Radialstrahler Loudspeaker MBL 116 F

When majestic pipe organs deliver their celestial tones to the nave of a church, the sound reverberates, captivates and penetrates the mind, body and soul. Loudspeakers can evoke the same powerful ambiance, but only when designed and built to the most exacting standards.

Enter the MBL 116 F omnidirectional Radialstrahler loudspeaker. This compact 4-way floorstanding speaker offers one pair of push-push lower-mid drivers for the mid bass registers, and a larger pair of push-push woofers at the bottom of a 46 L bass-reflex cabinet to ensure that sound pressure descends effortlessly to the deepest gothic octaves. MBL’s proprietary omnidirectional radial midranges and tweeters brilliantly handle the remainder of the audible frequency range, and beyond. Cabinet resonance and vibrations are diminished by the common-mode operation of the low-mid drivers and woofers, as each pair are braced back-to-back by aluminum rods. The membranes swing in unison and, by doing so, neutralize all mechanical forces that might act upon the walls of the housing, minimizing distortions.

The MBL 116 F – commanding the floor, the ceiling and all space in between with astonishing aural clarity that belies its compact footprint.

$ 39,900 per pair

piano black/gold

piano black/chrome

piano white/gold

piano white/chrome

* custom colors available

Mids and Highs

Tweeters and midrange drivers are the heart of every loudspeaker. Without the critical frequencies they produce, it’s almost impossible to capture the emotional nuances of voices and instruments. This frequency range covers most of the vocal spectrum while allowing listeners to pinpoint the location of players or instruments within the original recording space.

Refined to perfection over the past 40 years, MBL's Radialstrahler technology enables full 360-degree distribution of sound waves to fill entire rooms with concert-hall majesty, creating a truly immersive spatial experience. And this holds true for all listeners, not just one or two individuals located in the sought-after sweet spot or sound apex of two conventional loudspeakers.

MBL’s technology also bests the geometric design challenges of most living rooms, where multi-angled reflective surfaces and protuberances cause reverberation, making it difficult to reproduce lifelike music. Our one-of-a-kind Radialstrahler technology, used in all tweeters and midrange drivers throughout our speaker lineup, smoothly overcomes edges, angles and reflective planes for the ultimate listening enjoyment.

More about MBL's loudspeaker technology

Chassis strength: the push-push arrangement

Loudspeakers are complicated devices, with lightning-fast internal actions that occur in rapid succession. The membrane is fired back and forth in time with the music signal, and the recoil hits the housing. The larger the chassis, the heavier the membrane and the more powerful the magnet and voice coil, the harder the shock. With such active internal movements, speaker housings tend to produce undesirable vibrations, and can delay and weaken the sound signal if they give in to the recoil.

The housing-less Radialstrahler transducers are not affected by these challenges of movement, especially since their sound impulses are evenly distributed in all directions. Even the cone chassis in MBL loudspeakers conquer the forces that impact faithful sound reproduction. They are only installed in pairs, and are located on the left and right sides of the housing. The two rear sides of the chassis are connected with a massive aluminum strut. The respective membranes oscillate in and out in unison, and the recoil forces cancel each other out. Through clever engineering, the speaker housing is spared mechanical vibrations and shocks, producing sound that is controlled, tight and refined.

The 116 F at a glance

4-way speaker, bass reflex
Advanced MBL HT37 tweeter and MT50 midrange driver built with proprietary radial emitter technology
Suitable for all room sizes, optimal for rooms up to approx. 60 m²
Long-throw aluminum chassis with smooth-running surrounds and aerodynamic basket deters compression effects
Woofer and low-midrange chassis in push-push arrangement connected with solid aluminum struts
Crossover with passive high-pass filter and 2-pole subsonic filter to protect the bass chassis
Choice of customizable finishes

Technical Specifications

System	4 way, bass reflex system
Acoustic center	107 cm, 42''
Woofer	2 x 220 mm, 8'' Aluminium (push-push layout)
Low midrange	2 x 150 mm, 5'' Aluminium (push-push layout)
Midrange	Radial MT50, woven carbon fiber
Tweeter	Radial HT37, unidirectional carbon fiber
Lowest frequency	40 Hz
Crossover frequencies	170 Hz, 650 Hz, 3 500 Hz
Nominal impedanz	4 Ohm
Nominal power handling / Peak	340 Watt / 1 800 Watt
Weight (single speaker)	42 kg / 93 lbs