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Model: | VSM-MXe |
Category: | Speakers |
Suggested Retail Price: | $10,500 |
Description: | Two-way floorstanding speaker system |
Manufacturer URL: | Merlin Music Inc. |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by JamesV on June 18, 2007 at 14:06:10 IP Address: 63.199.123.12 | Add Your Review for the VSM-MXe |
First things first…the following is my humble opinion…your mileage may vary.
This review is completely unsolicited and I have never felt compelled to write a review here before and in fact have not. I’ve been lurking around here for a few years, but rarely comment.
Some background on me... I’ve been in this hobby for longer than I like to admit. It’s over 35 years ago now that I put my first system of separate components together purchased at Pacific Stereo. Every year for several years I traded in my speakers for new ones. They would give you 100% of the original purchase price if you upgrading within 12 months. I’ve had so many different components…the list would go on and on and on. Just in the last 10 years I’ve owned speakers by Celestian, Martin Logan, Apogee, Revel, Maggie’s plus some others I have wiped from my memory.
This is really more than a hobby for me. I grew up in a very musical family. My parents were professional singers during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. My dad was also a big band drummer for many years. All of my brothers were and continue to be musicians. We always had several instruments in the house from grand piano’s to guitars, flutes, bass, all sorts of percussion instruments and of course drum sets. I began playing the drums at age 5 and play almost daily to this day. I currently have a beautiful set of DW drums with several zildjian cymbals that are over 40 years old. I’ve played in every kind of band or group possible from orchestra’s to rock bands. I’ve also spent countless hours in recording studios. Enough about me and on to the review.
About five years ago I was introduced to Merlin speakers. Those were the TSM’s. I was immediately drawn into their seemingly neutral tonality and lifelike imaging. Soon after purchasing the TSM’s I sent them back to NY for the M upgrade. Things just got better and I started dreaming of owning VSM’s. A couple of years later that dream became a reality. Then I started on the VSM upgrade path which leads us to today’s review. I still own the TSM’s and in fact have 3 that are the center of my HT set-up.
My VSM’s were originally Millenniums. They were upgraded immediately to MX’s. I then did the Super BAM upgrade and now finally the “piece de resistance” the “E” upgrade. “E” is the removal of most of the lead solder in the speakers.
I say the “piece de resistance” because for me the “E” upgrade is by far the most dramatic. It doesn’t just change the speakers a little, it is huge! For me they changed so dramatically that I called Bobby first thing on the Monday morning after receiving them the week before and asked him “what the hell did you do to my speakers?” I truly thought he had made some major component changes and was pulling my leg. How could solder make such a difference????
It’s like Bobby fed them steroids…bigger, wider, louder, deeper, sweeter, fuller, all harshness and congestion is gone. They have become totally CONTINUOUS, from top to bottom like a one-way. It’s like the tonality has been shifted down. Where before the most energy seemed to come from the tweeter it’s now the woofer. The speakers now have REAL bass that will vibrate the furniture in your listening room. You can feel the music which makes them much better for rock then before. Their personality has changed form a mini monitor on a stick to a true full range speaker. Believe me, this is not subtle. It is a DRAMATIC change. If you have any reservations about Merlin’s being this or that (lean, bright, not enough bass) you owe it to yourself to listen to the new versions. If you own any other version you MUST go for the “E”. They are so tonally perfect now it’s hard to explain. IMHO they are without fault.
The speakers were always a work of art. They are now an absolute masterpiece!
P.S. The TSMM’s are on the way to Booby to have the lead removed from them as well.
Product Weakness: | None for me...some may want louder (false) bass below 28hz. |
Product Strengths: | Tonally perfect. They have really no personality of their own...neutral...Continuous. |
Amplifier: | Manley Snappers |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Cary SLP 98 |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Audio Aero - Nottingham Space Deck |
Speakers: | Merlin VSM-MXe |
Cables/Interconnects: | AU24 |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | All but mostly progessive rock |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 20 x 30 x 12 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | none-my living room |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | 3 weeks (plus 3 years) |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Son of Q |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
What brand of solder are you presently using .
Thanks
Joe
who are you asking about the solder?
bobby
Interesting.
Merlin VSM's sounded bright, even with all the "upgrades" then available (Batt,Bam, whatever) now should trust that getting the lead out... COMPLETELY WILL ALTER THE SIGNATURE?
Really.
Try this, but for it to work you also must truly BELIEVE:
only listen to music in the dark and only after ensuring every electrical appliance in the house is turned off (refrigerator and heating/cooling systems, too).
I have also heard rubbing light film from the milk of a cow (only Jersey!) lightly along the edge of a cd immediately and drastically improves the sound but only if the disc is inserted whilst being held by the right and left FOREFINGERS.
Anyhow, I always have found Merlins to be beautiful, with a finish that is second-to-none.
Usually I don't respond to threads that "negative" or contentious, but - having had a lot of in-home experience with both Merlin and Verity - I couldn't resist. A guy posts his thoughts about a product, saying *up front* that it is only his opinion, and that others' mileage may vary. He is met with sarcasm and accusations of being illogical. I can't help but wonder what (and who) those who attack are really angry about/at. For what it's worth, and in MY humble opinion, the Merlins and the Veritys are both excellent speakers. My experience with both has been that preference varied greatly, depending upon ancillary equipment, room treatment, etc. I, for one, appreciate learning of the experience of one listener with regard to a change made to the Merlins. How much weight I place on that experience is up to me, of course, and I will consider it to be merely one piece of information.
you suffer for others.
Sorry, but anyone posting publicly with his opinions must expect to have others comment upon them.
When one sees such illogical gibberish, one feels compelled to respond.
Imagine, a complex speaker has a definite "sound" which the designer purposefully created... and then, a ridiculously tiny alteration such as a change of metal in some parts will make a miraculous, ear-shaking, and completely different sounding speaker?
Ask yourself what was the purpose of the original sound, then?
If this company hadn't a history, backed up by similarly silly claims, I'd be more forgiving.
Did I say James didn't expect to have others comment on his opinions?
My experience is that any component can be significantly improved. "Completely altered" or "completely different"? I still don't see those words.
That's all - except that I'm not suffering.
not by a change in metals used for soldering.
Besides, you ignore his description of the terrible properties pre-massive-improvement and his suspsicious lauding of those attributes, as well.
Like I said, silly.
I didn't flame him, personally, but rather the lack of logic of his post.
Kind of like seeing a guy above a dunk-tank. I couldn't resist.
and it is certainly a very good one. so good in fact, that i have recommended them many times and even taken individuals to their room at the ces. i know that vertity has acted in kind to me from first hand knowledge. nice people and a nice product!
being skeptical and making assumptions are both very problematic for designers because the lack of open minded thought will hinder the potential of the final outcome. i have learned this lesson well over the almost 3 decades that i have done this work. perhaps, you should pay close attention here.
i have also learned that that an uneven sounding and testing product will tend to hide significant change to a great degree. while the more uniform sounding and testing tends to show these seemingly minor chages to a great degree.
the vsm has been gone over many times in its 13 years of refinement. and it was 75% lead free before the rohs standard came to into being. this speaker was almost at the pinnacle of its performance before and now, imho, it offers much more than i ever thought possible.
it is true that one man's 5% change is another's 50% change, personal taste or what ever. and with james being a musician and with musicians being very sensitive to the middle of the music, i am not surprized by his opinion. the speakers are way more continuous and complete sounding while being capable of pressurizing the ear drum more, like live music can.
it was obvious to me, by the comments of the stereophile show patrons, that the speakers have changed for the better. the speakers affected all in a different manner because again, it depends on what you are sensitive to.
there have been many changes to the product since you owned yours so it is best not to assume anything as far as their potential is concerned. and you may still not like them as much as what you have now. but, it is always better to speak from first hand knowledge. assumption and preconception are dangerous in any field.
thank you,
bobby
.
IMHO. However, I did not say "completely alter". I said dramatically and not subtle. I stand by those statements.
"It’s like Bobby fed them steroids…bigger, wider, louder, deeper, sweeter, fuller, all harshness and congestion is gone."
So... you liked them sounding like the above description? Obviously you did but with the miraculous lead removal they now are... what?!!!
You further state that all the energy initially seemed to come from the tweeters.
Bingo.
That was my problem with the Merlins, also.
Then came this alteration, then that one.
This was years ago.
Now, with all THOSE alterations in place, you still found the speakers exactly as I did (though you seemed to like them well enough as they originally were, the alteration only making them even better!).
Then, presto, yet another alteration from the designer and... a miracle!!!
I am crazier than you, however.
I changed amps, cdp, cabling, room treatments and more for month after month trying to find a way to make them sound better.
Finally, I gave up and got some Verity speakers.
Rapture.
It was the speakers all along....
A speaker family for which no excuses need to be made.
I thought his review was pretty good. Granted, I don't know Jack about Merlins, but as James said... YMMV. Right? Why would they decide to introduce and market the new "E"s if there was no sonic benefit? Don't you trust the manufacturer? Again, I don't have a horse in this race---I just thought the post was a decent one.
I believe the new "E's" were intrdouced so as to comply with the European Union's lead-free product requirements. That the "E's" sound considerably better than their leaded predecessors was probably an unforeseen but nonetheless welcome surprise.
agattu, you are correct. it was not until june of 2006 that we finally got rohs compliant drivers from our suppliers. we had been testing different solders and were all set in that department but until the drivers came, we could not build a totally lead free version. it was apparent that after a very short break in, they were very different sounding. more continuous and more complete. then we experimented with the sbam and it was better too. 75% or more of our designs have always been lead free so this was just the final touch. i always knew that lead free would be less complicated sounding. and after all, many companies that i knew personally had always built lead free products and that is why their products sounded so special to many. we were just held back because we could not get the drivers. the manufacturers were not going to make a few this way for merlin specially.
some of you may think that because you heard merlins or owned merlins in the past that you know what they sound like now. that is purely an assumption and perhaps you should be more open minded.
thank you!
bobby
I liked em before and I like em now! Go figure!
Steve
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