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Focal Mini Utopia vs Merlin MXe

Is this a fair comparision(sound quality wise ignoring price)? Looking for comments from people who owned both speakers for good length of time. I own mini utopia and Quad 989s and love them both. Trying to simplify and get full range speaker which will better both mini and quads (bass, imaging, stage depth & width, seamless in crossover transition) for 50% jazz and 50% Classical. This is new system building so open for amplifiers choice but leaning towards Transendent sound OTL. Please keep this discussion limited to these two speakers. Space limitation is making me sell my quads. Thanks.
celestial_audio
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
One of the two has more flesh on the bone, I'll let you guess which one. If I had to own one with the Merlins it would be the Ars; obviously the Pass will sound great with wider range of speakers, but as great as it is, it is still not tubes if that is the type of sound you want - I do.
denvelle
26 posts
 
Sstalwar - I don't know of any Merlin dealers in Central Florida. I live in Deltona, which is probably more than a 100 miles from you, near the East Coast, but you're welcome to come over and listen to the VSM-MXe's if you're interested. I drive them with a Belles 150 Reference power amp, Bel Canto SEP2 tubed preamp with an inboard DAC2, and a McCormack UDP-1 CD player. So if you want to hear a fully tubed system, you'll have to bring your own amp :)

Cheers,
Denvelle
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Denvelle, I've often heard that the Merlins work very well with Belles, did you ever compare them with a tube amp, or did you go straight to Belles when you got the speakers? Just curious, I would like to have an SS amp on hand that we makes magic with Merlins.
denvelle
26 posts
 
Pubul57,

The Belles was an old recommendation from Bobby years ago, but I have definitely tried a slew of amps over the years with my various Merlin speakers, even after acquiring the Belles. For me, tubes are a must in the preamp, more so than the amp. I tried the Ayre AX-7, YBA Passion Integre, Accuphase 306, and recently the new Wyred 4 Sound Sti-500 integrated amp (surprisingly I much preferred the W4S integrated to the other more expensive amps). However, none of them locked in on the VSM-MXe's tonal capabilities like my current Bel Canto/Belles setup. I also tried the Cary SLP03 tube preamp, but did not like it with the Merlins. Also had a few BAT-300x-SE amps and was very fond of them, but with the Merlins they seemed to push the mids causing the bass to be slightly subdued - and the BAT does not have a tape loop, which is my preference for setup with the BAM.
When I owned the TSM-M monitors I tried a Rogue all tube setup, and loved the mids but the bass was just too slow for me. The Belles never sounds harsh, has all the power I'll ever need, and has been very reliable (a must since I have my system on most of the evening and use it for general TV viewing in addition to music).

Denvelle
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
That is very strong recommendation for the Belles (for use with Merlins at least). I've been looking for an SS amp to have on hand (and for the summer months) when the 16 output tubes of the Atma-sphere and 8 of the Music Reference put out just a bit too much heat:) I tried several of the Pass/First Watt amps, which are wonderful amps, but I just never felt that I could ever "love" them the way I do the tube amps - perhaps it can't happen as I think the Pass SS is about as good as SS gets (I too think the Ayre is up in that category). I will give the Belles some more thought, I know Bobby has recommended it for years. I also suspect the BEL 1001/2002 would have been a good SS choice as well. Thanks for you sharing your experience.
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