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In Reply to: RE: REVIEW: Merlin Music Inc. TSM-MXr Speakers posted by Bobsprit@aol.com on October 25, 2010 at 15:52:32
Thanks for your insightful assessment, Rob. Glad you can enjoy music to such an extent. Myself and a friend are similarly content with our earlier TSM's.
In my earlier review I hinted that Merlin speakers were becoming legendary in North American audio circles. "Cultish"? Maybe that's so.
What makes you feel an accompanying sub-woofer is necessary? Is it the range of music you listen to? Or is it your other components and cable, or could it be your listening environment? Or a range of variables?
-spindrifter-
"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." — George Orwell
Follow Ups:
The requirement for the sub is entirely dependent on the room and tastes of the listener. A few times I have left the sub off by mistake and barely noticed. But when listening to classical and some rock recordings I feel that a good sub makes a subtle but pleasing fill at the lower end.
As a good example, listening to Dark Side of the Moon last night had added depth with the MJ sub. Organ and piano also gain a sense of presence.
The "cult" element of the speakers is mainly because they are fairly hard to audition and not inexpensive. Years ago, when I first heard a pair of Revel M20's I thought, "Wow! That's one of the better monitor type speakers around." It would have been hard to accept that a so and so speaker would be so much better. So the main support for Merlin (unfortunately) is from owners who have fine tuned their systems and have realized most of what these speakers can do.
I'll admit it was actually a bit annoyed when Bobby at Merlin "suggested" that the small TSM's would be better than my Magnepan 1.6 pair in every way. But even the owner of the 3.6's agrees that these are superior.
Rob
We Need a Bigger Boat
bob, i remember the discussion and what i spoke of was the qualitative and cohesive aspects and not the quantitative ones. since they both like different amps, it will be personal taste that wins out in the end.
best, b
Well, Bobby...that's a good PC answer and you know that I remain a fan of Magnepan. Still, I did not imagine that the imaging qualities of the 1.6 pair would leave much to be desired. The imaging WAS focused and I could easily place instruments. But the TSMs do even more of that with a soundstage the extends beyond the side-walls. I keep wondering what single element of the speaker is most atractive and I come back to the imaging/soundstage. I'm not diminishing it's other strengths of course.
Rob
We Need a Bigger Boat
Nice review. The biggest problem with the new TSM-Mxr is that for the same money you can almost buy a used pair of the VSM-Mx.
nty, very true but imho, the vsm mx sounds quite inferior to the tsm mxr with master rcs from 55 to 20 khz.
best,
bobby at merlin
I won't even get into comparing the revised TSM to the older VSM.
In many settings a monitor speaker is more suitable. In my case I wanted a speaker that was more easily moved. I can move the TSM's and stands with no trouble. I believe each VSM weighs in at about 90 lbs....annoying if they must be moved often.
You can always make a case for used gear and I certainly have picked up some great bargains. But I wanted the best monitor I could find with the latest level of evolution. I'm very pleased with the TSM-MXr's.
Cheers,
Rob
We Need a Bigger Boat
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