Any experience... Merlin+Wadia+Rowland

I owned the Merlin VSM SEs for some time trying various things to bring them to my satisfaction. Tubes are the answer. Bobby will tell you what to do. He has always done that with his speakers and it works. They are very admirable speakers, but I don't want to use tube amps. I wouldn't suggest the old VSM SEs with the Rowland even though I haven't heard it. I had the most success with the Joule-Electra Vamp a hybrid amp. But I sold the speakers and bought a pair of 802Ns. I am very happy with these and I don't feel like I am missing a thing without the Merlins. Perhaps the new solid state Merlins would make you happy. I think maybe a Rowland 10 would make me happy. There is one way to find out, isn't there.

Dkuipers I suspect all components are colored to one degree or another what is more important is how they work together. You are not alone in your impressions of the MIT's but I like them in my system and feel that they offer a more realistic presentation of the music. Image placement better bass impact and rather than the highs being rolled off I say more laid back, the music is there its just not "in your face" as it can sound with certain recordings. The HT truthlink cables are in my estimation one of the best values in cable period. Probably something to do with the single crystal casting process. So far as high frequency roll off I can only say I don't hear it. When I get the Trancendent OTL amp in the system I will post further impressions. Are the Merlin’s “fundamentally flawed”? I say the flaws lie elsewhere, and not with the speakers. I suspect the speakers are as Rhyno says neutral and the problem lies in the recordings and the upstream components. At least that is my experience to date. As always, audition first.

First of all...every audio product has some characteristic of it's own. Some closer to neutral than others, but all change the sound in some way...it's physically impossible for them not to. I don't think many people would find completely neutral products too appealing. The Merlins have they're own characteristics...some will like them and some will not. That doesn't change the fact that they're excellent speakers, and I recommend auditioning them if they're in your price range. As far as the $8000 price listed above...I'm not sure if that's correct, but it might be if it icludes a BAMM unit and a premium finish (which is $1000 extra, I think...). I assume Merlin...like every other audio manufacturer...increased their price as demand increased. I've noticed many retail prices increase substantially as the positive reviews, and sales, pour in. Some components have even doubled over the last few years. All you can really do is listen to as many options as you possibly can (in, and under your price range...you may be pleasantly surprised)...you'll eventually find something you love.

As an owner of three generations of Merlin VSM (Gen 3, SE, and now Millennium), let me throw my 2 cents in. The Merlin VSM is very revealing, so it could sound too bright with lesser electronics. As with anything revealing, like Jennifer Lopez's famous dress, it shows off perfection, or lack thereof. But with the right gear, it sounds real and musical at the same time. I prefer driving it with tubes (Transcendent Sound OTL) but with the SS harness for the Millennium model, it sounds great according to Bobby, and I believe him, as the straight-talking man knows what he is talking about. As for the $8K price, it is for the premium finish and battery BAM. I think in order to maintain the high quality, Merlin chose to keep their operations small rather than mass producing their speakers. As such, they only make about 200-300 pairs a year. I know Bobby and Bill have their hands on every pair they make, so you pay for that level of craftmanship rather than minimum-wage worker soldering your crossover. I belong to the NJ Audio Society and get to audition many speakers every month at our meetings, and I would put my Merlin up against many speakers costing much more.

In 1994, when we introduced the VSM Gen I, a preliminary 50 pairs were constructed and sold at $3500. We made no profit on these early sales because it was an offering (and everyone knew that) to see what the public and industry thought of our work. These early pairs did not include the Hovland inductors, RC filters, proprietary feet, wires, Caddock resistors, terminals, circuit damping, proprietary woofers, superior and more costly cabinets, seven years of development and probably 100 cost increases. Yes, it is now 2001 and the price of the most similar speaker, the VSM Basic is $4950 not $8150. The VSM M and Battery Bam sell for $7050 and the same system with the Premium finish is $8150. I think it is remarkable that after all the years of effort and production time that this product is only $1450 more. It's an absolte steal, consider the Proac 2.5 sells for the same price and that just my tweeters cost as much as their 4 drivers and all of their crossover parts combined. It is a product that we mark up only 3.6 times to retail. Industry standard is closer to 5 times. Yeh, we're really socking it to our customers. Consider, that if some of the highly regarded companies manufactured it, the cost would increase by thousands of $.
Bobby@merlin
PS I am a fan of Proac products, I feel that their 2.5 is great value. That is why I used it as an example.
PPS It takes many years to design and manufacture world class products. Just because the box size stayed the same and there were many refinements over the years does not make this product undesirable, to most, the exact opposite is true.