Gallo 3.5 vs Merlin VSM-MXe

"it is designed for more intimate settings where the lowest octave would overpower the room or bigger speakers/room treatments would dominate the appearance. in these intimate settings large wave launch systems would have too much stratification of the output and sound too complicated losing the appeal to most."

BP,

I hear you and understand completely.

Good monitors or other similar floorstanders that also tend to feature a high degree of driver coherency in close quarters by design, like the OHM Walsh speakers with CLS drivers I am fond of, are the best choice generally for close quarters. Some might be a bit too much in the bass for small rooms perhaps, but there are often ways usually to tame that via placement, treatments, etc. as needed, I suspect. You definitely do not want too big a speaker in a small room just because, that is for certain.

g has a room that is 12 by 12 so moving the speakers to find a null point or using bass traps are probably out of the question. since small rooms have an abundance of bass reinforcement modes, having a large footprint speaker will also limit him greatly. using the right tool for the right job will get him much farther down the road to musical enjoyment. all this talk about 5% of the bandwidth that is not even there in all of the music or recordings is imho, fruitless. his situation is what it is. now perhaps if he was in a larger room and he personally wanted the lowest octave... he was talking about midrange fullness imo.
b

With regards to the original topic, I've owned Merlin VSM-MXe (bought used) and currently own Gallo 3.1 (bought new).

Which do I prefer? It's hard to say, they have different strengths and weaknesses, but in my experience they are both truly excellent speakers.

Merlins

Strengths:
* Most coherent and "clear" sounding speakers I've ever heard probably
* Incredibly transparent
* Reference quality tonality for music with mid to smaller ensembles
* Great imaging and staging

Weaknesses:
* With the disclaimer that in my personal system, my room, my preferences, IMHO ,etc. and everything, they were ultimately a bit on the lean side for me, in the lower mids and upper bass. I used a Cary Sixpac EL34 amp.
* Macrodynamically challenged with bigger music, ie. orchestral and big rock compared to speakers with more and bigger drivers

Gallo 3.1

Strengths:
* Excellent Macro and micro dynamics (beats Merlin in Scale)
* Staging and imaging at least as good as the Merlins (for me)
* Very holographic and airy presentation

Weaknesses:
* Not quite as clear and crisp as the Merlins in the mids and highs.

Ultimately these are two speakers in similar camps - they are both ultra high resolution speakers capable of sounding very very good. Both are created by very talented designers. If you want a bit more meat in the lower midrange and the bass, go for the Gallo. If you want more clarity and open-ness in the mids, go for the Merlin. No losers here IMHO

"No losers here IMHO" - and mine too.

Goatwuss,

How big was the room you used these in?

BP's argument as I understand it is that the VSMs are optimal for a smaller 12X12 room like the OPs.

My experience based on other highly regarded smaller monitors I have heard including my own in similar size rooms tells me that may not be the case if the goal is meat on the bones in addition to all the other good stuff I know good smaller monitors can deliver. Small monitors are an excellent fit for smaller rooms in most regards but not necessarily optimal from a "meat on the bones" perspective.