Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

I wonder if Eyediver is gaining anything toward narrowing his speaker search from this discussion between Bobbyapalkovic and 9rw?

as usual, the venerable Tvad has made an excellent point. At least Mr. T has not jumped in..

Yeah, where's Mr. T when you really need him? He can derail a thread with the best of them. But then his threads are derailed from the beginning.

Eyediver is learning that some people take this very seriously, as they should considering the kind of investment that can be involved. Besides, I think his question has already been answered.

tvad, eyedriver had already started a different string so i did not see the harm in going on with 9rw.
9rw, many in audio that think they have a benchmark design take it as far as they can to really refine it. how many watt puppys and vandersteen 2's have there been thus far.
the merlin vsm has been made for 15 years and there have been 7 generational changes during that time. many thousands of pairs have been built and sit in their homes around the world. countless great show reports, reviews, manufacturer recommendations/usage and most importantly, sales, have prolonged the life of this now, mature product.
i am very proud of it because it is my life's work. i do not take kindly to having a person who had owned a pair 10 years ago imply that they are the same today without even hearing them. does that sound fair to you? it seems very few share your opinion of the vsm and in fact, there are more great reviews coming from europe where they have all of the product we have here and more. i'll tell you what, read http://merlinmusic.com/reviews/ital_tsmmme.htm
because this was just published and if you get back to me without the "i know better than you attitude", i may be able to find the time to tell you what we have changed. but i will not take the time to try and explain something to a person who already has preconceptions about it. i say this because it will take some time to do. in fact why not call me at the plant this weekend at 585 367 2390. i will be there every day.
best, b

Good reviews, which these days are a dime a dozen, and your enthusiasm are what got me to buy a pair of VSM SE's in the first place. While they weren't by any means terrible speakers, they never lived up to the promise -- at least not for me.

So I don't care if you point me to a dozen rave reviews, which are often the result of buying ads and being popular with writers and publishers as much as anything else.

Also, I forgot to mention that another preamp I had with the Merlins was the Levinson 380. When I replaced it with the ARC LS25, you said it was an improvement over the Levinson. It was, but I guess it still wasn't what's needed to make the Merlins sing. That's what I was referring to when I entered this thread. The Merlin speakers are incredibly fussy about associated gear. If that's not the case anymore, I stand corrected.

So while you make a generous offer for me to call you on a holiday weekend, I think I'll pass. I do wish, however, that you would tell everyone about how exactly the drivers, crossover and cabinets differ from the ones I had in 1998. I'm sure you can summarize.

And, finally, I have often praised you as an individual for your passion, the quality of the components and the build quality of your speakers, and your customer service. I don't know of any better. Thank you.

9rw, i will respond to some of this today in your mail and the rest over the next 2 days. got lots going on now.

Good reviews, which these days are a dime a dozen, and your enthusiasm are what got me to buy a pair of VSM SE's in the first place. While they weren't by any means terrible speakers, they never lived up to the promise -- at least not for me.

the last 5 words are very important because maybe they didn't for you, but they did and more for many others.

So I don't care if you point me to a dozen rave reviews, which are often the result of buying ads and being popular with writers and publishers as much as anything else.

these people do not know me from adam and merlin has never adverised there. this is in italy. the reason i sent it to you is because andio morotti is the pen name for two gentlemen, one a musician and the other and engineer. even though it is a review of the tsm mme i thought it would give you greater insight into many of the things that are important to you.

Also, I forgot to mention that another preamp I had with the Merlins was the Levinson 380. When I replaced it with the ARC LS25, you said it was an improvement over the Levinson. It was, but I guess it still wasn't what's needed to make the Merlins sing. That's what I was referring to when I entered this thread. The Merlin speakers are incredibly fussy about associated gear. If that's not the case anymore, I stand corrected.

current production has shown people using ss and tubes with many types of cable brands. the days of being fussy are over. and if you go to the audioreview and read many of the consumer comments you will see people saying that the speaker made so much more of their music collection listenable, even their poor recordings.

So while you make a generous offer for me to call you on a holiday weekend, I think I'll pass. I do wish, however, that you would tell everyone about how exactly the drivers, crossover and cabinets differ from the ones I had in 1998. I'm sure you can summarize.

i will start tomorrow, sunday with the first of two installments.

And, finally, I have often praised you as an individual for your passion, the quality of the components and the build quality of your speakers, and your customer service. I don't know of any better. Thank you.

no, thank you.
b
9rw (Threads | Answers)