ProAc or Merlin

Vox, after reading some of John Atkinson's comments regarding the Merlin's I thought something was definitely amiss. His comments about "boxy colorations" concerning recorded piano was really off the mark. As an afficiando of piano music I can say that this speaker gets as close to real as I have heard comparative to ANY system I have heard over the years. The fact that Atkinson is predjudiced towards British designs is well known if not acknowledged by him. I have little doubt that he would probably prefer the Proacs knowning his taste but I may be mistaken. Which is where I am going with my point. The several Proacs are very nice speakers, the Merlins are just the best most involving 2-ways I have heard to date. They do it all, including well defined to mid 30 hz articulate bass in a really nice compact package as Hoosier1 notes. Folks that say these speakers don't do bass are just not familiar enough with them set-up properly, I used to believe it myself until I discovered what it takes. Believe me, I have tried MANY differnt combos with the VSM. They will completely reveal what works and what doesn't. This is the reason it is imperative to talk with the designer and owner's familiar with the speaker so as not to make any missteps along the way.

After 4 years of ownership there is not another speaker that I have a yearning for. The VSM keep on rising to the occasion with favorable upgrades. I am convinced I haven't found their limits. I feel they are among the best choices for a small to medium room and with sufficient power will work well in a large room. The Proacs again, nice but not even in the same league IMHO.

PS The quality of high frequency response is subject to room reflections and wiring choices as much as anything else. This must be properly addressed with the Merlins as well as any well designed speaker system.

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.

Manual

May I just add something to your impressions. I also believe that an ultra resolving speaker can sound "hi-fi" if all issues with set-up and ancilliaries are not properly dealt with. Sometimes people purchase such a product and don't pay enough attention to these details to the extent they should. This includes room treatments as well. The VSM is a very sophisticated and refined design that requires such attention to the utmost as do all speakers that aspire to such a degree of accuracy and resolution.

To me real 'hi-fi is settling for A music system that sounds very pleasing and very reproduced, it ALWAYS misses the illusion. On the other hand I can see where some folks wouldn't want the degree of liveness and immediacy presented by the VSM.

Happy Tunes with what ever brings them on.

Hi Manuel

I wouldn’t dispute for a minute what you heard in that system, I hear what you're saying but I still believe something(s) in the set-up was not matching. I am quite familiar with the Transcendent OTL amp with the VSM and owned that combo for a while. The problem doesn’t lay there, maybe the wiring, a system synergy problem not identified?

The issue about the sound not being fleshed out is what is baffling to me in your description. This is precisely the balancing act that these speakers do so well, extreme resolution near perfect tonal balance with a fully fleshed out presentation providing all is set-up correctly. I know there are some people that perceive the immediacy to a certain forwardness of the presentation which is certainly a taste issue in that some like a further back perspective but what you are describing still seems a system issue more than a characteristic of the VSM, at least the one’s I’m listening to.