Floorstanding loudspeakers — Scansonic HD MB6 B

The Scansonic HD MB6 B is a tall three-way floorstanding speaker from the MB-B series. Scansonic shares a Danish parent company with Raidho, and the engineering of the two brands is closely linked. The MB6 B groups six small carbon fibre drivers around a ribbon tweeter in what Scansonic calls a power-sharing line array, an arrangement meant to combine the cone area of a large woofer with the speed of small drivers.

Key specs that matter

Scansonic fits one sealed ribbon tweeter and six 115 mm (4.5 in) woven carbon fibre cones, two of them working as midrange units and four handling the bass. Crossover frequencies are 250 Hz and 2.6 kHz. Frequency response runs from 27 Hz to 40 kHz, sensitivity is 90 dB and nominal impedance is 4 ohms. Scansonic asks for a quality amplifier of more than 50 W. The cabinet is 178 mm wide, 1410 mm tall and 410 mm deep, and each speaker weighs 35 kg.

Engineering and use context

The tweeter sits at the centre of a d'Appolito layout, with one midrange driver directly above it and one directly below. The four bass drivers are mounted further out, in pairs at the top and bottom of the array, so the most directional units stay at the centre and the array behaves more like a single point source. Together the six cones have more radiating area than a conventional 300 mm woofer. Each cone is woven carbon fibre with stiffening ridges and no dust cap, driven by an overhung motor built for long excursion. The ribbon-type tweeter, related in concept to the Raidho design, uses a Kapton and aluminium sandwich diaphragm just 20 micrometres thick and weighing about 0.03 g. The midrange drivers and tweeter have their own sub-enclosure inside the cabinet, isolated from the bass section. The box itself is high-density MDF with structural parts in carbon fibre, and its tapered shape with sloping front and rear baffles reduces internal standing waves. A rear port vents the bass section, and the aluminium outrigger feet are adjustable. Grilles are an option rather than standard equipment.

Pairing

The 4 ohm load needs an amplifier with good current delivery, and 100 W or more per channel suits the medium to large rooms the MB6 B is designed for. Thanks to the 90 dB rating, moderate power is still enough for high levels. The speaker comes in walnut, satin white or satin black, and the white version has a carbon fibre top insert.

Alternatives

Scansonic's MB8B is a larger floorstander with two 200 mm woofers and a braided carbon fibre midrange.