See above for specifics.

System matching and setup is critical.

Associated Equipment/Hookup: Marantz SA 14 CD/SACD player Sonic Frontier Line 2 SE Belles 150A Hot Rod Merlin VSM-M with BBAM (upgraded by Bobby from the VSM-SE with AC BAM) BBAM between the CD player and preamp Isolation transformer (1KVa) - CD player plugged into this Signal Cable interconnects: Analog 2 (all 3' long) Signal Cable biwired 10' 20 amp dedicated circuit Setup/room: Diagonal placement approximately 6' apart; equipment rack in-between Placed in a 20'x20'x10' sloped ceiling room speakers facing large opening into a 20'x12'x8' kitchen Note for future reviewers/commentators: please include at least setup/room as it is very helpful for other people who read these reviews to extrapolate information for their own specific setup. First of all, wonderful site. I have found the reviews to be of immense help. Ok, preamble aside, the best advice that I can give to one reading this review is read all the other reviews. Do not skim. Print them out and read them several times to get a feel for what other owners are telling you. If you are unwilling to do that, here is my synopsis and experience: 1. These speakers are state-of-the-art in terms of engineering and sound from a two-way design. 2. Bobby Palkovic (company president and chief designer) is more concerned about getting his speakers to sound "right" in your room/setup than he is about making a buck (I have spoken to him in person, over the phone and have visited his manufacturing facility). Let's not overlook the outstanding services provided by Bill Hooper (cabinet designer/maker) and Debbie (pretty much everything else). 3. Set them up as per the instructions. I did not initially (just installed the threaded spikes - no cones or locking nut) and the bass was strongly mitigated. With the full feet installed, the bass was tunefully there in spades (who would have thought?). 4. System matching a must. I originally had a Bryston 4B-ST amp, Bobby suggested (strongly) the Belles 150A Hot Rod amp. A definite improvement in musicality. He also has suggestions with respect to preamps/speaker cables/interconnects. 5. The BAM is an integral part of the speakers. I bought my speakers used on Audiogon and had Bobby upgrade them to the Millennium version and upgrade the AC BAM to the Battery BAM. For the total cost involved, I cannot imagine a greater "bang-for-the-buck". Strongly recommend. Regards, David

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Resolution, soundstage depth, imagining and ultimately they just sound like real music....nuf said!

Needs to be integrated into the right system with the right component symmetry. Although this can be said for most high end pieces. Choose carefully and you'll be rewarded in spades.

I've currently have had my pair of VSM-Milleniums for a little over a month now and finally feel I can accurately give a review of them. Although they were purchased used, I had them sent to Bobby Palkovic for a full checkout and to get all the latest mods. This includes the 6th toe mod, the new EMF damping material, tuning pucks, etc. I also have the latest battery BAM which originally had balanced connectors only and we got Joe from JPS Labs (thanks Joe!) to add in SE RCA's as well. In putting my new system together I had purchased all VAC amplication (PA100/100) and a VAC Standard Preamp LE. I contacted Bobby to see if my current components could work well with his speakers. I got a thorough run down on all my pieces (some good, some bad), but it was obvious the amps would work great. They have a full, rich sound that complements the Merlins abilities quite well. I do listen to both digital and analog. My Creek CD43 player is sounding better than ever. But it was the analog vinyl setup that has really come alive since getting the Merlins. I have a Well Tempered Classic turntable and Coda 03P phono stage. I've found that the positioning of my cartridge over the last few years was less than optimal immediately. I could hear that something wasn't quite right. In tweaking around with the various settings I was able to find a new VTA position that allowed an astonishing amount of depth to my soundstage. The back wall just literally opened up. I fully credit the VSM's for helping me hear what different VTA positions yielded and was able to really fine tune it and find some wonderful musicality out of my low cost Grado Prestige Gold cartridge (I can barely wait to upgrade this to really hear how good it can be). I've switched from using 80% CD's and 20% vinyl, to the opposite ratio. Many days the vinyl rules the table and the CDs don't get played. I've found myself going through my collection of 2500+ LPs and finding gems that I never knew sounded so good. It's all about the music now, which is how it should be! All the reviews on this site for the Merlins give positive reviews and my impressions are just as strong. I feel that in choosing a speaker, I needed something I could live with for years and be happy. An investment in great sound that will not be out of date anytime soon. These speakers are awesome in their ability to reveal a precise, delicate soundstage where each instruments has a unique space and performers feel like they are visiting your listening room. But they can also rock quite well with stuff like Stevie Ray, the Stones, AC/DC, etc. The most impressive thing is how they are great with a wide variety of music genres. Some speakers seem to like one genre more than the others. The biggest drawback to the Merlins are that the rest of the system needs to be choosen carefully for them to pay off the most. You don't have to spend a ton of money on associated gear, just choose each piece to complement the sound. The Merlins are so revealing of components, it is easy to hear what you have and sometimes that's not so good. My favorite saying in audio is "Don't wash the windows, if you don't want to see the view". This especially applies to the Merlins since they will let you hear the rest of your system, weak points and all. But if you want to essemble a great system and have the patience to go slowly and get the right gear, the Merlins are a wonderful cornerstone. I don't plan on getting rid of mine anytime soon.

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B&W 803's, Alon II's, Epos ES11s and the Vandersteen 2CI's. Actually I've never owned speakers as good.

Highly resolving, clean sound you can see through (right to the instruments).

If you want to call it one, is that if they do double duty as HT speakers, you may want a sub but otherwise, with the right components, a sub is not necessary.

Other folks on this forum have done a fine job of describing the merlin sound, I can’t add anything new here. I just want to chip in my two cents on how I ended up purchasing the merlin VSM-M with BAM speakers …………… When I decided to upgrade my system, I wanted to start with the best speaker I could afford because I wanted them to be up to the task of sounding better with each component upgrade. After much research and reading every review I could get my hands on, it seemed like the merlins might be the speaker to do it. I called Bobby Palkovic, owner and builder of the merlins and he graciously invited me to visit him at his shop in Hemlock, NY (I live close by….. lucky me). I took him up on the offer and am glad I did, Bobby showed me how he builds his speakers and just like his speakers, he did it detail, everything from the quality of each component to the type of solder used to tie it all together. We spent a lot of time that afternoon listening, analyzing and talking about all things audio, everything from cabling to speaker design (his and other speakers brands) to the electronics that drive them. I didn’t buy the speakers on the spot, but I did come away convinced the merlins could do it right on a long term basis. We are talking about refined speakers here, ones that will accurately convey the music as it is presented to them. If you put a good quality signal into these babies you will be rewarded with music that is nothing short of stunning. I’ve shed a tear to two at times listening to these speakers because they grab you emotionally and won’t let go, then they grab you again, and again and again. To me, that is the measure of a good speaker; not how much you pay, or how popular it is but by what it does to you when you listen. “It’s all in the details” they say, and the level of detail you can hear in the merlins is simply amazing. To date, I have upgraded my cables and phono pre-amp, both have significantly improved the sound proving that these speakers will grow with your system upgrades without a doubt. I don’t think they will ever be the weak link in my system which is one of the things I was looking for. These speakers are going to be in this household for many, many years. Now the real fun begins, choosing amps, pre-amps, sources and cables that, over time, will make ‘em sing even more. I would recommend these speakers for anyone who wants high resolution, clarity and detail in their speaker system, who also wants to keep improving the quality of sound by experimenting (if they choose to) with quality components that will bring out the best in these speakers.

This is my Merlin story. Having been in hi fi for over 30 years, I was always in the upgrade mode. I had built my system up over the years into a solid performer, but felt that the weak link was my speakers. After exhausting research via the hi fi pubs and Internet, I became intrigued by the intense loyalty and consistent reviews for Merlins. The only reservations that I had were their ability to play loudly in my fairly large room (20 X 20 with a high ceiling) and their bass response. Listening in person to a typical setup at a high-end retailer convinced me of the tremendous clarity and detail of the Merlins. But the tube powered system seemed to lack the dynamics and bass that I wanted. So I called Bobby and shared my concerns. He assured me that the robust drivers could handle a lot of power and would rock. He also convinced me that with some system tweaks I could experience very satisfying bass response. In typical fashion, Bobby’s passion, knowledge and belief in his product came through. I was convinced. I was able to purchase a pair of VSM-Ms with BAM, less than 1 year old, from a private party in my area. What a break. They were in mint condition, properly broken in and at a handsome savings. I moved out my old Mirage 1090’s (very decent speakers for the $$) and hooked the Merlins to my system. The detail, soundstage and clarity were amazing. My only complaint was a lack of bass. After talking again to Bobby, he suggested some tuning pucks for my CD transport and DAC. I added these and they seemed to tighten things up. But the big difference was replacing my Kimber PBJ interconnects with Cardas Golden Cross. It was amazing. My wife and instantly heard a deeper, more authoritative bottom end. Hate to admit that “wires” could make so much difference but it did. I’ve added new components that didn’t make so much difference. I now am very happy and content with my system. It sounds great with voices and acoustic music. Performers AND their emotion are in the room! When I am in an AC/DC or White Stripes kind of mood, the Merlin pump out satisfying waves of clean, loud rock with no distress. I babied them for a while but no need, the quality of parts and build of these speakers is amazing. I find that using a tube preamp (BAT-Vk3i) with a solid-state amp (Aragon 8008ST) provides me with a sweet, smooth sound with plenty of authority and bass control. It’s a rocking combination! I feel relieved to have the speaker selection issue put to bed for me. Like many others have stated on this site, I am into enjoying the tunes and not worrying about saving for my next upgrade. I now listen to music, not my hi fi. Thanks Bobby, for a rare and satisfying product!

See reviews below...I agree with all of them!

Once again, if you are primarily looking for deep, resounding bass, these are not the speakers for you (even with the B-BAM module). Also, they lose a little bit of impact in larger rooms.

Not being a professional reviewer, I simply wish to echo the many outstanding reviews that these speakers have received. Simply put, they are phenomenal and will be the last speakers you will purchase. The quality of build is second to none, and the layers of sound that will emerge from the Merlins will astound you. Great detail and texture. The transparency of these speakers is like nothing I've ever experienced previously...You will forget they are physically there. Far superior in my opinion to the B&W Nautilus series speakers. Give them a go and you will not regret it.

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B&W Nautilus 803, 804 and 805.

Detail, detail, detail. In listening to music before I owned these speakers, I did not realize how much musical information I was not hearing in the high and midrange regions. The speakers do a wonderful job with the highs and midrange music in terms of musical presentation especially vocals and individual instruments. The bass is tight and also very detailed. However, it does not have the deep resonance of larger speakers. These speakers are very well built and the components are the best. The overall package is second to none.

As so many people point out, the depth of bass is not there. However, careful matching of components really does make a difference.

Until now, I haven't considered writing a review of the Merlin speakers or any of my other system components, mainly because I feel inadequate at describing what I hear. Heck, much of what all the folks write about on this website, I don't know if I hear or not. But what I do know is quality and these speakers are quality. Quality of design, quality of execution and quality of sound. How do you quantify that? It's like tasting wine. The experts talk about the taste in terms of berries, cherries, smoke, tobacco, etc. My palate is good, and I do taste those flavors from time to time, but in the end, there is an overall feel to the wine when everything is in balance and it just works perfectly. This is what a great wine is. And to the extent that you can compare wine to speakers, this is what Merlin speakers are all about. For my listening area, these speakers are perfect. Right now my listening room is rather small, and the beauty of these speakers is that you can play them loud without being uncomfortable. What happens is that you hear all the music more clearly and there is space, air between the instruments and the vocals. This is what I mean by detail. Another plus for these speakers is that they sound good wtih tube and solid state amps. Like all audio equipment, changes in components can manifest itself in the quality of the music coming from the speakers. For example, there is more bass from my system when I have the Joule Electra LA-100 preamp hooked up than when I have the Hovland HP-100 in the loop. Component matching is a must to get the sound you like from these speakers. My current system consists of the following: Hovland HP-100 preamp Rouge Audio Magnum 88 amp Ah! 4000 CD Player VPI Aries Scout with Dynavector MC Cartridge Merlin VSM w/B-BAM I have also used a JE LA-100 preamp, Belles 150A Hot Rod amp, and Philips SACD 1000. Everything I have tried has sounded wonderful, some more so than others, but this is splitting hairs to a degree I wish to avoid. What I do know is that I want to spend all my time at home listening to music, any music. I guess that in itself is the best endorsement for any audio product, that you can't wait to get home to listen to the music. One last thing. I spent a good deal of time at this website reading the reviews and at other web sites reading all I could about the various products I was interested in. The best resource, however, was getting in contact with Rich Brkich at Signature Sound. He answered all my questions completely and in great detail, especially about the Merlin speakers. Thanks Rich.

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I listened to some equivalent B&W and Audio Physics speakers. Very nice but not as nice as the Merlins.

Imaging, soundstage, tonality. Compact design, small fingerprint, unobtrusive, high W(H)AF. Great looking.

Doesn't go into the 20's for bass freaks.

Well, well, where to begin? I am not a professional reviewer, I'm a music freak - like you maybe. When I do critical listening (80% of the time), I like to be enveloped and involved in the layers, textures and nuances of sound. NOTHING has EVER transported me to the escapist place I call "Audio Nirvana" like the Merlin VSM-Ms. But, the story is worth telling.......the journey actually. Like a good, educated audiophile, I first home-auditioned Merlins in January of 2002 when I lived in Chicago. The local dealer at the time schlepped the speakers up the stairs into my house, hooked them up with HIS interconnects to my existing system - Ayre amp, ARC 25 pre, ML 39 cdp - and nervously waited for my initial reaction......I made the cliched "bitter beer face" as a wall of aggressive information assaulted my ears with the subtlety of an Al Sharpton sermon. Ouch! No, thanks. Back we go to my beloved Proac 2.5s and their warm, comfortable blanket of pleasantness. Bye-bye Merlins after I posted a four star review right here in this forum. Soon after, I contacted the man himself - Bobby P. of Merlin fame - and wanted to find out what the &^$#$% happened. After listening to my sonic saga, Bobby correctly diagnosed that all I was hearing was my own system's chronic mediocrity through a pair of truth-tellers. (Unfortunately linked by the dealer's cheap cabling.) Not one to "drink someone else's juice", I remained skeptical.....but intrigued. A lot of people build a front-end system first then seek a compatible pair of loudspeakers to articulate their triumphant electronic choices. Doesn't work that way with Merlins. With Bobby's help, I built a system that would optimally drive the Merlins. The assumption, of course, is that all the reviews - here and elsewhere - and product reputation is deserved and that this type of speaker (size, look, specs) matches your audio goals. It did for me. So, I slowly built a system and Bobby was patient....and incredibly friendly: Audio Aero Capitole mkI cdp David Berning ZH-270 amp Cardas Golden Ref ics TG Audio HSR speaker cables Audio Magic Stealth power purifier OK, so I'll get to the point. I was too busy all spring and summer to deal with new speakers and then I moved back to SF. After a few months here, I re-visited the Merlins. They arrived last week. I loved my Proac 2.5s (they are now for sale), but the Merlins give feeling to music. Better, deeper, tighter and more correct bass. Phenomenal seemingly unlimited top end. And, yes, sweet-ass mid range that ties the whole presence together to deliver a spine tingling musical event in my living room.(25 x 18 x 11) So, what do I think of the Merlins? Yes, they are "Prima Donna" speakers that require correct configuration. Meaning - put together an excellent upstream system that matches well - dare I say? - synergistically - and the Merlins will reward you in spades. My nutshell after this missive....I have arrived at the audio nexus to which I have aspired for over seven years. The Merlins have exceeded my expectations in every way. I race home after work to listen to music. Yeah, sure I know, this an emotion-fueled review that needs to stand the test of time. So, I'll get back to you.... Adios, upgrade train. It's been real.

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Dynaudio Contour 1.8s, Proac 2.5s, Verity Parsifals

Front row involvement with the music at low, medium or higher volume levels.

none

Well I have listened to so many speakers, preamps, amps, cables etc that I am now happy to say I am done. I have my new system and it exceeds all of my expectations. The Merlin VSM's are the cornerstone and reveal every single upgrade or change I tried along the way. I ended up with a Berning 270 amp, Joule LA100 MKIII preamp, Electrocompaniet EMC-1 CD player, JPS& Ensemble power cords, Luminous Audio Tech IC's and speaker cables as well as Ensemble line conditioning and Isolink transformer for my CD player. The speakers are so transparent and disappear in front of me. They reveal all of the music's detail with a wonderful sense of air and smooooothness! I have really never heard better and plan to keep these for many years. I dont hear much said about this, but the VSM's coupled with the Berning amp make for increadible low/low moderate level listening at night. You get all of the music and intimacy with wonderful imaging. It is a real treat. No need to keep turning it up! It's there! All of the music in layers with texture and space. I could talk all day long about these speakers as I love them. Let me finish by saying system matching is most important. The Berning and Joule bring the music to life with these Merlin's. As Bobby says "they are cut from the same cloth as the Merlin's". I have learned that synergy is key. Bobby at Merlin has the experience and knows how to get the most out of these speakers. They keep getting better and better as you upgrade to the best matching, not most expensive equipment, including cables.

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Egglesten Works, Martin Logan,Revel,B&W,TSM's,Quad and others

Transparency, delicacy, tight accurate bass, the finest small/medium room speaker I know of.

Would love to have got a premium finish!!

I have owned many speakers over the past 15 years but I very much doubt that I will ever need to replace my Merlins. I had to sell my Martin Logan Prodegies due to space constraint and everyone told me I'd never find a dynamic speaker with the midrange speed of the ML's. I was beginning to think they may be right. I tried, JM Labs Mini Utopia, Proac 3.8 and Future .5, B&W N805 and 803 plus Wilson Cubs. All failed to satisfy and I wanted my Logans back! Then I stumbled upon the Merlins and WOW! Not only did they match the midrange speed and definition of the Logans, the actually surpassed it in a number of areas, most noteably the natural decay of instruments and texture. I firmly believe there is no finer speaker on the market for the person who is limited to a relatively small listening room. The Esotar tweeter is unsurpassed and the midrange has far more emotional power than any of the Dynaudio speakers I have heard (which is just about all!) The transparency is astonishing (this from a former panel freak!) and the bass will satisfy all but the real dubheads out there. It proves that if the product is right in the first place, it can handle any musical genre with equanimity. The VSM Millenium just lets you hear the music. In summary, the Merlins offer Monitor levels of detail retrieval and accuracy but also communicate in a manner all too rare in this age. Bobby is a genius! Thank you so much for making my life so simple.

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JM Labs Mini Utopia, ML Prodegy, Dynaudio Confidence 5, Proac 3.8, Proac Future .5, Wilson Cub, Sonus Faber Cremona, Living Voice Avatar, Revel Gem,

Build quality, Soundstaging, performance in a variety of systems, Musicality, No box colorations or frequency related peaks or dips.

There are absolutly no weaknesses!

The speakers are of course great. I am especially happy with the lack of any box colorations or frequency related peaks or dips. This is with several different equipment set ups but not my main one as I am still waiting for my tube dac. While the Merlin's sound different with the change in equipment, they do not draw attention to themselves. I don't think about them at all, except for the immaging which changes a lot if not set up just right. I consider this a very good thing because while it might take longer to set up, I know when the immaging locks in, that I've got things just right. In reguards to musicality, I believe these will never be the weak link in any system I ever own. It is exciting to know that the Merlin's have surpassed all of my hopes in every area of performance and build quality that I can think of. Thanks, Bobby

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speaker history: Linn, Naim, Epos bookshelf two ways. Rega, Aerial 8b floor standing. Speakers considered durring purchase of Merlin's: Quad, Wilson and Soundlab.