Merlin owners,any thoughts.......


Merlin owners,was wondering how long the breakin was and how dramatic[if thats the right word]it was for you.Thanks in advance,Bob,I would mention I am mainly interested in the VSM-MM.
usblues
Thanks for the input guys.I am thrilled out of the box,just curious if certain amps,cables etc. do more or take longer to jell.Thanks alot,Bob
Tabl10s
If you have the option of running balanced connections,use it.Theoretical advantage of noise cancellation and no loss of signal level on long runs of cable.In practice I have never really found it be of much benefit.I'm going to use the balanced BAM because I have balanced outputs on my M Levinson 36s DAC and balanced inputs on my Pathos Logos amp.Already have CZ GEL 1 Balanced cables.I also took the option that Bobby suggested of taking the mod on the BAM to accept SE also.That makes it flexable for any change of equipment in the future.Sound wise - Balanced vs SE not that important.
Blue Bull
virtually the same. it is a dual differential version of the se model. the difference in sound would only take into the consideration the fact that some amps are optimized to run balanced and some single ended.
and all of my favorite amps are se.
b
Usblues, please click on the "system" button by my screen name for a full listing of my system. Let me know if you ahve any other questions.
all merlin speakers are broken in for at least 24 hours so that they can be fully tested, listened to and torque set. the bam is fully charged but has no more than 20 minutes of test on it and the rcs have no more than an electrical test done on them. since the last two items have no time on them, these are the items that need to breakin the most.
as the wires in the system and speaker feet settle in, there will be a big improvement in the first day or two. then a big one at 30 to 40 hours, more at 100 to 120 with more improvement out to 200 hours of play. cryogenicly treated parts need losts of time on them to settle in for sure and even more so when the speakers have this kind of resolution potential. please read the letter that came with the bam. it clearly indicates this and gives you a short list of things to do to get the best possible sound.
are you experiencing something that is bothering you? or are you just trying to find out how long they'll need to be 100%.
regards,
b
I agree with Jason. The VSMs were awesome out of the box and improved after that. Any trace of mechanical glare disappeared pretty quickly to give way to the most amazing mix of hair-rising sweetness and resolution I've ever heard from any speaker. I have about 200 hours on them and sometimes, they still seem to improve. What's for sure is, they still put a big smile on my face everytime I listen to them. After nearly six months of ownership, I'm still as excited and impressed as on the first day.
I'm using them with Brinkmann monos and pre (www.brinkmann-audio.com) and Au24 cable, it's a match made in heaven.
Best,
Jean-Baptiste
Jason,thanks for your input.Could you,if you dont mind,desribe your system?Thanks again,Bob
I own the VSM-MMs, and I noticed breakin inprovements out to around 200 hours with perhaps a majority of the breaking in around 100. In short, I would say that YES the improvement is dramatic. Bass deepened, highs extended, soundstage deepened, and imaging improved. When I heard the merlins right out of the box, my jaw LITERALLY dropped. They only got better, much, much better beyond that.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions,
Jason