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Merrill Audio ELEMENT 118 on Tour

As some of you know I had to deal with a serious family medical issue which has been miraculously cured. So the new ELEMENT amplifiers are getting out to all those asking about them and the few lucky ones that have purchased them.

The ELEMENT 118 and ELEMENT 116 will be going out to reviewers and on tour to various audiophiles and dealers. So more will be showing up. I will provide a short trail and welcome questions and comments, all in good spirit.

After years of research and using OEMS, we have a proprietary design that we believe is an order of magnitude improvement over the previous amps and also sets a standard across all the classes of amps in terms on sonics. Of course taking a listen and doing a comparison is the best way to confirm this.

The new design is an open loop, zero feedback, and zero deadtime, using the Gallium Nitride Transistors - which unlike other transistors have close to zero capacitance and hence allow very fast switching. Additionally the PCB and layout is a highly advanced layout that reduces the parasitic capacitance and inductance to near zero, allow close to zero overshoot and ring, and of course the zero deadtime. The open loop, zero feedback, zero deadtime allows a spacious and precision stage with long detailed decays, very fast attack without the parasitics causing other distortions. The first 10 seconds impresses the listener with a musical tone, that is open, wide and fast. The rest is musical immersion.

I will post the systems as they are run through as best I can. Enjoy and I hope you get to listen to the ELEMENT Series of Power Amplifiers near you.
merrillaudio
tweak1
3,667 posts
 
My definition of cool- neutral- warm is based on several factors, like whether the singer, hollow body guitar, cymbals, piano keys/board... sound natural

Some systems get the leading edge of the pluck, but lack the resonance inside the hollow body guitar, or vice versa

or get the strike of the cymbal but lack the shimmer or warm sound of the brass, or vice versa

or with a singer where the voice is all head and no chest,  or vice versa

or the piano where you hear the keys but not the board or the sound/size of the body,  or vice versa

Do not discount the contribution of vibration control which seems to be an afterthought in many systems 
bill_k
915 posts
 
@rsf507 - With all due respect I believe you're mistaken regarding the IEC jack on the Element 118, which is the 20 amp version instead of the more common 15 amp. It has no relation to the amp's required voltage, but a 20 amp IEC generally offers a more secure physical connection along with higher current capacity compared to the 15 amp IEC.
viber7
25 posts
 
All good points regarding vibration control and I wholeheartedly agree on its importance.  Regarding the Element 118s, Merrill incorporated a very novel means of controlling for vibration via a combination of a pair of stainless steel outriggers and Isoacoustics GAIA II footers.  The way these amps are constructed, with these outriggers in place, it's impossible to apply aftermarket footers such as the Stillpoints Ultra 5s or HRS Vortex that I own and so it's hard to know if I would prefer something other than the stock footers but at the very least, Merrill definitely put thought into this.  Furthermore, it's implemented very tastefully.
viber7
25 posts
 
@rsf507 , I tried a variety of power cords with both the Element 118s and the Christine.  Of the 2, the 118s are more responsive to power cords.  

Yes, @bill_k is correct, the 118s use 20A IEC inlets but Merrill chose these because of their ability to more securely clamp onto the power cord rather than a need for a 20A supply.  As stated, these amps consume about 17 watts while idle and even during normal playback levels, these amps never consumed more than about 25 watts on average.  Just mind boggling for amps that can supposedly output up to 1600w each.

Having said that, these amps scaled very nicely to either the Shunyata Sigma NR (6awg) or Alpha NR (8awg) power cords I have on hand although my preferred power cord for all of my gear are High Fidelity Cables power cords.
merrillaudio OP
63 posts
 
@viber7
Just to set the record straight for those reading, I did not design or invent the term, "Soft landing" as stated in the paragraph, 
As for the Christine preamp, this is an excellent preamp with tremendous speed, dynamics, and an ultra low noise floor and not surprisingly, is an ideal complement to the Element 118. It incorporates a unique feature that Merrill calls a "soft landing." This means that transients never have a hard edge and this feature, according to Merrill, is responsible for the Christine's fatigue-free presentation.

This was from Marshall Nack so I would like to give him the credit for this. You can read more in his review here.
https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/christine-preamplifier-merrill-audio/

Many thanks viber7 for providing such a detailed, thorough and investigative report, not to mention the amount of gear put together to make this happen. It has always been a pleasure having this candid exchange with you over the years.  You provide a good contribution to the audio world.

@mattnshilp  a shout out to him also for helping with the original design challenges of form and function. The outriggers were his idea and he also did the final design tweaks.
Regarding the Element 118s, Merrill incorporated a very novel means of controlling for vibration via a combination of a pair of stainless steel outriggers and Isoacoustics GAIA II footers. The way these amps are constructed, with these outriggers in place, it's impossible to apply aftermarket footers such as the Stillpoints Ultra 5s or HRS Vortex that I own and so it's hard to know if I would prefer something other than the stock footers but at the very least, Merrill definitely put thought into this. Furthermore, it's implemented very tastefully.

@guidocorona  provided the insight to use 20A connectors for better connections. I agree and believe everyone should uses this, especially if they are upgrading the power lines and power outlets.

As with all my equipment, many, many audiophiles are engaged for listening, feedback on form and function in the design phase. Many thanks to them all for their time and for use of their systems for listening to ensure broad working function. 
The best compliment is when some say it is a bit arm and others say it is a bit cold. The middle is reached!

Back to  @viber7 , thank you again for the honest reporting.

cheers

Merrill


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