@ht_fan "Every time I heard the Merlins they were on Joule electronics and sounded amazing with them!"
Yes, that is what I heard them with as well and with the same result.
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Good move hanging on to those speakers. You’ll have to spend a lot more to do better. I had two pairs of TSM’s, sold one, and had to replace them with $7k monitors for a marked improvement. But still have my Black Magic version, so I’ve tried several different types of electronics. First, they sound best with tubes. Not sure what version you have but the recent versions will sound better than the older versions with Solid State. But again, best to stick with tubes. Depending on room size and how loud you listen, you can get by with 20-25 tube watts. I like them best with my Atma-Sphere S-30 OTL tube amp (30 watts) but the rooms I used them in were small to medium sized. Even in a larger room though 50-60 tube watts should be plenty of power. As already mentioned they sound very nice with EL34 tubes in triode. They did very nice with my Conrad Johnson mono blocks (60 watts of EL34 triode power) in a 16x24 room. Whatever electronics you decide on the Merlin’s will continue to scale up with better electronics. I also found that they sound best with Cardas or Audience cables and again, they will continue to scale up with good cables. |
I second the VTA/Tubes4hifi amps. Currently running twin M-125 monoblocks and their SP-14 preamp. I built the amp kits and had them build the preamp while I was in the process. Very rewarding listening to something you had a hand in bringing to life, but don't kid yourself, these are solid, powerful and musical regardless of who built them. I'm extremely satisfied with the investment, getting ~125 watts of tube power from each of these is awesome. |
A buddy of mine recently passed away and we are liquidating his audio system. Bobby’s last Black magic VSM MXM with master Bam and an Ars Sonum Filarmonia integrated as recommended by Bobby. |
Signature Sound services Merlin speakers and imports Ars Sonum tube integrateds which I think Bobby was originally importing and using with his speakers.
https://sigsound.com/product-lines/ars-sonum/ That said any good pushpull amp in the 15-25 watt range should do just fine with those plenty of choices out there. Synthesis from Italy is another brand worth checking out. |
I ran Merlin VSM for years, tubes all the way. Push pulls really liked them with EL34, also ran them with 845SET even better. Always great with the Joule amplification as well, I ran Joule LA100 MkIII pre with all the amps. Not difficult impedance curve with these,don't need much tube power.
Depending on voicing you're after you should consider changing out the pre rather than amp. The Joule pre's always good match and Bobby's usual pairing. Joule LA100 series nice, 150 and 300 better, Joule has meat on the bones sound quality. |
Bobby P and I listened to a lot of his early Merlins together, typically on tubes. I’m still a big fan of the midrange/treble clarity and presence I get from good tube amps. There are a lot of good choices. Having a bit more power never hurts, but IMO it’s more important that it sounds right to you. VTA from tubes4hifi still offers some good American iron at reasonable prices. Kit or finished. Bobby’s old audio pal, Ken Stevens (CAT), still makes some of the best tube amps going, and are priced accordingly. I’d also consider a tube preamp. |
OP, the key (if I may) is in what I said: Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 6.5 ohms minimum, 14 ohms at crossover point Again: with a 6.5 ohm minimum impedance, they should NOT be hard for a wide variety of amps to drive. This is the same with Fritz's speakers, and so you can stick with tubes. Just get an amp with good transformers. Here's a brief explanation: https://youtu.be/tvTLYqB4Zfk?si=h3wM3Xwehi4SmCrX |
Honestly, I have no idea what Bobby said. I've already decided to keep the speakers, at least for awhile. Fritz at Fritz speakers told me that the improvement I would get with his speakers (similar price range for Merlins new) may not be a very discernible difference. Also, almost everything I've read seems to suggest Merlin TSMs perform at their best with tubes. Not poo booing your suggestion, just telling you what I have read. I've nothing against solid state at all. Any response to this? Thanks. |
found this at bottom of a review
"Manufacturer’s Comment: Dear Editor, Newer production offers a re-milled tweeter face plate that reduces diffraction while increasing the size of the dome’s opening to make the device sound more open and extended. The body of the tweeter is no longer a Morel mdt 30 but a hand made version made by Renaissance Audio. It is now called the Rennaissance mst 30.5. It is my feeling that use of a copper litz speaker cable would improve the hf extension and micro definition. This is the type of cable I used in the development of the tsm. My special thanks, ////////////////////////// IF 87 sensitivity is correct, I would move to more efficient speakers, and I prefer 3 way to 2 way, I also prefer tubes (see makers SS comment), but if you keep them, then I would go for SS for enough power, say 120 wpc at 8 ohms, I never want to try for that much power from tubes, too much heat and too many tubes that start out matched, but ...... |
They sound like great speakers. It seems there was a discussion about solid state and this amp in 2011: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/solid-state-amp-for-merlin-tsm-s?sort_order=asc As for power, if this review is correct, they should be easy to drive with a range of amplifiers: Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 6.5 ohms minimum, 14 ohms at crossover point The review makes a mistake, though. It says, "The manufacturer claims these are a "friendly" load for the amplifier. I’m not 100% sure. First of all the 87 dB sensitivity requires quite powerful amplifiers, unless you listen at moderate levels and/or in a small room." My sense is that with a 6.5 ohm minimum impedance, they should NOT be hard for a wide variety of amps to drive. But the phase angles of the impedance changes are important, too, and I don't know what they are. All that said, I think with a small, sealed, bookshelf, some power might really open up their soundstage and dynamics. A tube amp with really good transformers is important. In that regard, I’m a Quicksilver fan which has amazing transformers. |
