GMA Callisto VS. Merlin TSM

I once bought a brand new pair of B&W CM2's. Those did have a major "suckout" or frequency response gap. They were awful on male voices. I noticed it and returned them within one week. This problem is easily noticed, even by neophytes who can't put their fingers on it. It's not something a manufacturer can hide.

My Merlin TSM-MX's have no such problem. In fact, they are known for their uniformity. I love listening to them precisely because they reproduce all my music but the lowest bass. Hours on end. And they're beautiful to look at, too. Others agree, even those who prefer something else. Nobody but songwriter/mauimusicman clings to this abstract dogma. How silly would this position be if he were discussing sunsets:

"Let me tell you about sunsets, although I've never seen one. I've heard all about them, so you should listen to me. I hear they're orange. I don't care for orange. How can orange be nice to look at? It's such an angry color. Sunsets can't be pretty, because they're orange and because I don't like orange. You say you've seen the sun set, but if you liked it, you're wrong because it conflicts with my preconceived notions. Math and science say orange is pychologically disturbing. All the reviews of sunsets must be by lesser mortals who have defective retinas, or uneducated taste. I'll be happy to advise you further on sunsets."

I don't know about you, but if I heard somebody do that, I'd run as fast as I could to see a sunset for myself.

Thank you all for the honest and considerate answers!!!

OK. I hate getting into these things too much. I have auditioned both in some degree of detail. The GMA room was set up by Roy ( I watched him do some of it myself). I have no idea who set up the Merlin room at CES but I have no doubt that it was done competently and with some semblance of complimentary gear. The rooms arent great and the power quality is likely questionable. I sat infront of both of these speakers for quite awhile- gievn the usual velocity at CES.

The reason I did is because both speakers are wonderfully involving Hi Fidelity offerings. Tbere is no bad choice here and I would like to have a pair of either of them. Both are better speakers than my current reference offerings in my home ( Soliloquy 5.3i- still very enjoyable to me).

I favor the Merlins overall becuase of their unbeleievable clarity, transparency and accuracy. When set up properly, they can be seen, but only the music can be heard. It is really that way. The GMA Callistos are awesome as well. You know you are listening to something special when in front of them and you dont want to get up and leave. But the speaker is audibly there-- thats the difference. The Merlins had perfect coherence of frequency range over what it was reproducing. The Callistos had a slight thinning or softening in the midrange. But I am being SUPER picky here. Both are truely awesome and would be very welcome additons in my home compared to so many pretenders floating all around these days.

OP- Hope that helps.

hi rysa4,
to be honest with you, the speaker you heard in the merlin suite this year was the vsm mx and super bam. it retails for $10,500.00, about 4 times the callisto's list. i still appreciate your comments and it was rich and myself who set this room up. the system you heard was all joule otl tube gear on critical mass stands, a vpi tnt 6 hotrod with cardas heart cartridge, an audio aero capitole cdp and all cardas golden reference cable. i was also using the 160 and 2q equitechs on the line level and power gear. this is my design and reference system. i have not had the tsm at the show for at least 3 years. i am going to have to bring them again because so many ask to hear them. imho, the tsm mm and mx sound more right and more continuous than even the vsm millennium did.
regards,
bobby at merlin

for the second time in this string a comment i made was not posted. is this a glitch with the site or an over zealous moderator?
since rysa4 made mention of the fact that he heard the tsm in our suite at this years ces, i thought it only fair/honest to inform him and minbean that we actually used the vsm mx which is worth 4 times the callisto's list. i thanked him for his kind comments of the sound. he also made mention of the set up of the room, the ac quality and the associated gear and i described all of this for him. so if rysa4 wants to know any of this in more depth, he should e-mail me personally.
regards,
bobby@merlin