Merlin TSM comparisons


Hi,

I've been reading up lately on all kinds of monitors, and have been intrigued by Merlin's TSM. The latest iteration is the mmi, I believe.

If you've heard the TSM lately, especially in comparison to other, current monitor offerings out there, I'd love to hear your opinions. I know that there are other Merlin threads on Audiogon but I am especially interested in hearing from folks who have compared them to others, especially if you've lived with them.
rebbi
I suspect also that Merlins are more amp friendly than OHMs and Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkii also for that matter.

Not that these sound bad with lesser amps, only that they sound increasingly better with more powerful good amps.

Same true regarding Totem also from what I have heard.

Triangle Titus are very amp friendly. I hear fewer differences from amp to amp.
I also have a pair of OHM L bookshelf speakers that I have owned for over 30 years. I custom upgraded these myself a couple years back with some very good Morel woofers and the OHM sub bass activator circuit (similar in goals to Merlin BAM). These are not teh smoothest of my smaller box speakers, but for pop/rock music, they may just be the most rewarding. Of course, I am not a speaker designer and would not claim my custom enhancements to be teh best. OHM sometimes offers these completely refurbished with new drivers and circuits for $599. They sold for $499 and were my favorite smaller bookshelf speaker back then in 1978, so you can get an idea of teh potential value factoring in inflation, etc. with these nowadays. I'd like to hear a pair of OHMs professionally upgraded Ls. or even larger C2s or Hs.
Mapman,

I think there was a chain of stores, at least here in NY, called Tech Hi Fi that used to sell Ohm speakers. I was a teenager at the time, but I remember visiting a Tech Hi-Fi in Queens, NY and listening to Ohm speakers....and trying to convince dear old dad to replace his Fisher sudio 10's!

Rob
Yes,

I worked part time in college at a Tech Hifi in Jersey and sold many speakers. The OHMs were my favorite and I sold many pair, more than any other line. I bought my Ls there back then and have never been able to part with them.

Trivia fact: John Strohbeen, current whizbang for OHM, was an owner of Tech Hifi and Tech Hifi and the OHM line were affiliated.

So technically I worked for John Stohbeen once but I did not know of him at the time and never met him.

John told me this in a phone conversation a couple years back when I was doing some upgrades to my OHM collection.
Mapman you are right there is a big price difference, but the is also a big difference in performance. Of course they offer very different designs and sounds so as always personal preference is the key and I gave mine. The person I sold the Micro Talls to is using them for fronts in a home theater system with the Ohm 2000's and he said there is a strong family resemblance. John from Ohm is a real gentleman and makes a very fine product, I could walk to his factory in ten minutes from my workplace and I wish him success as I do Bobby from Merlin because they are both fine gentleman who give great customer support and produce great products. Ohm and Merlin are two great American companies that are easy to root for.