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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
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
The ARC 100.2 sounds good with my TSM's. It is a great amp that can be found on the gon used for between 1500 and 1700. Years ago I had Pass ALeph and the 100.2 was more to my liking.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
One of the reasons I think the Aleph J should in theory be a good match for the Merlins is that in many ways it performs like tubes in that it seems to not increase current (watts) with lower impedance, that is it performs more like tube amps in that regard. It also has a 260kohm input impedance which makes it very tube preamp friendly, which I think is best suited for the BAM, and with 30 watts of Class A power it should be enough to drive the Merlins about as loud as I could stand. This ofcourse is all theory, and does not mean it will work better than the BEL, Belles, or ARC 100.2
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
paul, audio aero made a 50w class a tube power amp. i heard it and it was superb. not made any longer. juicey and dynamic as could be. 30 to 50 watts of class a tranformer coupled or otl amps are as much as i would need for my home or even to do a show. 50 being better for more complex material or show conditions.
the bel is fantastic but i still prefer tubes and you probably would too.
best, b
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Thank you Bobby. I do suspect you're right:)
rleff
1,065 posts
 
Pubul57- Hard to move back to the solid state sound when your a tube guy as am I;my roland 6's for me come very close;I would like to hear that solid state amp Ralph mentions now and then in the forums the name escapes me this moment though.
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