GMA Callisto VS. Merlin TSM

Minbean,
Do yourself a favor and hear both the TSM and the Callisto. There are significant differences on build, cabinet construction, porting, crossover, ect. Your room, equipment and what you like is what matters. I personally am overwhelmed by the Callisto and Roy Johnson, the designer. I have owned mine for over a year now and I still cannot believe the music these make. The Merlins did not give me this passion, but you should make up your own mind. Check out Green Mountain's new website. A wealth of information is available.

http://www.greenmountainaudio.com/Introduction.htm

Good luck in your search!

Minbean,
You say you don't understand my viewpoint. Allow me to try to explain. Relative phase is a circular function and cycles through the same start point like the hands of a clock — 360° of phase equals one full rotation or cycle. Because phase describes the relative time difference between two signals, it can be expressed in degrees or radians, which measure the completed portion of a circular period or wavelength. For example, 90° of phase delay is a quarter of a period (wavelength) at any frequency. The amount of time delay it takes to move apart 90°, however, is frequency-dependent. Thus, a given time delay will produce different amounts of phase shift at different frequencies. In other words, what you have with higher order speakers (12db/octave or higher) is essentially a time delay circuit that adds a different amount of delay to each and every frequency. Therefore, what you have is not your 0.01 second delay across the entire frequency spectrum as in your sample, but a delay that varies with frequency, something quite un-natural. Putting it another way, that 0.01 delay at 50hz is magnitudes higher at 1khz or 16khz. It is heard on complex music. Live sound direct from an instrument to our ears does not have delay that changes with frequency superimposed on its original response. It is an artifact of speaker physics. Does that help? Taking nothing away from the Merlins, I agree with elsneb.... audition the Callisto's also.

Thanks songwriter72 for your time to make me understand!
I think I will spend some time with my old textbooks. I have not dealt with LC filters for a longtime.

I know nothing can beat actual experiences and conviction although opportunity to listen and compare those two in my area of living seems very scarce.

Minbean, I would not rule out the opportunity to hear both in your area...

I thought I would never get a chance to hear Merlins, but Bobby set me up with a local Merlin owner and I got to hear his Merlins in his system. I already had a chance to hear the GMAs last year at a show, but I am sure you can find a local owner to let you audition the GMAs as well. You may want to call GMA, as I am sure they can help you out.

As for me, while I decided to go a different direction, I absolutely loved the Merlin sound and personally prefer it to GMA. That said, listening is very subjective, and as such, the recommendations to personally audition them both are good advice, IMO.

---Dave

Minbean,
Call Roy Johnson at GMA. If no dealer is remotely close to you, maybe he can arrange an in home demo. I don't know GMA's policy, but they used to sell factory direct with a return policy. With no dealer near you, call the company. You would be out shipping costs, but if you hear what I hear, you won't be sending them back. Roy is one of the best in the Audio Industry and has a true passion for his product. It's all about the music. All the BS in the world doesn't mean a thing when you listen to music and swear the band is playing just for you. The Callisto's do that for me. I don't hear the speakers, I hear the band.