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Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) by Mr Peabody Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here. |
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Model: Veritas Category: Amplifier (SS) Suggested Retail Price: 12,000.00 Description: monoblock power amplifiers Manufacturer URL: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies
Review by Mr Peabody on September 06, 2015 at 22:31:31
IP Address: 71.81.87.182Add Your Review
for the Veritas
Bottom line first? The Veritas are excellent. You'll eventually find out if you look further into these amps, so I will tell you, they are Class D monoblocks. I hate to say that because of most people have preconceived ideas about Class D. Honestly, the Veritas are Class D that don't sound Class D, they simply sound great. In communication with Merrill he once stated he wants his amps to sound like live music and I think he comes real close.
The Veritas outside is constructed from a solid block of aluminum, so no seams or screw heads showing. The Veritas are differentially balanced and only a XLR input is provided but two sets of binding posts are available. I like the Cardas binding posts, one knob for a set of binding posts, and no provision for bananas. No real power button, just a button on the bottom front that puts the amp in sort of a stand by mode, it really just mutes the inputs. This also means be careful to plug the power cord into the wall first then the amp to prevent an arc at your outlet. The amps are rated at 400 watts into 8 ohms and are stable down to 2 ohms at 1200 watts. Noteworthy is the fact that the Veritas are the first amps to me, to come with Stillpoint feet, a high quality power cord and fuses.
Once hooked up the Veritas like to be plugged in and warm up fully on for about 24 hours. Yes, I did experience this is true in my audition. The amps eventually changed quite a bit for the better after that period.
The Veritas have a very low noise floor and very low distortion, as well being quick on their feet. What this means to you, and, what I heard, was more space between notes, so things like drum rolling, strings strummed, backing vocals, and the like, didn't smear so you got a better sense of realism and more detail. On music in general, but really noticeable on large orchestral pieces the Veritas have a nicely coherent and controlled soundstage. Solo instruments were quick and agile, leaving nothing but air between notes, the music flowed with such melody and structure I gained new admiration for the composer. Also, coherent to where the individual instruments came together to form the performance as a whole, I got more of a sense of inner melodies. For instance, I got more of the melody on Chick Corea's backing piano on Return To Forever, more emotion from Patricia Barber's piano. The notes from piano, cymbals, and even bells rang with a pristine beauty. Brass had the growl and bite without ever being offensive or fatiguing. The Veritas have a way of unraveling complex passages, there was a track from Christian Scott that on a couple of friends systems sound fairly congested but the Veritas were capable of picking it apart. Same with the instrumental intro on Stevie Ray Vaughn's Couldn't Stand The Weather, with the Veritas the bass line stood out and the track was generally more distinguishable than I've heard. The Veritas bass response is excellent in all aspects, if more than one source for bass they could be heard separate and distinct, like kick drum from stand up or electric bass, the latter from synth, extreme low bass from pipe organ on my Reference CD of Pipe & Organ played low, controlled and powerful. The Veritas delivered drum strikes with tight realism and impact.
The Veritas give you an emotional connection to your music, whether it's sultry like Patricia Barber or Vanessa Williams, or, boogieing with the likes of Christian McBride or SRV. The Veritas did give me an excitement while listening, similar to live music, that something that makes you want to dance in your seat.
The rightness of the Veritas is something you really have to hear to understand, it's difficult to fully put their ability into words.
Remember at some point a lot of tube gear began to shed tube stereotypes by keeping the desirable qualities of tubes while coming closer to the desirable attributes of solid state? Merrill Audio has made a similar statement by shattering stereotypes of Class D, bringing amps that can provide stellar performance regardless of it's technology.
Product Weakness: The long warm up period before sounding as it should is more of a concern if a user wasn't aware.<br>No weaknesses found yet Product Strengths: High level of performance, the amps are quick, detailed, exhibit good control and power. Low noise and distortion. High level of build quality
Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Pass X250 Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Pass XP10 Sources (CDP/Turntable): Mark Levinson #512 SACD & Clearaudio Performance DC with Maestro cart Speakers: Revel Ultima Studio 2 Cables/Interconnects: Clarus Crimson Music Used (Genre/Selections): variety Room Size (LxWxH): 24 x 13 x 9 Room Comments/Treatments: carpet over concrete, drywall, tapestry on wall about 1st reflection, media racks and such in room helps diffuse Time Period/Length of Audition: a week Type of Audition/Review: Home Audition
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Topic - REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - Mr Peabody 22:31:31 09/6/15 ( 104)
- All I can say is.... - sk 22:28:39 09/7/15 ( 6)
- +1 - - Tube guy here who also owns a pair. - jbrrp1 19:45:20 09/8/15 ( 5)
- But which do you truly prefer ?? - AbeCollins 14:29:03 09/9/15 ( 2)
- +1 (nt) - mkuller 15:46:04 09/9/15 ( 0)
- Time will tell, at this point. - jbrrp1 15:41:23 09/9/15 ( 0)
- Please let us know your impressions when you reacquaint yourself with the tube amp...nt - kuribo 05:52:40 09/9/15 ( 0)
RE: +1 - - Tube guy here who also owns a pair. - A.Wayne 02:27:06 09/9/15 ( 0)
Any $12,000 amp ought to sound good - Feanor 08:36:38 09/7/15 ( 38)
- I agree with your point and furthermore.... - AbeCollins 07:29:49 09/8/15 ( 37)
- RE: I disagree with your point and furthermore.... - A.Wayne 08:32:41 09/8/15 ( 36)
- Makes me wonder if ... - reelsmith. 15:29:42 09/9/15 ( 3)
- RE: Makes me wonder if ... - Jack G 16:11:01 09/9/15 ( 1)
- Yes, but - E-Stat 17:00:26 09/9/15 ( 0)
- RE: Makes me wonder if ... - mkuller 15:48:31 09/9/15 ( 0)
- RE: I disagree with your point and furthermore.... - morricab 13:25:20 09/8/15 ( 19)
- RE: I disagree with your point and furthermore.... - Don Reid 15:40:01 09/8/15 ( 18)
- It all depends on personal taste, which there is no arguing...but - kuribo 15:51:29 09/8/15 ( 17)
- Oh please... - mkuller 15:50:39 09/9/15 ( 0)
- Speaking of "meaningless nonsense" - E-Stat 15:57:32 09/8/15 ( 15)
- Nice strawman... - kuribo 16:14:01 09/8/15 ( 14)
- You continue to make my point - E-Stat 18:17:42 09/8/15 ( 13)
- You continue to push nonsense... - kuribo 18:28:45 09/8/15 ( 12)
- More of the same reliance using simple tests - E-Stat 18:38:36 09/8/15 ( 11)
- More hand waving.... - kuribo 18:49:21 09/8/15 ( 10)
- Not surprisingly - E-Stat 10:59:52 09/9/15 ( 9)
- More straw men.... - kuribo 13:13:57 09/9/15 ( 2)
- Same mistakes made long ago - E-Stat 13:25:06 09/9/15 ( 1)
- Enjoy your distortion. Really. nt - kuribo 13:37:49 09/9/15 ( 0)
- RE: Not surprisingly, the two of you at it again .... - A.Wayne 13:13:41 09/9/15 ( 5)
- I'm enjoying seeing all the graphs :) - E-Stat 13:29:03 09/9/15 ( 3)
- RE: I'm enjoying seeing all the graphs :) - pictureguy 13:50:36 09/9/15 ( 2)
- RE: I'm enjoying seeing all the graphs :) - morricab 01:31:27 09/10/15 ( 0)
- RE: I'm enjoying seeing all the graphs :) - E-Stat 14:10:45 09/9/15 ( 0)
- I'm just as tired of the stat(ic)....and the straw men....note who stirred first...nt - kuribo 13:18:45 09/9/15 ( 0)
RE: I disagree with your point and furthermore.... - AbeCollins 09:03:19 09/8/15 ( 11)
- The whole point is performance. period. - kuribo 13:53:31 09/8/15 ( 10)
- "People buy the Merrill ncore amps because, plain and simple, they like how they sound" - thegage 11:02:57 09/9/15 ( 8)
- Buy whatever you like but don't try to push your choice as somehow "superior" to anyone else's... - kuribo 13:35:57 09/9/15 ( 6)
- RE: I didn't Say One Was More Superior - thegage 16:08:46 09/9/15 ( 3)
- I didn't say "you" did, I was providing a clarification. - kuribo 16:15:52 09/9/15 ( 2)
- RE: I didn't say "you" did, I was providing a clarification. - Don Reid 11:07:50 09/13/15 ( 1)
- "It's about freedom of choice" ...You disagree? nt - kuribo 14:57:55 09/13/15 ( 0)
- Personally... - mkuller 15:53:49 09/9/15 ( 1)
- Speaking of knee-jerk reactions... - kuribo 16:05:46 09/9/15 ( 0)
- LOL! (nt) - Jack G 11:19:04 09/9/15 ( 0)
+1 +1 +1 - plugmein 03:00:26 09/9/15 ( 0)
I considered them - Jack G 06:41:41 09/7/15 ( 32)
- Speaker binding posts a dealer breaker? - plugmein 05:25:04 09/8/15 ( 13)
- RE: Cardas one hand turning binding posts - AbeCollins 07:49:50 09/8/15 ( 0)
- RE: Speaker binding posts a dealer breaker? - Jack G 06:00:52 09/8/15 ( 11)
- RE: Speaker binding posts a dealer breaker? - Did you consider...? - mitch2 11:11:44 09/9/15 ( 6)
- RE: Speaker binding posts a dealer breaker? - Did you consider...? - Jack G 11:15:44 09/9/15 ( 5)
- RE: Speaker binding posts a dealer breaker? - Did you consider...? - mitch2 04:42:43 09/10/15 ( 4)
- Agreed - Jack G 05:06:50 09/10/15 ( 3)
- RE: Agreed - A.Wayne 05:14:17 09/10/15 ( 2)
- better sounding amp - mitch2 19:36:50 09/10/15 ( 1)
- RE: better sounding amp - A.Wayne 21:55:07 09/10/15 ( 0)
- I would rather have my amp limit my cable selection than vice-versa - Dave_K 12:35:06 09/8/15 ( 0)
Understood - plugmein 06:40:25 09/8/15 ( 2)
- Speaker builders using new Cardas post - M3 lover 13:58:04 09/11/15 ( 1)
- +1........NT - kuribo 18:59:54 09/11/15 ( 0)
RE: I considered them - Mr Peabody 16:05:16 09/7/15 ( 17)
- RE: I considered them - Jack G 04:28:23 09/8/15 ( 13)
- RE: INT-60 Question..... - AbeCollins 07:54:42 09/8/15 ( 9)
- RE: INT-60 Question..... - Jack G 10:21:23 09/8/15 ( 8)
- RE: INT-60 Question..... - AbeCollins 11:41:59 09/8/15 ( 7)
- There is also... - E-Stat 11:57:44 09/8/15 ( 5)
- RE: There is also... - AbeCollins 14:09:58 09/8/15 ( 4)
- It was - E-Stat 14:25:52 09/8/15 ( 3)
- RE: It was - AbeCollins 15:14:41 09/9/15 ( 2)
- Ditto - E-Stat 15:30:21 09/9/15 ( 0)
- RE: It was - Jack G 15:30:20 09/9/15 ( 0)
- RE: INT-60 Question..... - Jack G 11:57:00 09/8/15 ( 0)
RE: I considered them - A.Wayne 05:22:15 09/8/15 ( 2) RE: I considered them - A.Wayne 00:26:30 09/8/15 ( 2)
- RE: I considered them - Mr Peabody 16:33:27 09/8/15 ( 1)
- RE: Veritas stock power cable? - JoeKool 22:05:51 09/14/15 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - jimmycj 06:09:40 09/7/15 ( 2)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - jimmycj 06:13:52 09/7/15 ( 1)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - Mr Peabody 16:00:24 09/7/15 ( 0)
Nice review! - kuribo 05:49:59 09/7/15 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 05:26:48 09/7/15 ( 20)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 00:08:13 09/8/15 ( 1)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 13:37:09 09/8/15 ( 0)
RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - Mr Peabody 15:47:15 09/7/15 ( 17)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 13:41:18 09/8/15 ( 16)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 14:32:26 09/8/15 ( 15)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 01:39:32 09/10/15 ( 13)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 04:59:22 09/10/15 ( 12)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 08:36:28 09/10/15 ( 11)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 09:19:22 09/10/15 ( 9)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 12:51:58 09/10/15 ( 8)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 14:37:49 09/10/15 ( 7)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 00:36:44 09/11/15 ( 6)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 04:41:54 09/11/15 ( 5)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 11:47:16 09/13/15 ( 4)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - KeithR 19:34:21 09/14/15 ( 1)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 09:08:52 09/16/15 ( 0)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 14:00:22 09/13/15 ( 1)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - morricab 07:52:41 09/14/15 ( 0)
- RE: REVIEW: Merrill Audio Advanced Technologies Veritas Amplifier (SS) - A.Wayne 08:45:57 09/10/15 ( 0)
Some like their effects boxes, others want a wire with gain...nt - kuribo 15:53:30 09/8/15 ( 0)