Everyone whose Merlins...

VSM-MX (piano black) with Super Battery BAM
Room/Setup: 14’ x 20’ x 8’ dedicated room in basement
speakers positioned along the short wall 62” out from front wall, 32” out from side wall
speakers are 6.5’ apart using three Z-feet

listening chair is 9.5’away from speaker planes
Room is heavily treated with Echo Buster Phase4 Traps, Bass traps, echo and double buster panels, Corner busters.

Equipment
VSM-MX (piano black) with Merlin’s Supert Battery
Dedicated 20 amp circuit (amp/preamp plugged directly into this)
Sound Application Linestage 7000 Signature PLC
Cardas Golden Reference wiring, Elrod Sig 2 & Sig 3 Powercords
Capitole II Cdp
Joule Electra LA 150
Joule Electra VZN 100 Musicwood
VPI SuperScoutmaster Cardas Heart

The speakers came in a single box @200 lbs with detailed setup instructions. Set up was a breeze as this is the third generation of VSM in my room. (SE, M and MX) Fit & finish is as it should be in a 10K + speaker. They are drop dead beautiful for sure!

The MX’s deliver a huge, expansive, highly seductively soundstage. Micro and macro detailing is outstanding. Images are suspended in the stage in a most beleiveable manner. The midrange is focused and the speakers are crystal clear from top to bottom. Perhaps the biggest improivement lies in the clarity. The MX’s seem more relaxed in their presentation of high frequnncies. Cymbals shimmer and have that metallic grit and bite that seems so hard for many to reproduce.

Bass quality is vastly improved. Pitch, definition and detail are outstanding. I suspect that the new Super Ban makes considerable contributations in this area.

A few words regarding the Super Bam. For the first time in my rig, the new Super Bam on full AC power is very very close to full battery. I still prefer full battery but only by the slightest margins. I also have noted continued improvement of the Bam as I fully drain/rechaged the unit in weekend listening sessions.

Weakness is still the bottom octave. Bass freaks need look elesewhere. Since my room will not support a large stadning wave, not a consideration for this hobbyist.

Thew VSM MX is yet another quantam leap in performance onver the M version of the speaker. Bobby P continues to perfect his design and support his customers in a manner like few in this indyustry.

hi george,
i am happy that you found something that you really like and enjoy to listen to, i wish you continued enjoyment!!
you mentioned to me in an e-mail that your listening room was filled with a lot of items and that you could not listen to the speaker at the suggested listening distance. the merlin vsm sounds fuller the farther you get from them. it is not a nearfield system because it is too damped and it is too uniform in amplitude. it uses the power response of the speaker in the room to build the full tonallity. used in the manner it was designed to be used in and with gear that is suited to them in damping, you would have had plenty of bass, imho.
still though, even the most powerful and robust bass possible is not enough for some. it is a matter of taste.
enjoy your wilsons!
regards,
b

I agree with Oneprof's comments on the SuperBAM. The BAM with its current improvements add significantly to the performance of my VSM-MX. I have had the SuperBAM for a few weeks now. The SuperBAM provides for a fuller sound and it lowers the noise floor. The BAM upgrade has made a great performing speaker even better. The upgrade is worth the effort and cost.

Boy, I like the bass in the VSM's a lot and I do play some 16Hz organ music, sure it's no subwoofer but the articulation makes up for any 20hz rumble.

I did a show with these speakers some years back and the room was so over loading with bass it would have made a 12 inch driver proud! If you can't get bass out of these speakers the room is too small or there is something else not right!

just to clarify some points, also posted on aa.
the x max of the woofer is 24 mm which equals some 15 to 18 inch jbl drivers. with the fs of the driver being 28 hz, it likes to go low and move a lot of air. the filter at 28 hz in the super bam, removes out of band output which reduces im distortion elsewhere. with the use of the bam we were able to optimize the bottom end of the speaker in amplitide and phase while utilizing a smaller encloser to keep sensitivity higher, reduce distortion and greatly improve the midrange clearity and uniformity. this enables the vsm/bam to be used with lower powered finnessed amps. in essence, what is missing is 16 to 30 hz. this is the lowest octave so you would be wanting for the lowest pipe organ notes and some electronic music only. all other acoustic instruments, jazz, blues and rock are handled by the in band response of the speaker. the speaker is just not designed to fill large spaces or go super low which can be a benefit in a large environment. the vsm is designed to work in normal sized living environments. if you need more bass quantity in your set-up consider changing something in your system to improve the tonality. give me a call for a discussion.
thanks,
b