I have a pair of TSM Black Magic Editions. I bought them new from Bobby early-2015. I had first heard Merlin TSMs in 1998 I think and bought the BMEs without hearing them because the sound of the much earlier version stuck with me—fast, open, smooth, seamless, and virtually invisible even back then. When I first heard those, they were being run with Sonic Frontiers stuff and later with Jadis. I run my BME versions with an Ars Sonum Filarmonia, as Bobby had recommended. I never got a chance to A/B mine against the older versions, but I can tell you that all the stuff that sold me originally was inherent in both versions. I’d say the BMEs might be a touch smoother, and a tiny bit more seamlessly crossed over, and perhaps the cabinets or mid-woofers are a touch less resonant or have less ring at extreme volumes, but I do not believe there’s much in it, and I think all TSMs can be excellent when set up correctly with the right separates or integrated.
