Lead free Merlins

1310,
you would have to know what the earlier versions sounded like to be able to give an opinion and i do not know of anyone that had mm or mxs that now have the e-versions in the us. we have many that have mme or mxe versions in the us and they all seem to really like them even with ss. there is a string further down where a fellow with tsm mmes voices his opinion on them (string comparing tsm m and proac res 2), his name is capt.
i know of many in europe that have followed my product very closely for years and have owned ms, mms, mxs and now the e-versions and these people in particular think the e vesions are very superior in sound. i have my own opinion of lead and its effects but that is better discussed in a personal fashion. e-mail me at bobby@merlinmusic.com or call 585 367 2390 during business hours and i will be glad to tell you my feelings on the subject. or you can contact rich at signature sound (richb@sigsound.com) for his thoughts as he follows my work very closely. there will also be an addition to the main page of the merlin site (www.merlinmusic.com) discussing this very point hopefully this weekend.
regards,
b

Hi Merlin1310...As Bobby said, I haven`t heard any of the previous tsm or vsm series speakers. I owned a pair of merlin sig. 4`s about 16 yrs. ago and loved them. I knew if I ever got back into the hobby, I`d start with merlins and build a system around them, hence the new tsm mme`s.

If I were to sum up my impression of these speakers, it would go something like this....

Clear and natural. To me, the music flows in an absolutely clear, natural and beautiful manner with realistic imaging and sound stage. They are never bright and even seem to make inferior ancillary components sound good. I have an old denon1420 front end for now.

Hope this helps.

I currently own the Merlins VSM-M speakers and have for the past 5 years. My experience with lead-free solders is very positive. Over the last 8 months or so I have removed and replaced my previous Cardas leaded solder with Johnson Mfg IA-423 lead free solder on my preamp. The sound was cleaner, clearer and livelier in general. My experience with lead solder is that it adds heaviness and certain dullness to the sound. The lead free sound is faster with better definition across all frequencies. The Johnson IA-423, with a 6.4% silver/copper content (see link below), is the best sounding solder I have experience with and easily out performed the cardas and WBT solder I was previously using.

I have not heard the newer lead free “e-version” Merlin speakers but I strongly suspect they will sound superior to the previous leaded versions based on my personal experience. I am in the process of trying to remove as many leaded solder joints as possible in my audio equipment and replace them with high silver content lead free solder joints.

Link: http://www.johnsonmfg.com/temp/SOLDER.HTM

Johnny