Focal Mini Utopia vs Merlin MXe


Is this a fair comparision(sound quality wise ignoring price)? Looking for comments from people who owned both speakers for good length of time. I own mini utopia and Quad 989s and love them both. Trying to simplify and get full range speaker which will better both mini and quads (bass, imaging, stage depth & width, seamless in crossover transition) for 50% jazz and 50% Classical. This is new system building so open for amplifiers choice but leaning towards Transendent sound OTL. Please keep this discussion limited to these two speakers. Space limitation is making me sell my quads. Thanks.
celestial_audio
I’ve owned the Micro Be (sorry, not the Mini, I know) and the Merlin VSM-MM. Without question, I would recommend the Micro Be speakers. My biggest gripe with the Merlin’s is that they only work with a few company’s pres and amps to sound good. Take a look at most Merlin owner’s systems; they are all the same i.e. Joule Pre, Joule or Atma Sphere amps, plus Au24 or Cardas cables. The Micro Be sound good with both tubes and SS and can be matched with a lot of high quality equipment, unlike the Merlin’s. The Utopia line of speakers are also works of art and built like a tank. Resale on the Micro is also good, unlike the Merlin’s.
I own the Mini and would not suggest an OTL. The Mini's impedance gets pretty wild below 100 hz.