Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Merlin Music Inc. VSM-M Speakers by Tubegroover

Here we go again. Well what is it about this speaker that everyone that owns it wants to tell the rest of the world how great it is? Damn, not another Merlin review, those boys sure are an overbearing bunch. But this is exactly what caught my interest in the Merlins over 1 year ago. They just kept on popping up everywhere. They grabbed my attention. Descriptions about their sound seemed very consistent for the most part. Something that I donâ€™t find often in Audiophilia Land. I got interested and started reading everything I could get my hands and eyes on. Of all the products I read about, the Merlinâ€™s just kept coming up as a â€œmust hearâ€ product. So what do you do when there is no dealer anywhere close? Do you take the leap of faith and just buy it sound unheard?

Well not exactly. Iâ€™m a practical guy. I work hard for my money and am not about to throw it away at expensive products without looking at all the possibilities. Before I was willing to take that kind of risk I thought I would at least try and find a pair on the used market. This way if the speakers werenâ€™t to my liking I would at least be able to resell without losing too much. It is a funny thing how a product can be so well described that you just KNOW that it is what you are looking for. In reality you never know until you listen but I really felt that this was the real deal, the Holy Grail, my truth. The first time and probably the last I will ever do something like that again even though as it turned out it was one of the absolute best purchases I ever made audio or otherwise. More than that I would gladly pay the retail price or even more for these speakers knowing now how very special they are. And it keeps getting better.

I have owned the VSM-SE model with Battery Bam since late June of last year. I upgraded to the Millennium model approximately 2 months ago, which coincided with a new room to place them in. The first thing that struck me about these speakers when I first hooked them up is the clarity. Also the bass wasn't â€™s as apparent as the NHT 2.5iâ€™s they replaced. Another thing I was struck with was the natural tonality across the frequency spectrum. I was listening critically for anomalies in this all-important area. It is my experience that this is the one area where most speakers will lose their appeal over time. I wanted a speaker as accurate as possible without any obvious phase and tonal irregularities. I also wanted a transducer to produce what is on the recording as accurately as possible. I wanted a system that would work well with a wide variety of components and that could be placed in a real living area without making a presence as some monument or glaring pachyderm. I wanted a speaker with a big sound not some small mini-monitor speaker that sounds great only in a closet. Or a speaker that comes specially packaged with chair and matching head vice. And most importantly I wanted a speaker that would transport me to the music without ever bringing attention to what it was doing other than recreating music naturally. And I wanted a product that doesnâ€™t specialize. I DO NOT just listen to vocals, jazz and acoustic music. I also listen to rock, blues and concert music from early Baroque to Modern and everything in between. All of this is a tall order and in reality I have never owned such a product and have really only heard a few, most of which would be too large for my space requirements. The reviewers and the show reports consistently told me the Merlinâ€™s could do this. And boy let me tell you, they most certainly do!

Iâ€™m not too big on my speaker is better than yours nor am I big on bashing other products even if I donâ€™t like them. Realizing your own personal objective is much more important and encouraging others to realize theirs is much more satisfying. What I am going to say is that I have NEVER heard any speaker system do ALL that these speakers do at less than 10k. In addition their virtues appeal to me more than many much more expensive systems I have heard through the years. The ONLY thing they donâ€™t do on a reference level is provide bone-crunching bass. They do however provide nimble quick and deep bass but it wonâ€™t rock the walls. This really is of little importance to me when listening to music. In order to provide that type of bass requires a cavernous room with non-parallel walls with high ceilings or the result is standing waves which drive me nuts. Most big bass sounds slow, never like it does live. Iâ€™m still waiting to hear it done right. If you listen to the 1812 Overture, Organ recitals and the like this type of bass may peak your interest. The Merlinâ€™s sound is balanced across the board and it would take one hell of a quick driver to keep up the rest of what they do so well. So Iâ€™ll happily settle for the excellent bass performance they do give.

Now to get to the really good stuff. Like soundstaging and imaging. On a very good live recording with proper mic placement these speakers are capable of capturing the width and depth of the venue without ever bringing attention to themselves. And Iâ€™m talking about big images, fast, clear and on the best recordings a live quality that I have heard on very few occasions. Their speed or alacrity or whatever you want to call it is about as real time as it gets. The result of all these things, which this system does so effortlessly, is a closer connection to the music. Resolution is SOTA. There are ambient cues throughout the recording that most speakers will never spot on that these speakers resolve with ease. This adds to the realness and immediacy that you feel for the music. The only speaker I have heard to compare in this area are possibly Apogeeâ€™s and Martin Logan CLSâ€™s although tonally the Merlinâ€™s are much better than those two. They are neither rich nor thin sounding. They just honestly convey the information fed them. They are as coherent and seamless as an electrostatic. Yeah, sure they are. Well they are! Oh the possibilities they open up. Talk about a toe tapper, yes I mean they give you that too along with a 6" ear to ear grin when you thought you knew them well and find out from adding a better component how much better they can get. Unfathomable potential.

This is where I am with these speakers at this point in time. It took me a while to get here because I didnâ€™t have the money to just go out and buy the level of components that a system like this requires to realize what I am currently hearing. I have struggled with them but in reality it was never the Merlinâ€™s, it was everything in front of them. They work with SETâ€™s, OTL, SS (with the proper wire harnessing on the Millennium model, but Iâ€™m not a ss guy so it is a moot point for me) from 20 watts to 250 watts. They are playing now in a fairly large L shaped room with a 25 watt OTL amp. Prior to that I was listening with a 100-watt ARC tube amp.

Another very important point in considering these speakers beyond the absolute performance and value they offer is the company itself. I have dealt with many fine people in the hi-end industry. Especially the smaller manufacturers seem to thrive on satisfying their customer base. Bobby Palkovic is certainly no exception. He will go as far as necessary to help his customers realize the potential of his products. I have exchanged many e-mails and phone calls and he is ALWAYS accessible. It is so very special to have someone so committed to what he is doing to take this time. I personally believe in addition to the value offered by his products his attention to the needs of his customers is the reason Merlin will continue to grow in this competitive industry. In the long run there is no better advertising than word of mouth and I am here to spread the word.

A final comment. There is certainly no speaker for everyman and certainly the Merlinâ€™s wonâ€™t work for everyone. But anyone in the market for speakers up to 20K should be advised of this, you could easily spend that much without getting the across the board reference performance offered by the Merlin VSM-M. They optimize through careful listening and component selection what is possible from a 2-way floor standing speaker. I canâ€™t recommend them highly enough.

REVIEW: Merlin Music Inc. VSM-M Speakers Review by Tubegroover at Audio Asylum