Incredibly natural and seductive. Pure and transparent. A final purchase for the music lover.

Maybe you need some care choosing the partnering electronics to extract all the inmense magic these speakers are capable of.

This is without doubt the most satisfying speaker I have ever owned. I have been a fan of the VSM design from more than five years ago when I purchased my first VSM. Now with the VSM-MX the sound is simply supremely natural and seductive. My previous VSM Millenium were just the most natural sounding speaker I have heard for medium or small size rooms and I thought none or very little at all could be done to improve that design but I was (happily) wrong. The MX takes the Millenium strenghts to the next level. The first thing you notice with the speaker fresh from the box is the increase resolution and inner detail. The detail retrieval of the Milleniums were just SOTA but incredibly the MX not only seeems to extract more detail but it seems to have more "body" or "inner structure" (I hope you know what I mean to say). This is clearly noticed in vocal sibilants and cymbals which are reproduced in a totally fluid and coherent way. The mids are a indeed more transparent and pure and the bass is another area where the improvements are not subtle. The bass now is clearly more controlled, articulate and detailed. In my listening room this has been very clear and I needed to reposition the speakers to better effect. Now I have my listening point far than before and the sound this way and with the MX is more cohesive and even. Images now are more fleshed but at the same time more naturally resoluted and defined. But above all the sound is inmensely fluid and relaxed. It makes my previous Milleniums a bit colored something I never thought of them until I hard my new MXs!! Two words that comes to mind when trying to resume the improvements of the new MXs over the previous milleniums are "purer" "and "coherent". It´s VERY impressive to see how neutral and emotive is at the same time the speaker now. At the end it´s just incredible how a few and carefully implanted design details can change a superbly natural sounding speaker and take it to an previously unexpected next level. Just a superb gift for the music lover and sound pros alike!!. An instant classic, period. P.S.: Sorry about my English Grammar, I know is not very fine. :-(

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Among many others ProAc 2.5, 1.5, 4, 3.8, Tannoy GRF, Kharma CRM 3.2, Audionote ANE-SP, Quad 988, JMLabs Mezzoutopia, Miniutopia and Utopia, Quad 57, Spendor SP100, SP2/3E, SP3/1P, Sonus Faber Guarneri, Audio Physic Virgo III, Dynaudio Confidence 5, B&W 803, 802, Rockport Merak, ML Statement II, etc etc...

The VSM-MM becomes a more involving speaker than the VSM-M. An evolutionary change

Doesn't cost $1000.

Associated Equipment/Hookup: Marantz SA 14 CD/SACD player Nakamichi RX-202 tape deck Joule Electra LA 100 Mk III Belles 150A Hot Rod Merlin VSM-MM with BAM (upgraded by Bobby from the VSM-M) BAM in the tape loop of the preamp Isolation transformer (1KVa) - CD player and BAM plugged into this Signal Cable interconnects: Analog 2 (all 3' long – Belden 89259-based) Heartland Cables (Belden 89259-based with Eichmann Bullets) Generic speaker cable 6’ long, single wired to woofer terminal using supplied jumpers and single RC on tweeter terminal as per instructions 20 amp dedicated circuit Setup/room: Short wall placement – out 4’ and 3’ from side walls (still playing with placement/room treatment) Speakers are 5’ 9” apart toed out 10 degrees using the supplied triangle Placed in a 12'w x 15’l x 7'h dedicated listening room I am 9.5-10’ away from the speakers I have owned Merlin speakers for about 1.5 years and Bobby has recently upgraded my VSM-M to the MM level. There are 89 previous reviews here that state, in my experience, factually the characteristics of both the speakers and the owner of the company. Thank goodness those other audiophiles are great at description as this removes some responsibility from me. I can just say…”Read the previous 89 reviews. Go to Audio Asylum. Go to AudiogoN. Go to the Merlin website and read all of the linked reviews. Call Bobby.” and that would be that. However, I would like to add one description that I don’t believe has been used with this speaker system and that is they are fun. Hardly an audiophile term, I know, but true nonetheless. I recently hooked up an old (but fully functional) tape deck and put in some 15-20 year old tapes expecting these highly resolving speakers to make me wince a bit due to the source. Not so. It was just… musical. Yeah, the recordings were not very good at all, but the Marlins just let the music through. The Magic Mod just jumps the fun (enjoyable) factor for me. Don’t know exactly why, but there it is. This, of course, is true for all of my CDs as well. Jumping in with both feet over 3 years ago into the audiophile world, it has been my experience that Bobby (and of course Bill) are alone in the top class of customer service and the Merlin speaker system in product performance. His enthusiasm for his speakers is contagious. However, as good as the VSM-MM speakers are, I have decided to sell them. I have already paid for a pair of VSM-MX (piano black) and now I wait. What more can I say

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Paradigm 7SE Paradigm Studio 60 v2 Paradigm Studio 100 v2 Dynaudio Contour 3.0, 3.3 Revel F30 Gershman Acoustics Avant Garde RX-20

Crystal-clear,open,precise,involving,seductive[there's that word again]

ZERO

This glowing review is for the VSM-MM made in 2004.After a couple months,I can say with great certainly,this is the best you can get for twice the price.Th e highs are clear,non-fatiguing,very detailed and re-solving,yet romantic,seductive.The mid-woofer is controlled,tight,precise,in no way boomy,or lean,except to the most highly-addicted bottom lovers.All in all,world-cless,and so is the maker.Bobby,bravo sir,nice work,thanks for the memories,Bob

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Mission,JBL,Infinity,Klipshorns

Big open full sound.Natural and accurate.Tranparency,3D imaging,air and depth, dynamics,bass in short, everything

none

I've been using the Merlin VSM since 1998 and have been upgrading the speaker throughout its various incarnations.I always thought it was a great speaker, and marveled at the upgrades.I didn't think it could get better after the Millenium but after hearing the new MX's at the 2004 HE show I knew something special was happening.I decided to go for the MM upgrade.All I can say is I'm not sorry.The sound is improved in every way to a significant extent.On a good recording the speakers just vanish.The image is palpable.Reproduction of vocals and choral work is scary.Its so natural and reproduced with so much ease it sounds like they're in the room.Also the dynamics have been improved.It seems like there's no limit as to how loud they can play and the "jump factor" really comes into play with recordings with wide dynamic range.The bass has been similarly improved in terms of extension defintion and punch.Best of all is the new life that's breathed into older recordings and you find your whole collection needs to be re-evaluated.I've been re-evaluating for the last three weeks and can't stop.I think these speakers are addictive.Maybe they should come with a warning.

perfect tonal balance, will never insult you build quality, timeless appearance, great value possibly the best speaker on the market today!

none

This is a review of the merlin vsm mx. I will try to keep it short. First let me say that i have the highest admiration and respect for bobby and the rest at merlin music. I have known bobby for almost 20 yrs and worked with him from 86-96 before moving to northern virginia.He has to be one of the smartest and hard working man in audio.His dedication to building the best possible speaker systems is second to none. My VSM MX'S in piano black reside in my master bedroom that measures 19'long X 13'wide x 13' high (cathederal ceiling).Room placement finds them 42" from the side walls to the center of the woofers and 57" from the rear wall to the front of the cabinet with a separation of 5'10" from the center of the woofers.Iam using a Music Reference RM9 MK 2 tube amp,Joule Electra LA 150 line stage, all Cardas Golden Reference interconnects and speaker cables and as a source a Rega Jupiter 2000 cd player( soon to be used as a transport only). The merlins exhibit a sound that is to say the least simply stunning.Sound staging is deep and wide with imaging that makes the speaker totaly disappear.Glare is never an issue nor brightness. The mids and highs are simply glorious.The bottom end is deep and fast never boomy or bloated sounding. It is a very well defined bottom end.Fantastic for a 6.5" woofer. it should not be able to do what it does but thanks to the bam it does. The the whole speaker is silky smooth like a baby's bottom.They are simply uncanny in their ability to resolve and layer the music.They never become fatiguing to listen to and you will find yourself searching for old cd's that you once found unlistenable on other speakers.It will simply put other speakers costing far more to shame.

See above

Not sure they could be used in a gigantic living-room. Bass is outstanding in an elegant and understated way, but not subwoofer-deep. Listen to the VSMs, you won’t need it.

This is a review for the VSM-MXs. I’m a guy who loves his speakers to be on the warm side. I’m attached to music as a whole rather than sound in itself, and hate analytical, cold or hi-fi sounding speakers. And I use Brinkmann amplifiers and preamp, which are solid-state. So after reading everywhere on the net that the VSMs worked mostly with tube amplifiers, and that the VSMs could sound cold if set-up wrongly, I almost did not order them. Especially since I’m not one of those guys who love to tweak, fiddle with gear for hours. When I dish out the big bucks, I want things to work with minimum fuss. But I must be a masochist, because I ordered them anyway, after reading and rereading the great posts about Merlin. So how do they sound, placed less than optimately and paired with a full solid-state system? I’ve owned several high-end speakers (no names needed) and heard a lot more at friend’s or, for what it’s worth, at shows. To put it simply, the VSMs are the best speakers I’ve ever owned or heard. Bold statement, but true. Despite the complete absence of any tube in my system, the VSMs sounded warm, enveloping and caressing (the Brinkmann are essentially neutral amps) from the word go. At the same time, and this is what makes them so uncanny, they sound so precise you hear a thousand things you never heard before. Transparency has never been very high on my priority list, but my jaw dropped. Had I been missing so much? And this transparency is achieved without the slightest trace of glare, brightness, forwardness or “hifiness”. The emotional connection with the music is absolutely uncanny. It’s really like being there. So much happens in front of you – and even a little on the sides! – you have to hear them to believe it. Soundstage is the best I’ve “seen”, along with the feeling of air around the instruments. The latter point made me listen to CDs again, whereas I was a die-hard analog fan. I have no idea how Bobby does that, but his speakers remove any trace of harshness and “mechanicalness” to CDs. While being super precise, they make some of my badly recorded CDs listenable. Sounds like a paradox, does it? I guess this has to do with removing distortion. Well, I guess you got the gist of it, go read the other reviews, they are true!!! Inky black background, treble, glorious midrange, good bass without overstating)… why are these the best speakers money can buy for me? Because they’ll give you the best, or close to it, of different designs, without their flaws: the emotional connection of high-efficiency speakers, the weight and power and box-speakers, the transparency of electrostatics. I’m not kidding. Go for it, you won’t regret it. I first used to think 8000 dollars were a lot for a two-way design, I’ve changed my mind big time! No speakers costing 10 times more will give you more music, more sheer joy and musicality, or even a better sound.

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A lot

holy cow, details, details and details.

I wish they come in different colors.

Well, I finally had a chance to hood up my new VSM-MM. The first thing I want to say is to thank Anthony fro PerCon, for pointing me to this speaker line and enlighten me into believing that there exists a product that is sooo perfect. The second thing is that it is true, Bobby Palkovic is a very nice man. I had some questions regarding the VSM-MM and wanted to ask tech support, and voila`, Bobby got on the line and answered each and everyone of my question, to the point and then some. This man clearly redefines what customer support is all about and he clearly shows his enthusiasts and love for audio. I only listened to the VSM-MM for less than 3 hours, and let me tell you, I haven't heard anything like this before. And trust me, I have heard alot. From Jean Marie Reynaud,to B&W 803 Nautilus, to Monitor Audior GR60, to Von Schweiker VR4GenIIISE, to Martin Logan Aeon i and Magnapan 1.6QR. The details are unbelievable, the depth are amazing, like nothing I've heard of before, the highs are clean, and crisp, not sharp and edgy. Mids are clear and true to characters (of the singers), and bass is just right, tight and deep enough. The VSM-MM just put my B&W 803N to shame ladies and gentlemen, in every which way. The BAM was easy enought to connect and the design of the speakers even earned praises from my boss (my significant other). I will try to give another report in about 3 weeks, but in the mean time, thank you Bobby for building such beautiful and awsome speakers.

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B&W 803Nautilus, 805 Nautilus, Monitor Audio GR 60, and S10, Tannoy S8, Jean marie Reynaud Arpeggione, Martin Logan Aeon i, Magnepan 1.6QR, Von Schweiker VR4GenIIISE.

Everything that matters.

It is more a challenge than a weakness, but you do want to spend time to set up the VSMs carefully and match them with the most neutral electronics and cables you can buy.

This is a review for Merlin VSM-MX speakers. Prior to the Merlins, I had Kharma Ceramique 2.0 speakers matched with Berning ZH270 amp and didn't have any plans to "upgrade" the speakers or the amp for a loooooooong time. However, I had an opportunity to audition Merlins VSM-Ms with my amp at a local dealer and they sounded VERY promising in a less than familiar room with less tham familiar electronics other than the amp. After talking with Bobby, I was intrigued enough to purchase the latest MX version. Once they arrived (after a long wait), I set them up where Kharmas sat and ran them for 48+ hours to break them in. After the break-in, I gave them a close audition. My initial impression was mixed - they had awesome resolution (better than my Kharmas) and more pin-point soundstage, but the soundstage depth was about the same and the overall "musicality" didn't seem to improve much, if at all. Still, it was an improvement overall. A couple of nights later and a after phone conversation with Bobby, I moved the speakers to a position recommended by VSM manual - more out in the room and a little bit closer to each other, all using the Golden Ratio. What a difference! The soundstage grew about 4ft in depth, 1ft in height and the 3 dimentional perspective of the performance became eerily REAL. I was in the orchestra seat, or the church, jazz club, or whatever venue was. Just AMAZING. And the bass! It was the most articualte bass I have ever heard. Comparatively, Kharmas sound a slightly veiled, homogenious (everything played through them have that certain quality to it), and distant from the actual performance (sounds like a GREAT reproduction of the event, rather than being present in the event). Both great speakers, but Merlins just sound more real and transparent. I may have come to a different conclusion with more current Kharma models, but with my pair, that was the finding. Anyway, I then started tweaking the rest of the system; trying out different cables, tubes, cones, shelves, power conditioners, etc. Every little change you make, you will hear through the VSMs. VSM is the window into the music and into the rest of the system. A very clean and clear window that hides nothing. If you are ready to hear EVERYTHING that is on the music, give the VSM-MXs a try (along with worthy electronics). You'll be converted as well.

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I have owned or listened closely to many worthy speakers, including aforementioned Kharmas, B&K N801, N802, Watt/Puppy, Revel Salon, Proacs, Soundlabs, etc, and Merlin VSM-MXs are the best speakers I've heard outside the big Soundlabs. I think the Soundlabs could be even better than the Merlins, but they need room that is three times as big as what I have (12.5' x 17')

best two way in the world You can leave them to someone you love in your will because they will last longer than you will

BAM requires seaparate preamp and amp or predominant use of only one source. positioning 100lb speakers at exact locations is difficult

This review is primarily of the magic mod upgrade that really hasn’t been recognized for what it is, a major advance in the Merlin evolution. I bought my Merlins on eBay without ever hearing them. They were advertised as SE but Bobby said they were actually Generation 3s. Someone had blown a woofer and replaced it themselves. They sounded exquisite but I went for the Millenium upgrade last year. I decided to replace both woofers and get the Magic Mod this year. I have a lot of respect for Bobby and his team. There is a certain kind of genius involved in creating audiophile equipment. Bobby’s production facility is more of a craftsman’s studio, and each pair of speakers is carefully assembled by hand. The Merlin production studio isn’t far from where I live in Ontario Canada, and the Finger Lakes district of New York is an exceptionally friendly part of the US, and very scenic too. I dropped the speakers off at Bobby’s studio and went camping for a couple of days with a friend. When I got back my speakers were set up and Debbie turned them on. They filled the room like a live performance. Bobby was explaining the magic mod as a combination of internal cryogenically treated parts and weight loaded onto the front baffle of the speaker. With the sixth toe mod the speaker is then set up on a tripod of spikes, two at the front and one at the back, with most of the weight on the front two. The Magic mod is an immediately noticeable difference. I got home, set them up, put on a CD, and within the first few notes I could tell the speakers were richer, denser, more lifelike, and cleaner. Several days and many CDs later I’m really quite impressed. You get quite lost in the music because of its enveloping presence. Whether you feel like you’re in the studio or at a live performance, you can’t help but notice the palpable realism these speakers generate. The Merlin VSM Millenium was already a Stereophile Class A product. With the magic mod there is really quite a noticeable improvement in a product that was already Class A. They are now really in a class of their own and certainly the best speaker in its price range. I’m using a Manley Stingray Integrated amp with three sources so the BAM was a problem. I added a Paradigm Servo 15 subwoofer, which was inexpensive, but all I could afford at the time. Bobby emphasized that the BAM would create a better quality sound, and the speakers produce a lot of bass, - 4dB at 30Hz with the BAM. I was listening to my speakers in Bobby’s studio with his BAM amazed that a six and half inch woofer could generate so much bass so richly and at loud volume. I’m way past the age where I listen to loud music. The best test of a speaker is how it plays at lower volumes. So the woofers and internal components haven’t burned in fully but I can tell you after a weekend devoted to listening, that the Magic Mod is well worth the cost and the trouble. Anyone with Merlin VSM Milleniums would be really well advised to get the upgrade. How much better can a Stereophile Class A product get? You’d be surprised.

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none

Does everything right in presenting music to the listener.

None.

This is a review for the Merlin VSM-M Magic Mod upgrade, or the VSM-MM. A few weeks ago I got my speakers back from Bobby for the ‘Magic Mod’ and tweeter replacement. The tweeters had been damaged in an accident. In my opinion the VSM-M was already a great speaker and I wasn't looking for more. But when I called Bobby regarding the tweeters, he mentioned the new upgrade and since I was going to send the speakers back anyway, I decided to have him upgrade the speakers as well. There’s been quite a few reviews of the VSM-M so I’ll concentrate on the Magic Mod itself how it improves on the VSM-M. The improvements were quite noticeable from the start. With the Magic Mod the speakers sound bigger and clearer, there is a greater sense of space, both in scope and around each performer. The speaker seems more relaxed and confident, as if it’s limits has been extended. At volumes louder than I can bear, the speakers remain clean and clear. Vocals and instruments sound more fleshed out, more of that ‘reach out and touch the singer’ sensation. Bottom end has more weight, Cello’s have an increased presence, body and bloom. Actually Cellos sounded quite real last night as I was listening to Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Cello suite. The highs are sweet and extended like before though they seem to be a bit more forgiving of poor recordings after the upgrade. Violins played through the upgraded speakers are incredibly moving. Imaging has also improved with better separation of instruments and singers. Overall the speakers sound more balanced. My typical volume settings have been noticeably lower with the upgraded speakers. This could be due to the greater clarity that I’m hearing now. Compared to before I definitely feel more emotionally connected to the music . Some music that I’ve enjoyed recently to evaluate the upgrade are: Cowboy Junkies – Bea's Song, Emmylou Harris – various CDs, Norah Jones Yo-Yo Ma – Bach Cello Suite No. 1 U2 – various, Dire Straits - Various Peter Gabriel – Shaking the Tree SACD Eleanor McEvoy Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto – Ithzak Pearlman Gladiator Soundtracks Secret Garden The Magic Mod improves on the VSM-M in all areas while keeping all the qualities intact. The end goal of my audio equipment is always my enjoyment of the music. In that respect the Magic Mod is a fantastic upgrade. The speakers sound so complete and even more musical that I consider the Magic Mod a must. I don’t know how Bobby does it but he certainly is gifted when it comes to speakers!