Merlin vsm mme owners, Cardas cabling Question.

Marty, no offense taken at all. My comments were more directed at the complaint that the basic design of the VSM's hadn't changed.

Here's a possible explanation of the "cult" phenomenon: I think that some of us appreciate the recommendations of designers because we don't have the resources or the desire to experiment with lots of different pieces. We want to get the most music out of our system, and it's nice to be able to trust someone like Bobby P.'s recommendations. cheers, Glenn

It's funny to see how kooky people get about this stuff. With over 30 years of the dreaded and often incurable Audioselpalitis, I've learned to take every opinion with a grain of salt.

However, I have a pair of TSM-XMr's on order and Bobby has been careful in explaining why he recommends one item over another, including the Cardas cable. His suggestions are well supported by a good number of owners.

Does this mean no other wire or amp or speaker stand works well with the Merlins? Of course not. Bobby has his favorites and others will sometimes not agree with his. As I told Bobby when we initially spoke, I first heard an older set of Merlin TSM's with a very old Creek integrated amp. It was connected with monster cable from bestbuy and fed by a Marantz DVD player. The sound was utterly musical. But Bobby hopes we all would get even more from our speakers and that kind of passion is always welcome.

Cheers,

Rob

stingreen, sounds like the cardas cables were either not broken in or a bad combination with your speakers, which are? i have a feeling i know what is going on. in fact i would bet you on the outcome.
bhoage, i like the stealth cables too. finely stranded silver works very well. much better than bigger strands or solid core on merlins. i personally like copper litz a little more. personal preference is what this is all about in the end.
marty, i have said what "i like personally" on the speakers and why. i like cable that can play a lot of music well and not ones that play a few pieces incredibly at the expense of the rest. i never said that cardas or audience was the only cable to use. this is someone's interpretation of these recommendations.
lots of great and fair comments here.
except for the one who got involved for no reason other than to disrupt or to make himself feel superior.
in closing, there is not one product that we can all agree on being the best. too many variables in systems, personal taste, room acounstics etc. it is always best to experiment to come up with your own perceptions.
i actually have a great many personal favorites in the way of ancillaries to use with my speakers.
best, b

i actually have a great many personal favorites in the way of ancillaries to use with my speakers.
best, b>>>

Bobby, the above statement is a good one. But then, as many Merlin owners (and future owners) would like to know...what other cables do you like with your speakers? What other associated gear to you feel mates well?
I wonder if it would be sane and sound for a designer to list his or her favorites and post such a list, even if it's far from complete?

On a related note, I've never heard a "bad" speaker cable. I've only heard better ones, which is to say that my Magnepans sounded fantastic with Monster Cable and then even better with Audioquest wire, MIT and Anti. None of it sounded bad, truncated, smeared, bloated or anything dramatic in spite of warnings that my Maggies could only sing with a few types of wire, amps and CD players.

Still, you're the man behind a highly regarded speaker and what YOU like is going to carry weight as most buyers don't know 1/10th of what you do about audio. And some will even be annoyed at the none-too-subtle assertions by some owners that they are doing their gear a grand disservice by not using/liking what they do.

The audiophile life is hell!

Cheers,

Rob

Bobby,

Don't misunderstand. I only said that you have your preferences (to be expected) and I have mine and sometimes they are the same and other times they are not. No foul there.

I was further pointing out that your recommendations become "gospel" to some folks and spread the idea that the speakers only work properly with the ancillaries you mention. I KNOW that you've seen that type of thing posted in these forums, because we've both contributed to at least one thread where that (silly IMO) point of view was mentioned more than once. I was only trying to dispel the idea. The VSM works well with many, many partners - whether amps, cables (I use mostly Hovland), or sources.

Marty