Upgrade from Merlin VSM-M to What?

I saw where you were acknowledging the jumpers on the speakers stink, they need to be killer quality and as neutral as you can get, AU-24 or JPS SC2. I have some wire that is Nordost Valhalla category that I can send you a foot of to make jumpers that are as good as it gets.

The guy who does the design work on JPS has Merlins so he knows how to make them fly. Don't mess with anything until the wire is right. How are the speakers supposed to have a balanced sound if they aren't getting a balanced input signal?

the jumpers that come with the speakers are cardas radially wound crossfield copper litz and the correct gauge/dc to make the balance of the tweeter and woofer, right. by going to a bigger gauge you will decrease the dc resistance and allow the tweeter to play louder which is the opposite to what stereo wants. he wants a fuller tone and what you suggest will make them sound lighter in tone.
my jumpers are a copper crossfield litz made by cardas with copper tinned o ring connectors. if you judge things by looks i get your point but they are very sophisticated and exactly what the speaker needs to make it function correctly. now if stereo wants a fuller tone he should get a lead free power cord for his super bam, new 230 mah cells for the bam and lead free jumpers. all this is very inexpensive and works like a charm.
bobby at merlin

Tubegroover, I agree with your comments regarding the Berning, in fact some very good reasons to own the Bernings. I was thinking of my 180lb CAT Jl2s with 22 tubes, etc. I've not heard the Bernings, but one cannot argue with the ergonomic factors of light weight, long tube life, and low heat - very good attributes in any amplifier. I'll tell you one thing, if the "tiny" simple ARS can compete with my CAT, I'll be talking about it an awful lot to anyone willing to listen. I get the sense (hasn't happened yet) that a long term audiophile who as tried many pre and amp combinations finally finds an integrated that performs to the level of SOTA separates will like get off the equipment merry-go-round. Well, maybe I'm kidding myself. Although for me the VSM-MXs has really stopped me from considering different speakers. For my taste in music, sound, and room they never make me wonder about my "next" speaker. If the ARS could do the same - well that would be something.

I doubt that the CAT's are wanting in too many areas especially dynamics which I can't imagine the ARS or Berning are going to approach at 35 and 70 watts respectively. I too am curious to hear the ARS especially after reading David Berry's comment that he didn't hear a significant improvement over the Joule to keep it. The Joule is quite special with the VSM and to think that one can spend 3500.00 on an integrated that is going to approach that level of performance/enjoyment is saying a lot.

In the $5000 range used Legacy Audio Focus 20/20 is a nice upgrade. For about $1500 more, used Wilson Sophia are far superior to what you have in both build quality and sonics.

There are many speakers at your price point offering significant improvement if you buy used.