Couple of questions on the Merlin VSM speakers...

I would like to add a point or two.
First, Ruby Heart looks like the Oxblood leather color. We use two coats of black under coat and then spray on the red color and clear. This gives the finish a sense of dimension/depth and richness. A Burgundy wine color or black red is a great description.
The BAM is a very small box that can be hidden easily. It enables the speaker to respond in a manner that belies their size. It also gets rid of ultrasonic noise (which is a must in cities) and out of band low frequency energy (which increases distortion and drains the amp of its power). The BAM is part of the system and not an add on. The speakers would not be optimised without it and their absolute potential would be compromised. One listen and you would never take it out of the system.
Regards,
Bobby

Your room size is not an issue but could you describe you other components?

Budrew,

Our room sizes are very similar and I have my Merlin VSM's about 28" (front of speaker to wall) off of the long wall in my room.

Most of my listening is at low volumes. I've found that the VSM's maintain a very lifelike presentation as the sound goes down. Instead of the instruments compressing on each other, the stage just gets further away. I think that this is a great complement to Bobby's product.

I listen mostly to jazz and I think that I'd be hard pressed to improve upon the Merlin speakers.

Well Rich why don't you try to "sribe" it to me, I'm feeling this great loss now! btw, what % improvement do you conservatively estimate it is over the existing Millenium? Rumors are flying.

Thanks guys (or gals). My wife reminded me as she heard me speaking to a local dealer that i had promised not to upgrade anything else in my main system until my bday in October. She is very much against consumerism and our disposable society and got tired of me trying new components. The speakers were my last thing to consider, but I cut myself off to be fair. I explained the second hand market and she's figuring out how much I enjoy this hobby, but her frugality still shines through. It's all part of the great negotiation called marriage! By the time October rolls around we'll be close to having kids so low volume listening will be important. I'd like to have my system in a good palce by then so I can focus on family.

The Merlin speaker is still high on my list. I love a deep, rich red and the Ruby Red sounds great in the description. My associated components are Mcintosh tube amp and preamp, Audio Note DAC, Accustic Arts transport, and Nirvana and Audience cabling. My current speakers are Tannoy D500s which I ended up with early on without having tried many speakers.