Merrill VERITAS monoblock amplifiers

"09-26-13: Teajay
Hello Ptheo,

I hope two things for you very much, first you got a great price on these mono blocks because I believe they are hideously over priced and secondly that you like their sonic's a lot more then your very good Coda. The Ncore modules used in these amps are much better sounding then other types of D amps, however I still do not find them as musical as some of the better and less expensive SS or tube amps. The Ncore modules themselves are relatively inexpensive, yet the retail price of the Merrill VERTTAS is 12K. I know you get a well built and fancy chassis, it seems it stocked with good parts, however I can't see how you could justify what these sell for."

Hi teajay.

I am curious were and in what setup you had the chance to hear the Veritas?

As far as the cost of the amps you (and some others) do not understand the TOTAL Costs involved in the markup of goods. It is FAR from just the cost of the parts in any product.
That said it all comes down to the "performance and sound" when it comes to audio. If the amps,DAC, etc sound great who cares if it a "wire with gain" or a complex 100 part piece of equipment. If the only way to have it is to buy from the OEM vs DIY then you buy the OEM. Even your Pass amps have very little inside them. It is REALLY the Engineering and Technology behind them with the Proper Implementation and Assembly that has the real value in the sale price of the amp. Sure parts matter but it is not a game of who has the most parts and whose are the biggest. But what you do with them and does it make great sound.
Look, I love the sound of the Class A Pass amps. But they are too heavy, can heat a house, too expensive, etc for me.

"hideously over priced" Really? You can say that about almost all high-end Audio. Are amps worth $30,000, $60,000 or even $200,000. Or Cables, Or DACs, Or Turntables. OR etc.

As Guido mentioned about the Pascal or Abletech tech I too am interested in hearing them. More so the Pascal.

Thank for all responses guys!

The reason I’m interested in the Merrill VERITAS(or another cool running monoblocks) is because I was looking for:

Monoblocks that will fit in my rack- Cannot be taller than 8”.

Monoblocks that run cool- After spending another five hot months(May-Sep) here in Sacto(100+) with my Coda amp, I have to make a change. The reason is I cannot listen to my music whenever I want. The heat coming from the amp after a couple of hours of just idle listening make the room 80+. I have to wait until it cool off after 11PM to enjoy. Yes, even with the AC set at 72. And if I want to crank it up on my Apogees which is all the time, forget about it!

So, I bought a pair of AVM MA 3.2s monoblocks(NCore400?) from a dealer for 4K. After reading all the glowing reviews I thought what the heck, now I can get back to enjoying my music in a cool room. But no matter how much I tried(I really really tried), they just didn’t sound real to me. If I cannot feel the emotion of the music & feel it in my heart & make me want to stand up a boogie, it’s no real sounding. Coda 15.0 ate it for lunch. And this is after the dealer told me the 3.2’s would smoke it. Please.

So, my search continues. That is where the Merrill VERITAS come in. Yes expensive, but I cannot find another brand that implements the Ncore1200 module in the VERITAS the way Merrill Wettasinghe does. Parts quality is simply the best. Attention to detail is the best. I’m sure Merrill has to put may labor intensive hours to make the perfect. The only way to get better is if HYPEX comes out with a new & better module. This is not gong to happen for the next ten years I understand. You cannot do/get any better, period. Now I just hope/pray I will LOVE the way the Ncore1200 module sound. Plus Merrill is kind enough(really nice guy to talk to!) to sell me a demo pair for a reduced price I cannot pass up. But if the don’t make me wanna get up and jump around (or bring me to my knees for that matter) the way my Coda 15.0 does, much search will continue. If they do, man I’ll be one happy camper. I will enjoy them for a long, long time all year around!

Plus they draw SO much less power that class A/AB, I will save mula($20-$25 a month?) in the long run.

Timlub- Yes, once I have sometime with them I will post my findings.

Guidocorona- I have read your excellent review many times. Your review is one of the reasons I’m trying them out! I’m curios if you have them as your current reference amp?

Teajay- Thanks for your post & truth in you opinion! Yes, 12K is alot of cash & more that I can afford/care to spend.

Hifial- Glad to hear you are still enjoying them! Very reassuring since you have compared them to many amps, including my Coda 15.0! One question, I read a review they run warm? Tell me it isn’t so.

Look forward to any more replies! Thanks again! Paul

Hi Paul and great post! Let me see if I can help a little more.

1)("So, I bought a pair of AVM MA 3.2s monoblocks(NCore400?) from a dealer for 4K.")
No way is that an NCore 400 (NC400). It might be another Hypex module like the UCD 400 but it can not be an NC400 as Hypex forbids the NC400 be used by OEM. The NC400 is ONLY for the DIY market. I did a search and I can not find out what Class D tech they use so it could be another brand altogether. Heck it could be B&O Ice or the ones that Guido mentioned.

2)("One question, I read a review they run warm? Tell me it isn’t so.")
Well it is an amp so it is not "cool" to the touch. Also the way it is designed all the "hot" parts are mounted to the "roof" as that is thicker then the bottom plate and help as a heat sink and vibration control.
I can say that it is a "cool" running amp compared to how hot even the best cool running Class A/B amps are. I can say that it should not worry you at all.

3) Apogees, wow, very nice. What is your other equipment?

4)("If I cannot feel the emotion of the music & feel it in my heart & make me want to stand up a boogie, it’s no real sounding.")
I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you about a friend. He has a VERY nice system (even a custom room) that is VERY revealing and transparent. Since he put in the Veritas the hairs on your arms stand up when you hear the music. I wish you could hear it because I think it is what you stated above.

5) Merrill. Great guy. You said it so well about what the whole story is when it comes to the Veritas amps and Merrill Audio.

Well after waking up and not being able to sleep it is now 4AM so I better stop for now and try and sleep.

I have heard a bunch of Ncores, including the Merrill, sorry guys they don't sound as good as a top shelf conventional amplifier, I have heard them in shows, and in people's homes, nice amplifiers but not as magical as the best conventional amplifiers.

Long time no talk AudioOracle!

What Ncore amps have you listened to other than Veritas?

Ncore amps take an inordinate amount of time to reach peak performance, both in terms of break-in and warm up time... 1K hours of break-in, and two days of warmup.

Furthermore, if the amp has been implemented as bi-wirable, it should be bi-wired to the speakers for best results.

Paul, there are a couple of other manufacturers that have declared of having developed Ncore NC1200 based amps: Acoustic Imagry has ATSAH, Audience manufactures WavePower, Mola-Mola has Kaluga (will be at RMAF exhibited by On A Higher Note in the Long's Peak room)). Sorry, I have not listened to these yet, so I have no idea how they would compare.

Veritas will be exhibited at RMAF by Merrill Audio in Room 582.

Concerning my own reference amp, it is the Rowland M925 monoblock.

Guido