Merlin VSM-mm's a good value at $3000 used?

tvad,
the vsm has been manufactured for 12 years and we have thousands of pairs of vsms in the field. very few ever go up for resale in comparison to how many there are out there and a few negative comments do not reflect the total picture. even fewer have had first hand experience like yourself to understand the system's merits so a great many assumptions have been made over the years about its performance potential. small woofer small bass, right? how about comparing it to any other system of its size and you may see merits of its design. there are now some pairs listed on this site because the economy is flat. some pairs were purchased by those that did not understand what they bought. they set them up incorrectly, used the wrong gauge wires on the tweeters/jumpers destroying the tonal balance, listened to them nearfield, used damped amps, had reflective rooms, didn't use the alignment tool etc., etc., etc. you make it sound like some like them and some do not because of the bass and it is a 50/50 thing. the truth is that very few do not like them relative to the amount of product in the field.
no one product can make everyone happy. but this speaker is very uniform and because of that needs special care. if the speaker is used the way it was designed to be used, in a room volume that it was designed to be used in, with gear that is designed for this type speaker's needs, there are not many speakers that can produce as total a sound package in their volume filling class, imho. there is much more to music than bass extension and bass quantity and one really needs to think about his environment because some bigger more bombastic designs may be just as wrong for a small room as the vsm would be for filling grand central station. so to just talk about the bass on the vsm pays no head to how special the total package is.
it is too bad that you heard the speakers years ago with the gear you heard them with because it makes them sound a lean even to my ear. mms, mxs, the superbam and the new lead free mmes and mxes sound much fuller and room filling again. even in this mans 24 foot long room he can only propagate 50hz before the wave bends to conform to the room or goes through the walls into another room. and in the 18 foot room he would be all set. i like bass to but not at the expense of other parts of the music and many will agree. for most normal listening environments the vsm is a solid design. it goes down lower than most rooms can handle and with the right set up and gear on them they can sound very full indeed.
like my shop teacher once said "use the right tool for the right job and you will never get hurt". taste has less to do with this than the laws of physics. the vsm was not designed to do what bigger speakers can do in/for bigger rooms the but vsm will out do the bigger speaker in a wrong room.
regards,
bobby

tvad,
i never said or implied that your recommendation was not reasonable. but you clearly approached the issue from the negative side and that was abundantly clear and unfair. most who have not heard the product would make incorrect assumptions based on what you said. most people buy subs not to extend the bass but to add to the embodiment. most people who do this do so because a sub is less expensive than changing the wires, electronics and sources. there have been many posts of people who had subs on them and sold the sub after changing to tonally fuller ancillaries. the magic of the speaker is not the bone crushing dynamics or being able to knock your living room into the street. compared to other monitors, the vsm/bam can do much more imho. the system's merits are on all aspects of their presentation and the balance of these.
regards,
bobby

tvad,
you said that many like them and many comment on the bass. that implication was not fair and i corrected you as to why i was concerned. preconception is a dangerous thing. it clearly made it appear to be more negative than you may have wanted to it to be and that the totals were 50/50. perhaps i am more sensitive because this is my product but still, that is my feeling. enough said on that point.
if you are using an underdamped speaker than you will in most cases want want an amp with a high damping factor or current to control it. this is also a system approach and one should be used in every system for best results. after all, if you had a damped system and used tubes to flesh it out and then purchased one of many underdamped speaker brands to work with the electronics, the sound would be a bloated mess. this is the exact opposite to the merlin situation and entirely possible.
there are many things that make them sound right and with the newer the product, you have greater ease in finding nice sounding assocoiated gear (even ss).
lets not bicker, i am entitled to my opinion just like you.
i also know of many using ponderous sounding speakers with subs on them so, who is to say what is right and wrong.
regards,
bobby