IÂve now owned the VERIRAS for two week, so after 250-300 hrs IÂm ready to spill my guts!
The Merrill VERITAS is incredible amplifiers I have ever owned, period-and not by a small margin. IÂll be bold and say someday Class A/AB & tube amps will be dinosaurs. Yes I said it! I feel these are the future of amplifiers. The way they are so clear distinct .3Dish .free from the speakers quiet ..dynamic ...fast, you feel like you can reach out & touch them. I was & still am saying HOLY %#$@ with my mouth ajar. I think Merrill should call them ÂHolographic Virtual Reality 3D MachinesÂ!
My review/writing skills are terrible, so today I told myself to write down 10 great things about the amps. It grew to over 40! So IÂll start my review tonight & finish it later. Below remarks are (truly) how I felt when listening, and how I feel now. The speakers used were my Apogee Studio Grands, and later the Mark & Daniel Apollo IIÂs. No particular order:
1. The first night I didnÂt want to do any critical listening, but could help myself! So late(12AM), as I mentioned before listening to Muddy Waters MFSL was incredible- presence, speed, detail, depth, live, I could go on. I couldnÂt believe what I was hearing. It was spooky! On track# 6-ÂCold Weather Blues I felt like he was right in front of me. The way he was plucking/sliding his fingers on the strings, hitting the guitar, his voice from quiet to loud quick as a whip, making me jump everytime! So spooky it was putting a knot in my stomach & I couldnÂt breath/sleep & had a smile on my face. IÂve owned this disk, 20-25 years & have never heard it like that, EVER on ANY system.
2. The next day the more I though about it the more I felt like Muddy himself came down from Heaven! So spooky I tell you, I still felt that knot in my stomach. So I pulled out the sample of heavy hitters: Jennfer Warnes, Mary Stallings, Katie Melva, Babatunde Olatunji Circle of Drums, Sheffield Labs drum tracks, Burmester CD-03, Telarc Great Fantasy Adventure, Telarc Thriller, Telarc Sampler V, Dorian Pictures At The Exhibition, Eric Johnson, Nirvana Bleach, Steve Va Passion & Warfare Pink Floyd SACD. The more I listened the bigger my smile got & said Holy %$#@ over & over the more I felt like: IÂm going to crap in my pants, then the whole top of my head started to tingle like crazy & then my smile grew ear to ear. Like hearing them all for the first time playing in front of me. Kati MelvaÂs voice on Deep Purple brought me to my knees like never before & Eric JohnsonÂs/Steve VaiÂs guitar riffs had me doing perfect pushups! Yes, serious boggie factor.
3. I love drums. I played as a teenager & lived across the street from a band member that had a wild Yamaha double bass system. Everyday he would practice I would go over a play around & listen to him play in his garage, for hours/days/weeks/months/years. I even was a Âroadie for his band a number of years. Setup/tune/mic/demic/breadown. My point is I know the sound of drums pretty good. The VERITAS amps reproduce them better than I have ever heard before in my house. The Sheffield Drum track(s) were so real, precise, dynamic, perfect placement of the drum set, striking of the drum heads(make me jump!), cymbals so real, hi hat opening & closing so real(tingling of the head). I also have a Neil Peart drum solo track that hit so hard(poop in pants) not only did it feel like it could bust my jaw, it could tear a wall down! IÂm not kidding, ironfisted, rockhard turn it up louder and getter harder/better BASS! Usually amps lose it when turned up, not the VERITAS! The Kodo drums on the Berm-030 cd had such unbelievable speed and impact, it reminded me of the real thing attending local Japanese Church back in my Karate days! The circle of drums SACD #1 track gets me in a trance with it rhythm I even bought an African drum. With the VERITAS, I felt like I was in Africa playing along! There drum(s) sounded just like mine! My head was spinning in delight!
4. How can a 35AMP per channel(VERITAS) sound more powerful than a greater than 100AMP per channel(Coda 15.0) amplifier? Efficiency?
5. I feel like I canÂt go back to SS amps. ItÂs like going from HD to SD video. To me the VERITAS are HR(high resolution) & SS amps are SR(standard resolution). Just like HD(video) I canÂt go back to SR(audio). Big difference. No comparison. Those apposed not sure what you are hearing,
MUCH MORE later guys, if you want to hear it all(35 points/questions/remarks left)!
Yes, IÂm one happy camper!!!!!!!!
