a mandatory purchase.

The MB10 is also a superb value, offering articulate, controlled, and very satisfying bass weight and presence. The system taken as a whole, really was a special combination. Of course, being designed and manufactured by the same company allows them to have common voicing. I would not hesitate to recommend the Scansonic product line to any music lover seeking, sophisticated, elegant, and transparent loudspeakers that are a pure bargain in the greater scheme. Great speakers.

Specifications:

Scansonic MB1 B Speaker
Price: $2699 for Black or White finish, $3499 for Walnut finish.
Optional Stands: $1800 per pair
Freq. response: 70 Hz – 40 KHz
Impedance: 6 ohm
Sensitivity: 85 db
Enclosure: Heavily braced, rear ﬁring ports
Drivers: 1 sealed ribbon tweeter with kapton/aluminum sandwich membrane. 1 Mid/woofer 4,5”, Honeycomb enforced glass ﬁber cone.
Finish: Silk White or Silk Black

Scansonic MB10 Subwoofer
Price: $1699
Weight, kg.: 15,4
Freq. response: 25 Hz – 150 Hz (adjustable)
Ampliﬁer: 100W Rms, Class AB
Inputs: Line as well as low impedance input
Enclosure: Rear ported
Drive units: 10” long throw, low mass driver – Down-ﬁring
Finish: Black-silk or White-silk

US DISTRIBUTOR:

AV LUXURY GROUP

866-791-6915
info@avluxurygroup.com
www.avluxurygroup.com

Phone: (866) 528-8085
Phone: (818) 927-7553

AKRM

SCANSONIC MB1 B & MB10 SUB - REVIEW