What a great meeting! Merrill's dedicated listening room is really special. There is a palpability to the music, especially vocals, that I have rarely heard. In retrospect, I think I would have preferred the volume to be a little lower, but that is not because the system sounded stressed. It did not. Merrill's amps don't editorialize; they just let the music through. The Sanders Sound 'stats were wonderful, clean and pure, although I have heard better bass reproduction. But the range covered by the panels was super-revealing, with lots of air and a well defined positioning of the performers. The Gallo 3.5s driven by the Merrill stereo amp upstairs acquited themselves quite well also. Completely dissappeared into the soundstage, even with a modest front end. When the Vega DAC was added by Dave from the Audio Doctor, the improvement was dramatic.