Loudspeakers

Scansonic continues to specify a high sensitivity for its reworked 'B' series but the depressed midband and shelved-up presence/treble of the MB6 B suggests a standard 1kHz figure of just 84.1dB (re. 2.83V/1m) improving to 84.9dB (500Hz-8kHz) and 86.3dB (200Hz-20kHz). As we saw with the MB5 B, narrowband variations in the output of the planar treble driver above the 2.6kHz crossover contribute to response errors of ±4.9dB with a hefty pair-matching error of 3.6dB. On the other hand, HF distortion is lower in this model at 0.6%/10kHz/90dB SPL and break-up behaviour better controlled [see Graph 2, below].

Working with a 'line array' of small woofers brings both benefits and challenges – the low frequency alignment here is decidedly 'peaky' with all four reflex-loaded 115mm bass units tuned to 79Hz and a steep roll-off thereafter [green shaded area, Graph 1]. While the diffraction-corrected bass extension of 54Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz) may seem slightly parsimonious, in practice we found the MB6 B certainly benefited from some near rear-wall reinforcement, these slim floorstanders delivering their smoothest, deepest subjective bass in this location. So the MB6 Bs are certainly room-friendly, but the amplifier loading – particularly below 150Hz – is a little tougher than Scansonic's '>4ohm' specification might suggest. Even though swings in phase angle are limited to +47°/–29° through this region, the impedance minima of 3.1ohm/89Hz and 2.98ohm/25Hz are best handled by heavyweight solid-state amps, particularly when the reduced sensitivity is also taken into account. Then again, a £9000 flagship is unlikely to be partnered with anything less! PM