Okay, the fact that your amps are 20 watts clarifies things. Very cool tweak! Seems more of an issue of room/speaker interface.
Merlins are great speakers for smaller rooms, but in my experience, and apparently yours, they do lose a sense of scale in larger rooms. My room with the Merlins was 14 x 13. I tried them in my much larger living room and definitely experienced a loss of scale and soundstage size when they were in there.
My speaker model is called the "db99". It is the second generation of the speaker. It is no longer made. There was a pair for sale here last month, the first I have seen in awhile.
Both speaker models are capable of crystalline clarity and excellent soundstaging and imaging. My full range speakers offer more bass and fill my 24 x 20 room better, as one would expect.
However, it’s been two years since I sold my Merlins and I mainly experienced them with another amp and preamp, and a different set of cables. I never directly compared the Merlins and db99’s. I did briefly try the Merlins with the 8 watt Frankensteins and did not like that combo.
Also, I have changed cables and added tweaks like after market fuses and stands and a rack which I feel have made a positive difference with my system apart from the change in speakers. In other words, I am not able to attribute all of the sonic change I am experiencing solely to the change in speakers. I did buy my full range speakers before all of the tweaks and was thrilled with the speakers ability to fill my room with deeper bass while retaining the best qualities of the Merlins, at least in my mind, for what it’s worth.
Merlins are great speakers for smaller rooms, but in my experience, and apparently yours, they do lose a sense of scale in larger rooms. My room with the Merlins was 14 x 13. I tried them in my much larger living room and definitely experienced a loss of scale and soundstage size when they were in there.
My speaker model is called the "db99". It is the second generation of the speaker. It is no longer made. There was a pair for sale here last month, the first I have seen in awhile.
Both speaker models are capable of crystalline clarity and excellent soundstaging and imaging. My full range speakers offer more bass and fill my 24 x 20 room better, as one would expect.
However, it’s been two years since I sold my Merlins and I mainly experienced them with another amp and preamp, and a different set of cables. I never directly compared the Merlins and db99’s. I did briefly try the Merlins with the 8 watt Frankensteins and did not like that combo.
Also, I have changed cables and added tweaks like after market fuses and stands and a rack which I feel have made a positive difference with my system apart from the change in speakers. In other words, I am not able to attribute all of the sonic change I am experiencing solely to the change in speakers. I did buy my full range speakers before all of the tweaks and was thrilled with the speakers ability to fill my room with deeper bass while retaining the best qualities of the Merlins, at least in my mind, for what it’s worth.