I'm going to clarify why I sold my LSA1 Statements -- if only because people making equipment choices use these threads to help figure things out, and I don't want them to draw the false conclusion that I was unhappy with the Statements.
I really do love the LSA1 Statements, and continue to think that they're wonderful (for all the reasons I've already posted) and really quite a steal at the current street price. They sounded better at 50 hours than they had out of the box and no doubt would have sounded even better at 200 hours, as LSA suggests. I got a lot of pleasure from them -- to my ears, they're the best sounding speakers, for my tastes and listening room, that I've ever owned. And I'd have kept them long term, all things being equal. The experience also convinced me that my heart and brain prefer the "conventional" imaging and presentation of a forward firing speaker to the pseudo-omni presentation of speakers like my old Ohms, as striking as it can be.
Anyway,I'd read a lot about the Merlin TSM's as I was considering what monitor to buy, and was quite interested in them, but at their list price, they were out of my league. However, I lucked into a great deal on a pair, and decided to take a gamble on them. Will I like them more than the LSA's? Dunno! I may be looking back here for a used pair of LSA's in 6 months if it doesn't work out. ;-)
But I'm determined to give the Merlins all the time they need to break in, and if they're as stellar as the pro and amateur reviews suggest, I'm in for a treat.
By the way, it occurs to me that there's somewhat of a similarity between Merlin and Ohm. Both are made in the USA by small companies, and both reflect the vision of a single designer, refined repeatedly over an extended period of time.
In any case, my hope is to be done with the speaker merry-go-round for quite a while. It's making me crazy, and I'm embarrassed to be on a first name basis with the guys at the UPS store. ;-)
Peace...
