NOT STRENGTHS BUT FINESSE THIS SPEAKERS HAS IT ALL.I'VE USED SIM AUDIO W5 & P5 TO PERFORMED MAGIC MUSIC.

MAKE NO MISTAKE.WEAKNESS WORD IS NOT BELONG FOR THIS SPEAKER.

I wanted to be an audiophile but my wallet won't let me that is why i have to save money for to 2 years to have this MERLIN VSM-M ruby redhearth finish with AC/Battery Balance BAM.My 2 years waiting is already paid off in two weeks of listening to this magic speakers.Superb performance on all details and words is not enough to explain the feeling on any surprise sound this speaker can produce. Me and my wife are really happy listening every night our money that we spent on this speaker is really worth it and i think this will be the last speaker in my family that im going to buy.Special thanks to Bobby of merlin for his support and patience to me and my wife while we asking a lot of question.Thanks to Hui my audio buddy and his friend kevin for giving us a chance to listen to his MERLIN. MORE POWER to MERLIN! LIVE LONG with MUSIC

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For all practical purposes, these speakers recreate the recorded musical event as well or better than any speaker in existence.

Designed only to fill a normal sized living room with world-class sound. If you need this quality of sound for an auditorium, you're looking at much more expensive speakers (Rockports, for instance).

I own a pair of the Millenium edition VSMs. Feed these speakers with the "right" amp and source (CD/turntable) and they will literally transport you to the recording studio (which, not surprisingly is where the designers spent quite a bit of their previous careers). The cabinets and drivers are first rate (the tweeter is unsurpassed), and with the battery BAM, this speaker is the best near-full-range speaker on the market (only goes to 30 Hz so I suppose it can't be termed a "full-range" speaker). If you want to purchase perhaps your last set of speakers, or simply want to get off the high-end audio merrygoround for a while, then buy these and be happy. Whether you use a 1200.00 Audio Analogue Puccini SE or the killer amp for the money Berning DH-270, you'll never regret owning these speakers. My thanks again to Bobby Palkovich for his incredible attention to detail, and his "old school" manner of dealing with customers - one at a time, and with care. Much obliged.

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Merlin TSM-M, Triangle Zays, Acoustat Spectra 1100s, Sound Lab Dynastat, Gershman Acoustics Avant Garde, and so on.

probably the best two way you'll ever hear and as such the most effective use of your dollar I can't imagine I'll ever buy another set of speakers actually.

absolutely none

I can't afford to be an audiophile, other wise I would consider myself one. I've been building a system for the last year and a half. Everybody says to use your ears when shopping for hi-fi components, but I found that didn't work very well. There is no listening room that matches my listening room. Not only are all the other components different than mine, and I haven't bought all mine yet to begin with, things like cabling, tubes, and time of day are different. I started with a Manley Stingray Integrated amplifier. I was thinking of spending $4,000 Can per component, maybe $5,000 for the speakers. I bought the Merlin VSM on eBay sight unseen and unheard, simply because I have yet to read anybody saying anything negative about them, anywhere, this site being a good example. They arrived and I hooked them up and I was a little disappointed by the bass. It was there but my last speaker was a two and a half way with twin 8" woofers per side. How could I expect a single 6.5" driver to compete. I called Merlin and Bob said the upgrade to Millenium would make a world of difference. After some time, during which I got used to the Merlins they way they were, and seriously doubted that I needed to have anything done to them at all, I had to make the 150km trip to the beautiful Finger Lakes district of New York, mostly because I told Bob I would. They don't actually have a very big sign outside the Merlin factory, if you could call it that. It's more of a craftsman's studio. I got to see a prototype subwoofer that Bob has been working on for the last five years. He took a look at my Merlins which were not SE models. I had generation 3s and someone had replaced a woofer. One internal component was completely fried, and people had been in and out of the cabinets so many times Bob had to glue dowel pieces into most of the screw holes so he could get the right torque on the screws. To bring them up to MIllenium version was going to cost twice as much as I had anticipated and take twice as long, so I disappeared for a couple of days visiting the places that Bob suggested, camping under the stars etc. etc. I never did find out how he ended up making the Merlins in Hemlock. When I got back he was just assembling them and I stayed for four hours chatting and watching a master craftsman at work. He bought me lunch actually. To make a long story shorter I got them bac

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wonderful full tone without blur or overroundness. emotional without being sentimental.detailed without being analytic

ported design does give a small emphasis in the bass to resonant frequency. needs best tube amplification to open up and sing.

heard at the hilton audio show. powered by Joule OTL amps. none of the show reviews in the magazines had anything to say about the merlins. big oversight. these are the most underated speakers on the market. nobody knows about merlins. maybe its the design simplicity. 2 way ported design ? so lo tech. driver quality is top rate, cabinet beautiful. sound tonally excellent. super relaxing, no fatigue, awesome detail... all the harmonics fit perfectly with the fundamentals. before you go pay a fortune for exotic designs with aerospace materials cabinets and such, listen to these. The designer has a great ear. IMHO this is what distinguishes musical speakers from fancy but irritating kludges. The person who designs them has to have a very refined understanding of what music should sound like. The Merlins have a sophisticated musical undertanding built into them. Music sounds like music, makes you feel like music is happening. Some designers get this intuitively, some don't. It's not only a money thing.

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sonus faber, wilson, b+W (ouch!), custom builds

Soundstage, Transparency, Depth, Tonal Accuracy...

Wish the premium finish was less expensive yet it is worth the money.... Eggplant is my next color :)

My goal when shopping for my next set of speakers was to get deeper bass, more depth, better soundstaging, and a speaker that was transparent and accurate. I'd achieved many of these things before but with much larger speakers and to a lesser degree. I went from the Martin Logan Odysseys to a speaker that was less than half there size and made improvements in every single area listed above. I've thrown the speakers every type of music known to man. From Rock to Classical and they are true to life and very well balanced. I don't detect a mid bass hump or a peak of any sort throughout the spectrum. I do believe that it's important to match these speakers with good electronics. Every cable change, component change, isolation change, all can easily be heard with these. The bass will really shock you, the midrange is excellent. I haven't heard a better speaker yet. Foy my room and my taste these are a perfect 10, sounding there best with vinyl or a great CD player. I listen about 90% to vinyl. It's hard for me to characterize the sound, all I can say is that it takes the shape of your system. I used a Rogue 99 magnum with RCA VT-231's, a Llano Trinity A-100, Theta Data Basic Art/DIO, Nottingham Spacedeck, Cardas Golden Cross Cables. I've heard the speakers with a Berning ZH-270 and it's so good I couldn't believe it. Many have said that it performs at 90% of the Tenor OTL's. OTL's are the way to go with these, either the Joule Electra's or the Berning's. I used Sarah McLachlan, Moondog, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Counting Crows, STP, Tool, Led Zep, Creedence, Mozart, Prokofiev, Schubert, Schuman, and more all with great success. The BAM is a must for these speakers it seems to smooth out the bass and relieve some of the bad harmonics that can exist in IC's. Bottom line is that with the right gear these are the best value in audio putting you in the same realm as systems costing tens of thousands of dollars.

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Martin Logan Odyssey, Vienna Acoustics Mozart, Beethoven, and Mahler, Sonus Faber Grand Piano's & Concerto's, Aerial 10T, JM Labs Utopia, Various Hales (owned odyssey listened to others)

sound staging, making speakers disappear, especially with "smaller" music like voices and small combos.

the above qualities are diminished with "faster", more amplified music.

i have merlin VSM-M. i don''t know why there is no category for it. it is great with voices and acoustic stuff. not so great, but good with amplified "faster" music. i have a belles amp which mfgr recommended. says it is more tube-like. previously had a bryston/psb combo. that combo was better for bass and "faster" amplified music. someone who knows more about this than me said the belles creates "second level harmonic distortion" which some perceive as sweeter. but "faster" music will sound muddled. that has been my experience. when i think about it it sounds like the old "tube v. solid state" debate. in my mind the decisive factor is that i own CDs which are digital in nature.

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Transparency, Detail, Bass, Looks, Customer Service, Refinement.

I would say bass but after listening to some heavy bass material I decided this wasn''t true. I really want to list a weakness but right now I can''t think of any. Hard to believe what these can handle, jaw dropping, my wife will ask me to turn down the bass and I have to explain that it''s the recording, and I don''t have a tone controll ;^)!

My past speakers were the Martin Logan Odyssey. I sold them to get a more detailed and accurate speaker. I liked the Logans and when I bought them I had little plan of selling them. After living with the speakers for awhile it became clear that they were rolled off an octave in the top and bottom. And something was missing that I couldn''t put a finger on?? To explain the sound of this speaker I would call it detailed but not bright the Merlins can recreate the studio very well, some notes extended beyond the walls of my room. The speakers have excellent depth and layering compared to the Logans, and the Decay is excellent with some notes still lingering after the original attack. I have to agree that every speaker I''ve heard adds it''s own stamp to the sound these are very transparent. They don''t seem to add anything, they just let the recording shine through. My system is not the best, but these speakers are great with my current set-up. I have a friend who owns the Vienna Mahlers, which I had strongly considered ordering myself. After listening most of the day at his house I was very impressed and found myself wondering if I''d made a mistake ordering the Merlin. After getting these speakers I''m very proud of my decision. Although I hadn''t heard nor seen the VSM-M, I purchased them anyway due to the excellent reviews and customer service. Bobby the owner will make your system it''s best if you let him ;^). To give you an idea how good I think these speakers are, when I first got them home without the BAM or Z-feet installed they already had more appeal than the Logans and produced a fair amount of bass. After putting on the feet and the BAM I was blown away. I''m still working on the positioning and it seems the wider out the speakers are toed the better IMO. The music I used was Scott Hamilton East of the Sun, Smashing Pumpkins dawn to dusk, Counting Crows August and Everything after, Moondog, Tool, David Gray White Ladder, Sarah McLachlan Touch. With the Pumpkins track #7 "to forgive" the Bass rattles the rafters! These speakers have much more bass than you could ever imagine. They produce the recording and don''t add they''re own flavor. On Sarah McLachlan''s Touch tracks 9 and 10 Bens Song and VOX were a demonstration of layering and detail that I hadn''t heard before. On David Grays White Ladder Trk# 9 "Sail Away" is GREAT!

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A perfect monitor...ideal for smaller rooms, listening from 7-10ft, and works very well with amps in the 17-100WPC range. They also have a choice of a "SS" or "tube" wiring harness, so they can be customized to work great with either design.

None for a floor-standing monitor.

I purchased a pair of Merlin VSM-SE speakers back in June of 2000. I never had any complaints, but I did occasionally feel that some recordings sounded a little thinner than I would have preferred (which wasn''t always the fault of the speaker...that''s for sure). I know some other happy users felt the same way. Bobby must have agreed with that consensus, because he developed the Millenium upgrade for any new (7/2000 and after) editions of the VSM. I recently had my SE''s upgraded to the "M" edition, and the weeks spent without my Merlins were worth the trouble. I really do believe that the Millenium upgrade is an improvement (and I wasn''t so sure that was possible when I sent them off). The upgraded speakers really do flesh out the sound better...most noticeably in the mids, lower mids, and bass. Everything sounds (and feels) more realistic to me. Vocal presentation has improved too. They have a perfect balance of air and body. The highs remain as clear and gorgeous as ever. Overall, the Millenium design gets more out of the monitor-sized speaker than the SE design. The VSM-M manage to have more body than the SE''s, yet they maintain all of their character and remain every bit as transparent. I can''t say I felt like listening to much music while my Merlins were off being upgraded, but I''ve definitely made up for it since they''ve returned. I''m very happy with the "M" upgrade, and I think most VSM-SE owners would be equally thrilled. Every change was positive...I honestly haven''t discovered any drawbacks.

Imagery, detail, sound staging, accuracy

None

I recently had my VSM-SE''s upgraded to the Millennium edition. I was alittle apprehensive when Bobby (the company''s owner) said that the upgrade would produce a much fuller, richer sounding speaker (since I am still amazed at the sound coming from a 2 way speaker). However the one thing that I have learned about Bobby is that he is one person you can trust. I also have an older pair of his Signature 4B''s and have been dealing with him for a number of years. He is as credible as his speakers. After I hooked them up, his accessment of their performance was dead on. I had a friend over and put the Natalie Cole CD on with her singing Unforgetable. Needless to say, his jaw just about hit the floor. I would highly recommend the upgrade to anyone who has a pair of VSM-SE''s. It was well worth the money.

Everthing! Soundstage, accuracy, clarity, imaging, etc., etc.

None.

This review is for VSM-SEs that have been recently upgraded to the Millennium edition. I also have the battery BAM. My current system includes these fantastic speakers, a pair of Music Reference RM-9 MKII 250 watt power amplifiers, a Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 preamplifier and a California Audio Lab DX-2 cd player. I first acquired my VSM-SEs in 1999, and they have been a joy ever since that time. The depth and breadth of the music is amazing, and the realism of both instruments and voices is spectacular. And, right from the outset, I was amazed at the bass produced by the relatively small woofers in them. Any deficiency in bass seemed natural, given the size of the woofers. I recently had the speakers upgraded to the Millennium edition. As great as the speakers were before the upgrade, they are unbelievable after the upgrade. The bass response is now practically beyond words. And, for those who want the frequencies that cannot be reproduced by the VSM-Ms, Merlin Music is working on matching subwoofers. As to the company, I’ve had the pleasure of both speaking to and meeting the owner, Bobby Palkovic. He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The man is a genius in his area of expertise. He is also extremely detail oriented. His new design includes specific knowledge of the torque settings for the screws that attach the drivers, and he also designed new feet for the speakers because there was nothing on the market that was good enough. Amazing! To Ryan in Chicago, I can only say that his not liking the speakers MUST be related to something other than the speakers themselves - perhaps it was room placement, perhaps something else. He should have called Bobby while he had the speakers at his house; I’m relatively sure that Bobby could have diagnosed the problem. Overall, I have to say that these speakers must be the best speakers at anywhere near their price; and they may be the best speakers anywhere at any price. I highly recommend them.