Royy, I've owned the VSM for 4 years. I've gotten to know them pretty well. It is a very picky speaker with respect to upstream components. The "M" version is supposed to be a bit more forgiving with respect the this. But regardless of Bobby's attempts to make the speaker more forgiving, the fact still remains that the speaker is ruthless about upstream components. If you have junk anywhere in the system, it will be exposed.
The VSM is a damped speaker system. Many amplifiers utilize a good bit of damping and feedback. Put those amps on the Merlins and you get a cold, overly damped sound. That is why some had made the mistake in the past of saying the Merlins are bright. My own experience is that zero feedback tubes amps, in particular my Joule OTL, sound best. The Berning is also oustanding and probably the best for the money. There are solid state amps out there that can be a good match as well. My Joule allows the Merlins to sound like they are supposed to - full, rich, textured midrange, solid bottom end, extended highs.
I am telling you this because I think at least part of the reason you see a number for sale is that people give up on them before they match them with the right equipment. I was not particularly happy with my system before I got the right equipment in front of the VSMs. I tried some solid state amps and a few tube amps that were not the right match and I was rewarded with poor results. It was very frustrating. I was trying to do it "on the cheap" (relatively speaking). Now I am getting to where I want it to be with the Joule stuff, and just as importantly, I know exactly what I need to make the system top notch.
Sure, some may be selling because they don't like the VSM. Although, can you find a show report of someone saying the Merlin roomed did not sound "good" and in most cases "spectacular" ---> Proper components, proper setup. True, some may want the last Nth of bass. And, some people sell speakers like they change their socks. But no doubt about it, the Merlins are at least, "Class A". If I ever were to replace them it would be with an Electrostatic, probably Soundlab. Otherwise I would not bother. I have not heard a more resolving, dynamic speaker than the VSM. Especially not anywhere near the money. I am not aware that a better 2 way exists.
Jim
