ProAc or Merlin

Hi Vox,

Sorry, I cannot make that direct comparasion for you with that particular Proac speaker. I have owned two pair of Proac monitors and while I enjoyed each of them not to the same extent as I've enjoyed the Merlin VSM M speaker. I do have a comment on your interpertation of the review.

I think what Mr. Fremmer in his Stereophile review stated was that playing the VSM M too loudly upset what he described as "perfect tonal balance". How many speakers can make the claim of a perfect tonal balance? No where do I see any reference or description of the high frequency sounding bad. In my 19 X 15 room, they play plenty loudly with no compression or strain and with the perfect tonal balance he suggests.

The VSM M speakers are ultra-revealing transducers. They are very sensative of what is feed to them upstream. Consequently, upstream components and wire must all have their ducks in a row or you will know they don't and quite quickly.

The Merlins IMO are a speaker to build a system around. Careful system matching yields outstanding, long term musical enjoyment and satisfication for fatigue free listening of music.

why not try Dynaudio Contour S3.4 ?

If you are concerned about sheer volume level Vox, get the VSM MX because any issue of dynamic compression or tonal shifts at high levels are gone (and that's not to say that there ever was a problem to begin with). Mr. Fremmer's point was that he felt that the speakers leaned out slightly at higher levels, which IMHO, they do not. He also mentioned that he had a heavily damped room which set the tonal balance to the light side to begin with.
Bobby@merlin

Hi Sarah

I am currently using the following

Berning zh270 with cryoed hybrid wire at the inputs and power, cryoed matched ouptut tubes and various NOS input/drivers. ERS stealth cloth housing the impedance converters and wire. Sitting on a Cloud 10 platform by Ginko Audio.

Supratek Syrah with various NOS tubes pree-amp is sitting on a Cloud 10 platform, power supply on Still points.

JVC 1050 CD player as transport (on Cloud 10) to a Bel Canto DAC-1.1 with Kimber Illuminite D-60 digital cable.

Oracle Mk IV tt Benz Micro wood body low output cartridge with SME 345 arm on Cloud 10.

Speaker cable is Audience AU 24, interconnects Luminous Synchestra Signature, power cable to the amp is the cryoed Blue Marble cable (uses the same wire as in the amp) I am using various other power cables including TG Audio, Supra, Harmonic Tech, JPS digital to the Bel-Canto.

I recently installed Stillpoints under the Merlins with excellent results. Much of the excess high frequency energy brought on by my lively room and my wife's reluctance to add more room treatments was improved. Resolution top to bottom improved along with immediacy and bass definition and depth. Lost was dynamic impact which is greater with Bobby's z feet. A tradeoff I am more than willing to live with. The Stillpoints over Bobby's z feet I feel to be room and system dependent. I was quite surprised with this development as the Z feet are just superb coupling the speaker to the floor. This is part of the Merlin magic, this kind of attention and subsequent refinement of these type of details.

In addition I have made 2 each 16" X 60" and 2 each 12" X 48" tube traps of Jon Reisch's design which has been a great addition in controlling the bass.

Another recent tweak that was quite eye opening was the SST silver conductive paste recently introduced by Walker Audio which may be applied to the male ends of power cords, ic's, speaker cables and tube pins. I noted the biggest results (more alive and greater immediacy) on the power cords and tube pins. It is supremely more effective than many of the other contact cleaners and conductive enhancers I have tried. A great bang for the buck tweak.

Other cables I have tried with the Merlins include, Analysis Plus Oval 9, Audio Research Litz, Miller Sound (copper and another alloy unspecified), MIT 770 Reference Series 2 tube, Harmonic Technology Pro-9, Concept Stage 3 silver and most recently Blue Marble cryoed hybrid cables which was the first silver hybrid I have heard with the VSM's that I could possibly live with but felt they needed a bit more break in to come to a final determination, very smooth on top without any edge. There is one more silver speaker I want to try that isn’t out yet, the Stereovox Studio. Copper is a safer bet and Bobby recommends the Cardas Golden Reference.

The amp you choose will reveal more the character of the amp, not the speakers which are seemingly neutral in conveying the presentation of the components in front of them as Jim notes above. No product is totally neutral but tonally I feel the Merlins are very close to that ideal in the true sense of the word. They do have an immediacy, liveness (not lively as a characteristic) and total lack of any perceivable compression and can play quite loud, louder than I care to listen in my 16 X 20/9 X 12 L shaped room with 10' ceilings. I hope you get a chance to hear these speakers Sarah, they really are quite special to these ears. How many products can retain your enthusiasm after 4 years unless they are special? Bobby P. is just the greatest, thanks Bobby, we love you man.

Tubegroover,
Thanks for the detailed response to my inquiry about your system! Sounds incredible, you should post it in the virtual systems with pics. How much power does the Berning put out? I do plan on hearing the Merlins next time I travel to a city with a store that carries them.