Musicality, Soundstaging, Coherence, Tight Bass, High WAF (at least in this family). These speakers sound great with my classical and jazz CDs as well as my kid's pop music

Somewhat limited in it's ability to fill a very large room without some strain, especially in the bass region

I really wasn't ready to post a review until I had done some
substantial listening in the room in which the Merlins were going to be used. However, I was moved to respond to what I viewed as a cheap shot review of the Merlin's by the prior poster in which little to no detail was provided by the author to substantiate the claim. I can only believe that the comments were made out of malice, by a competitor, or out of ignorance to the factors that may have contributed to the poor sound experienced I would challenge the author,
instead of flaming me and the site, to provide some additional details to substantiate his claim and to provide information that would benefit the readers of this site who, like me, use well written reviews to help them select audio and video equipment for their enjoyment.

As for the Merlins, I purchased them from Audiogon based
on the reviews posted on this site and the numerous positive
reviews on other on-line web-zines. The key things that
caught my eye were the consistency of the praise and the
specificity in describing what was required to create a synergistic relationship between the electronics and speakers.

My existing rig
consisted of:

Rega Planet CD Player
Audio Analogue Puccini SE (non-remote)
JPS Ultraconductor Speaker Cables and Interconnects
Magnum Dynalab FT-11 Tuner

I was originally in the market for speakers between $2000
to $3000 (including stands). I had auditioned a
number of speakers, trying to get a sound that was slightly
on the warm side of neutral. I started off with auditioning standmounted monitors in my 12 x 14 room but quickly discovered that most of the speakers rated to 50 to 55 Hz still fell short on bass response without the benefit of a subwoofer when playing my classical and Jazz CDs. Ultimately, I had to choose between a sub/sat combo or a speaker with more bass response. When I saw the Merlins at Audiogon, I decided to give them a try based on reviews.

I temporarily have them in my 26 x 16 x 8 living room (which
opens up to a 8 x 16 foyer and 12 x 14 diningroom. Even
with all that space to fill, and only a 50 watt integrated,
I can play to quite reasonable levels. Up close (7 ft as
recommended by the prior owner), the sound from these
speakers was in a word, musical, with all of the
adjectives that normally apply. I have heard more transparent sound from the sparks and the aerius I's, but
both lacked bass response and had integration issues.
The Mozarts also sounded very nice but lacked zing and
immediacy. In the large space that the Merlins are currently located, the two way design cannot fill the room with lots of sound without hardening. But, at lower levels, the sound is killer. I can't wait to get them into my
office.

Similar Products Used:

Kef Ref series & B & W. Auditioned Revel Performa M20's, Merlin TSM-SE's, Vienna Mozart, Sonus Faber Concerto's, Audio Physic's Sparks, Martin Logan Aerius I's