Reviewer Kent Johnson at Positive Feedback Online says about the MBS-1:
"The MBS-1s produce a large, deep, very detailed soundstage. They truly disappear while doing this.....Their bass is adequately deep for reproducing the acoustic bass......The midrange performance is coherent yet detailed....While in no way limited to vocal music, these are very much a vocal lover's speaker. The treble is very open, extended, and well balanced relative to the mid and bass frequencies. Cymbals had realistic sheen and overtones as did other percussive instruments such as vibraphones, chimes, and bells.
In short, every part of the MBS-1s' performance contributed to a very musical, balanced, and satisfying reproduction of all the recordings that I listened to." ...."For me, the MBS-1 immediately reminded me of the Xavian XN270 speakers that I reviewed in PFO 42, both physically and with the same passionate attention to detail, but at roughly one-sixth the price." Read full review HERE.
Review by Jake Montzingo at Affordable Audio e-Zine in Nov 2009:
The Grant Fidelity MBS-1 loudspeaker is a serious contender for the +/- $1K award. They are great in all size rooms, but sensitive enough to be enjoyed at high or low volumes. The MBS-1 presented no listening fatigue in my listening sessions, nor could I sense and loss of detail or accuracy that can sometimes be present in budget monitors. Not only does the MBS-1 offer quality drivers and a high build quality, but it has the refinement of sound and product not usually offered at this price. Read full review HERE.
Product Description:
The MBS-1's (Monitor Bookshelf Speaker) come to you from over 3 years of developement to bring to market. Cabinet is from Jungson Audio but crossover is special made by Grant Fidelity as a 1st order cross over to fit North American listening habits. The original Jungson version of this speaker is more suitable for Chinese style music listening without emphasizing on accurate bass performance.
For budding audiophile and/or music lover, these are serious contenders for the finest entry level 2-way speakers available. Designed around Vifa custom drivers and with a custom 1st order crossver that took over a year to prefect by Grant Fidelity. Each component in these speakers are matched to less than 1% tolerance, which means a lot of testing goes into each component and part to ensure accurate imaging and soundstaging.
For the recording engineer, these are excellent near and midfield speakers that are accurate enough to record with excellent inner detail for building complex mixes or for hearing what your microphone placement is really doing. The special magic to these is the work that has gone into them so that they can assist make a mix that will travel fine to most home speakers. The MBS-1 is for the recording engineer, home recording musician that only has the budget or need for one speakers, the MBS-1 should be on your short list to audition.
These speakers are beautiful in every regards, the sound is an excellent balance between detail and musicality, deep accurate bass performance that will have you looking around for an expensive well setup subwoofer and an exceptional mid and top range that soundstages beyond expectations for this price range. The MBS-1 has retained the same Grant Fidelity sonic signature as the more expensive RBS-1's, quite the achievement at almost half the price difference.
The Grant Fidelity MBS-1 Reality Monitors are powerful enough to replace large box speakers, yet still amazing at very low intimate volumes, in even sizable rooms. The most amazing thing about the MBS-1 is that you can listen to any type of music all day long without fatigue and enjoy them. As a second set of speakers for the serious audiophile or studio engineer you won't find anything lacking or missing from the MBS-1 speakers.
The HD MDF / wood vineer cabinetry is simply beautiful, big WAF (wife appreciation factor), very low resonance and no equal sides rival speakers costing over multitudes more.
Many well known speaker models have been used during the voicing process of the MBS-1 bookshelf:
- Sonus Faber™ - RBS-1 emulates the richness of this wonderful speaker, without being too laid back
- Focal™ - RBS-1 emulates the sweet top end and detail Focal is famous for, without the brightness
- Paradigm™ Studio - emulates the tonal characteristics, without the colourization
- Rogers™ LS3/5A - emulates the perfect midrange, with better frequency extension and power
- Green Mountain Audio™ - emulates the time/phase relationship of drivers with a near perfect 1st order crossover
All of the above speakers were used in testing phases of the developement of the MBS-1. With the MBS-1 you are getting close to the great qualities of the above speakers in one speaker, and your wallet and better half will be happy too!
The Vifa driver's can take some time to burn in. The MBS-1's sound great out of the box, but the crossover only starts working properly after 75 hours, the tweeter after about 100 hours and the woofer after about 200 hours. After about 300 hours the speakers start to perform their true magic and with age only get better and better.
Features:
- Custom design drivers by Vifa OEM, matched to less than 1% tolerance
- True 1st Order Transparent Crossover
- High Grade Audiophile Capacitors, Tolerance Matching to less than 1% difference
- HD MDF multi-layer, non resonant cabinet. No equal dimenesions to achieve un-coloured bass
- Tuned port for natural, accurate and even bass extension
- Studio Reference Monitor accuracy and quality control
Specifications:
- Frequency Responce - 45 Hz to 22 kHz, -6db @ 40 Hz
- Efficiency - 88db
- Impedance - 8 ohm
- Power - 10 to 75 watts tube, 20 to 150 watts solid state
- Dimensions - 13" D x 8.3" W x 16" H
- Weight - 12kg / 26 lbs each
- Additional accessories : 24 inch custom made Skylan stands included
