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Merlin vsm question

considering speaker upgrade,
currently running von R.vr3, like full sounding speakers,
for medium volume levels,85db
heard good things about Merlin, looking for a more refined sound than the VR3, but don't know witch of the merlins, will suit my needs I'm confused about the vsm,MM,and mxe, super Bam. that's the difference among them,my budget is about $4500 used, and is it really a step up from VR3 to merlin?
running joulet electra 150mk11 preamp and quick silver v4 mono amps,KCI i/c cables, cardas GR spkr cables.
also considering Proac response 3.8

thanks

regards: '
juancgenao
usblues
1,217 posts
 
Coming up on 5 years with the VSM-MM's with a variety of amps.Unfortunately an OTL [atmasphere] isn't one of them.Agree with all the above posts regarding full-range and more.They are special though I haven't heard the vr3's for comparision[sp].Good luck,Bob......nice post Ralph.
stereo
147 posts
 
I'll pipe in here. I had the Merlin VSM-M for 6 years. I used them with Melos, Karan and a high powered class D mono amps. They never did it for me. I did have a balanced battery BAM. I used a tube preamp in all cases except with the Karan integrated. I do not think they are full bodied. My opinion is they are leaner sounding, but do put out good bass. I had ProAc speakers before the Merlins and went back to ProAc speakers after the Merlins.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,061 posts
 
Stereo, FWIW Merlins are designed for tube gear. The result is that some of the characteristics of transistors will cause a lean sound in the speaker simply because the speaker design does not anticipate that the amplifier used will double power as the impedance is halved. for more info see:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html
stereo
147 posts
 
Atmasphere, Bobby from Merlin told me that too. My Melos gear was a MAT-180 amp and a Maestro preamp. I am sure there are tube amps that work better with the VSM speakers. The V4 monos may work well with VSMs. They will probably work well with ProAcs as well.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Indeed the Merlins are intended for tubes. So much so that at one point Bobby had a "tube" version and and "ss" version of the speaker. To me, the Merlins are unforgiving in the sense that they will let you hear your amp and it doesn't candy-coat (maybe to strong a word), put a great tube amp in front of the Merlin and you will get balanced sound. SS has always been a bit problematic for some listeners. Besides the impedance issues with SS versus tubes, the Merlin speakers do not need very much dampening from an amplifier, again, ideally suited for tube amplifiers that most users will us with the Merlins. Love ProAcs too. But that's why there are different products on the market. For me the Merlin is the speaker of choice for two-way speakers and the coherency of that, with enough bass to feel like you are getting a three-way level of bass for most music.
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