I don't think price is a big factor. Once monitors leave the 2K range it's all fairly big leagues.
I don't think the Canton's compete at all with the Merlins. I also recently listened to a pair of Focal Diablo Utopia and had no doubt at all that the Merlins are better.
I believe those Focals are pretty pricey! I have yet to hear the Silverline's but I've heard good stuff about them.
Rob |
I have no idea what all the heat is about.
A fellow I don't know mentioned tha Canton's as an option and I gave a counter opinion that they are not in the same league.
I have ONLY heard the MME versions. I have the newer versions (XMr) on order. I found the Canton's punchy and bright in my session with them. I thought the MME's were better and they were mated to inferior electronics.
That's what I heard and others may hear differently. By all means go audition BOTH and post your impressions.
We're talking about speakers here, folks. There's no need for anyone to get their panties in a bunch!
I was out sailing yesterday and I came upon a slower moving vessel. My boat is a 35 foot sailboat and the boat next to us was a bit smaller. My friend asked, "Is that a better boat that this?"
I replied, "What's the difference? We're out yachting on a Friday and kids are starving nearby."
The cost of my little Manley amp could feed an African village for a year. We need to keep some perspective and not get into silly tiffs over speakers!
Cheers....I'm off to go sailing again,
Rob |
Dude...I'm soooo jealous!
My Ruby Red TSM-MXr's should be coming soon. We'll compare notes.
Rob
NY |
I am in my second week of breaking in a new pair of TSM-XMr monitors. Yes, the cult-like love for these speaker systems is founded on reality. They are quite amazing. I will be posting a full review in tomorrow or Wednesday.
Rob |
The interesting thing is that I came from a set of Magenpan 1.6, fed by a Odyssey/Rogue combo. The Maggies were a lot of fun, but the size was an issue. A friend suggested that I "upgrade" to the little Merlins. "UPGRADE?!" I said, "Are you kidding? The Magnepans are not about to be bested by some small monitor, even if it is highly regarded. But he had a set of Totem The One which had been demoted in favor of TSM-MMe and he felt the Merlins were a top design. I still doubted that they would be better than my Maggies.
Boy, was I wrong!
A side note: like most high end speakers, you need a good amount of time with the Merlins to really appreciate what they do so well. It doesn't hurt that they are beautiful to look at if you pop for the special finish.
Rob |
I used the term "cult" in good humor regarding the Merlins!
The reputation for Merlin is among the highest I've ever witnessed in high end audio.
Rob |
Guppy...what CD player are you using with the TSM's?
My associated gear:
Manley Stingray II, Cardas SE9 speaker wire, Skylan 4 post stands, MJ Acoustics 150 MKII sub. CD player is a 4 year old Oppo with a few mods. I tried the Rega Apollo, but did not find it a big upgrade.
Rob |
Pubul,
I agree 100%. My friend with the MMe's is quite certain my new MXr's are quite a bit better than his already excellent versions. It is my understanding that Bobby has improved his line of speakers on every level, from cabinets to crossovers. Evolution appears to be what Merlin is all about. Bobby says the TSM and VSM are his life's work. They are unlike any speaker I've owned before; more of a musical instrument themselves. I did feel that way about my old handmade Royd speakers many years ago!
Now....the search for the right CD player!
Rob |
Guppy, that's all good gear. With the Manley Stingray II I find the Merlin's amazing, but it's hardly inexpensive for an integrated amp. I usually leave it in triode mode which is barely pushing 20 watts and the Merlins sing, even at fairly loud volumes.
As I'll explain in more detail in my review, I also connected the Merlins to a Denon home theater amp! I won't say that the match was made in heaven, but I will say that the speakers still sounded fantastic....just less so than with the Manley.
I'm mostly at a loss when it comes to CD players for this system, at least for now.
Rob |
My review of the Merlins is posted at....
http://carew.synthasite.com/
I think it's too long for Audiogon, but I will try in the review section!
Rob |
Mapman, two of the speakers I considered early on were the Revel M22 (I had previously enjoyed the M20) and the Dynaudio Contour s1.4.
I generally don't like racing speakers and all three were heard in different rooms with different gear. My preference, by a large margin obviously went to the Merlins. They achieve a boxless quality that remains unmatched in my experience. I haven't heard Triangle Titus, so I can't comment on those.
Rob |
Mapman,
I can honestly say that I owned a lot of speakers that sounded "boxless", but the Merlin' vanishing act is even more absolute.
Most speakers have some level of beaming, however subtle, that shatters the illusion. Again, I'd like to point out that the Contours are splendid and a lot of fun to listen to, but they sound less refined to my ears overall.
I don't know where you can hear the Merlins, but if you ever get near Mahopac a bit upstate in NY, you can come hear mine.
Rob |
I would LOVE to put the TSM's up against the Magico Minis!
Rob
|
Yes, I did hear them, but really can't say that I had a fair chance to really evaluate them. My friend bought and sold them at a good profit. He did not think they were worth anything near what they cost. In fact he preferred his little Totems, which cost a fraction of the Magico price. He has since adopted the Merlin TSM-MMe has his top monitor. We did not like the top end of the Totems.
That said I'm not going to suggest that the Merlins are better because one or two owners felt that way. I will say, and I hope he doesn't mind, that Bobby believes he has the superior design. Before I got the Merlins Bobby also told me the TSM's would be better than my previous speakers, the Magnepan 1.6 QR's with Mye stands.
I will honestly say now that I did not believe him. The Maggies did a lot of things very well. But the Merlins do exceed the performance of the Maggies substantially, even in soundstage/image, which is the Maggie's home turf.
I guess the bottom line, echoed by other owners, is that I'm very impressed with these speakers! The system is warming up right now....going to check out Cyndi Lauper's new blues CD!
Rob |
I partly agree regarding associated gear. I have a pair of SVS speakers which cost about 100 bucks each. They sound fair at best. I connected them to the new Manley II amp and put them on the Skylan stands. Augmented by my MJ Acoustics sub they sounded far better than they had a right to!
But at the other end of the spectrum they sound thin and hooty when connected to a Denon receiver. As I've been impressed with the Merlins, I'm also thrilled with the Manley amp, which I should mention is the first tube amp I've owned. I previously stuck with SS and occasional tube preamps.
The Ohm speakers are a unique and fun design. I've thought of buying a small pair for our livingroom.
Rob |
One of the things I like about Ohm (along with a recently auditioned pair of Duevel Planets, is they are great for playing music when I'm having a party! Few speakers fill rooms with good sound the way Ohm speakers do. Mirage has also tackled that concept with some success.
The Merlins are a "sit down and listen" type of speaker.
Rob |
Mapman,
I think there was a chain of stores, at least here in NY, called Tech Hi Fi that used to sell Ohm speakers. I was a teenager at the time, but I remember visiting a Tech Hi-Fi in Queens, NY and listening to Ohm speakers....and trying to convince dear old dad to replace his Fisher sudio 10's!
Rob |
I had another long session with the new TSM-XMr's this evening. I swapped out the Skylan stand pegs for spikes and experimented with placement. After about 40 minutes I had a none-too subtle improvement in the mid bass and the speakers tightened up even more.
I went to some well known material....Fleetwood Mac, Joan Baez and a revealing acoustic of Everlong. The Merlins are amazing. Name the audiophile phrase of approval and they were there. What's exciting is that I'm still missing the Cardas interconnect and a better CD player in the mix. And of course break-in is far from complete.
I finished off with another old favorite; Copland conducts Copland (version with old American songs).....absolutely splendid.
Cheers and goodnight!
Rob |
I have experimented with my new TSM's position quite a bit over the last few days. At about 7 feet apart and 10 feet from listening position I get as near a perfect image and stage as I've heard from any system. But placing the speakers further apart seemed to "open up" some lesser recordings. The toe-in is also fun to play with. In the end I tend to return to the suggested placement.
One thing I found is that my Skylan stands (4 post) were not doing a great job when filled with kitty litter. I switched over to sand and things are now much better! I'm officially thumbs down on kitty litter as I do not believe that it's as effective at acoustic damping.
Cheers,
Rob |
Rebbi.
I agree 100% with the comment about domestic settings and at some point you just need to sit back and listen. After tweaking, trying out CD players and cables and all the rest I finally agreed with my wife to TAKE A BREAK...at least for the summer. I stopped listening for issues and areas to tweak and started listening to music. Come winter I'll probably re-start the madness, but we shouldn't forget that the music is the thing.
Now....where are those helium filled CDP isolator feet I ordered? ;')
Rob |
