Auditioned Infinity MTS. Disappointed. Questions..

I am somewhat in agreement with Kchahoc's sentiments, although I think his comments are somewhat harsh.

It is possible for even the best equipment in the world to sound lackluster if connected to substandard associated gear in a questionable acoustic environment, with little or no attention paid to proper setup procedures. This is what I suspect happened. Plus, you were listening to an unfamiliar system as a whole, so it would be impossible to pin the fault on any particular component, but I'd have to suspect the Runco amplification too, since it is not known in audiophile circles.

Your experience is essentially meaningless because there are too many unknown variables in your equation. If you'd auditioned the Infinity speakers in your own home and system, then you'd have the basis for a fair comparison. As it is, you do not have a basis for drawing any conclusions. And I don't own Merlin or Infinity speakers, so I have no axe to grind.

On the other hand, it's unfortunate that some retail establishments cannot take the time or do not care enough to set up their products to perform near their potential. That doesn't do anyone any good.

Just a couple of points Drcio: First, there is likely a "voicing" difference between the audiophile-quality Audio Research tube gear you use and the middle-of-the-road ss electronics that were used to demonstrate the Infinitys.

Secondly, bass is very room-dependent and tweakable to a large degree. As to the imaging, that is room dependent and I suspect, in this case, electronics-dependent, too.

You did a smart thing by using your own reference recordings, but the fact that you are judging a complete system in an unfamiliar acoustic environment effectively negates any serious comparison.

If you are really interested in how the Infinitys compare to your speakers why not see if the store will agree to an in-home trial? If not that, then perhaps they would agree to let you bring your amp and preamp to their store to swap into the system.

Then there's always the possibility that the Infinity's just aren't your cup of tea or that the Merlins have some particular character trait(s) that you really like.

But if you are really serious about doing a fair comparison, as I said before, you need to make some changes in your methodology...

And remember, there are a lot more full-range speakers out there than just the Infinitys. However, if you're really hooked on the character of the Merlins, maybe the best thing for you to do would be to think about adding a good dedicated subwoofer system.