I can't really add anything that wasn't mentioned above. The Merlins really are amazing speakers if you have (or are willing to find) matching amplification, good upstream components, good wire, and prefer a balanced, neutral presentation rather than a hyper bass sound. I also second the notion that they are best suited for small to medium sized rooms. When everything is in place and the recording is good, the Merlins completely disappear and leave you with nothing but music. On less than perfect recordings they still manage to present the music above all of the extraneous "character". I've had mine for four years now (I think??), upgrading my original VSMs to the VSM-M model, and I haven't felt any urge to buy any other speakers. Like someone said above...the only speaker that I heard with any advantage over the Merlins was a Soundlab electrostatic model (which I believe retailed for $20,000 or $30,000??).
