I recently received an email out of the blue from a dealer who wanted to disagree with my review of the Master VSM's. It's obviously not that he's even heard them, as I believe there are only two or three pair in the world. But he took issue with what he called the planned obsolescence of the design, which makes no sense to me whatsoever.
The notion that the evolution of the VSM's can be classified as "planned obsolescence" is absurd on the face of it. It implies that Bobby was aware in 1994 of the benefit of the non-developed BAM, but withheld that knowledge; that he knew that battery power to the BAM would further improve the sound quality; that he knew that lead-free solder improves the sound quality; that Duelund capacitors that didn't even exist at the time would improve sound quality; that wire that didn't exist at the time (I'm referring to Cardas Clear) would further improve the sound, etc. Nope. In spite of the emailer's rhetorical question, "Where's the R & D?" my guess is that it took substantial R & D to make each of these discoveries. Discoveries, I might add, that clearly and substantially improved the design insofar as SOUND QUALITY goes.
The fact that the remarkable potential of a simple design has been progressively revealed is a sign of patient mastery, as far as Im concerned. Hence, the Master VSM's have earned the title. Just confirms the adage: K.I.S.S.
Personally, I find Merlin's approach far more ethical than the practices of other companies that ride the waves of this year's latest and greatest audiophile trends to boost their bottom lines. The fact that most of the upgrades did NOT render the speakers obsolete, but rather allowed owners to upgrade their current speakers seems to be the opposite of planned obsolescence.
