I understand it is very subjective and that is why my question specifies "FOR YOU". That means it is subjective to your system and preferences. The winner will not mean it is absolutely superior. |
Thanks for the inputs!
I wanted to know if they are categorized as same kind in ways of presentation or not. |
I have a difficulty to understand songwriter72's theory because there are so many nice speakers operating with simple crossover networks without so called phase correction.
If frequency is 50Hz, 180 degrees of phase difference means 0.01 second and according to his theory, the movement of of the transducer is advanced or delayed by 0.01 seconds from the amplifier's siganl. Is that true and happen really such way???
Then how is the gap of 0.009 (0.01-0.001) senconds is filled if freqency changes suddenly to say 500Hz??? |
I am afraid there were not many people who have auditioned both of them enoughly! |
Thank you all for the honest and considerate answers!!! |
I don't think I can ever get listenings for both of them in Vancouver, Canada!
Thanks for all the honest inputs! |
That is a good idea!
Thanks Bobby! |
Thanks songwriter72 for your time to make me understand!
I think I will spend some time with my old textbooks. I have not dealt with LC filters for a longtime.
I know nothing can beat actual experiences and conviction although opportunity to listen and compare those two in my area of living seems very scarce.
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I appreciate all the members here for their kind hearts tring to help me out and wishing me the best sound! |
Thanks!
I will look for chances of listening to both of them. |
Finally, I managed to get a pair of TSM-MM over Audiogon!
Well, I must say I love the workmanship and the sound.
They are extremely transparent, revealing, seamless, tonally right and, most importantly of all, musical.
What a pleasure when you can breathe every detail of the music and feel it to your bone!
They are also very sensitive for recording, equipment and positioning, and I will have to do many experiments to dig out every potential of them.
Thanks so much for all your opinions, suggestions and helps! Also special thanks to Bobby of Merlin for his pro-willingness to answer all my quetions and give a hand!
I have yet to get a chance to listen to GMA Callisto however I am so much hooked by Merlin TSM now.
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Dear songwriter72@, you have repeatedly said that only GMA is good because of the phase coherent crossover network and that makes me feel offended because:
1. The thread invited opinions of listeners who have listened both Callisto and TSM-MM however you never indicated you had listened both. Have you ever listened to TSM-MM carefully? I am sure you didn't
2. If your theory about crossover design is true, the world of speakers should have been divided into black and white world of design and only one side had been winners. If you are true to your theory, why don't you worship fullrange speakers rather than GMA?
3. You urge your own definition of good speakers being ones to make any music enjoyable. I think you have confusion between hi-fi speakers and musical instrument. By no way I can see similar definition any where but you.
songwriter72@, I wish I could buy what you say but your theory and opinion look far from the real world truth. I can't understand why you repeat your voices which lack necessary foundation. |
Hi, sorry for a delayed response.
The system I am driving merlin is described as follows from the front end;
CARTRIDGE : Ortofon SPU AE with tuned original brass stabilizer and spacer mounted on SME 3009 on Thorens TD-124, SME stock cable
PRE-PRE AMP : BB OPA27 base gain amplifier, 18 times voltage gain , 100 ohms and 600pF input loading
CABLE : low capacitance teflon silver cable
PHONO AMP : passive RC RIAA filters between 12AT7 cathode ground resistor load gain and cathode follower buffer amplifiers
LINE AMP : FET-bypolar solid state with cascode differential front end, full symmetric over positive and negative rail
POWER AMP : bypolar differential front end with J-FET base constant current source, MOS-FET (2SJ50/2SK135)rear end, full symmetric, full thermal conjuction of positive and negative rail active devices, 136000MF and 600W class transformer in the power supplier
SPEAKER CABLE : 12GA silver plated copper strands in teflon insulation single pole wire used in random spacing between the wires
ROOM : 166" X 94" X 280", medium level damping with carpet and furnitures
OTHER : zobel network, jumper cable and speaker positioning instruction from Merlin was carefully applied - worked really well!
REMARKS : It is extremely transparent/sensitive and very picky for recording. I am going to try different phono stages and cables to make it more forgiving for some situations I have to play lower-fi recordings.
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Only the tube phono amp has no feedback. I use TEAC MTZ-3 alignment mirror disc for the turn table alignment. The power amplifier is 75 watt RMS per channel at less 1% distortion at 4 ohm resistive load and it has internal zobel networks. |
"The ability to play and enjoy ANY recording"
Some of my speakers have that talent and I somewhat enjoy their ability like that however I indeed need speakers to "show as is". As a developer and maker of amplifiers, I have longed speakers like TSM that can tell every difference and change of elements without veiling.
I do not have to enjoy every recording only because it is music and music shoul be enjoyable any how. I do critically enjoy recordings with real musicianship and engineering excellence.
Please don't get me wrong. "FORGIVING" way of an operation may be needed when faults of recording have to be masked and not to trigger my critical senses while I choose to be in a nostalgia or I am with guests wanting some particulr music off my standards.
Most of my favorite recordings are the ones with both real musicianship and engineering excellence, and therefore I am really benefitted by TSM-MM to show every genuine quality of the art and engineering. The more I dig out those recordings the more I learn and enjoy - TSM-MM enables me that! I would not swap my top 10 favorite records for 10000 ordinary records!
I believe that GMA's are also excellent speakers and will do try them sometime but it will not be from the belief that they can make every music enjoyable.
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Many of recordings were optimized/compromised for the era's popular player like console stereo, lo-fi home stereo, boom box or even headphone stereo, and for the era's popular listeners' preferences. Those recordings have "faults" to be played by a true hi-fi system and, when played by a true hi-fi set up, often shows problems prohibiting listeners from enjoyable listening. |
Bobby, you are right!
Both in sound pressure and tone, it is very continuous from top to bottom and by no way I could tell the seam between the bands.
When I said "...more forgiving...", I was not really hoping to make it that way. I meant that it might be necessary for some situations I can expect.
Even without more forgiving changes, TSM-MM's are truely musical.
Also, they are not picky to lose musical quality of some recordings but to show the flaws of the recordings.
I will still try different cables to enjoy more of what TSM-MM can do.
Thanks again Bobby for the healthy suggestions. |
I want honestly to say thank you all for the contribution and time.
When songwriter72@ raised an issue about my notion of Merlin to be picky about recording, he directly implied that GMA's phase coherent design makes more music enjoyable.
Even if he did not say exacty so, his interpretation was "picky about recording must be meaning making some music un-enjoyable" and his implication was "Callisto presents more music in enjoyable way than TSM-MM not being phase coherent design.
Has songwriter72@ really compared listening both TSM-MM and Callisto to back what he believed and tried to convey? - No!
What I wanted was unbiased and fair opinion but songwriter72@'s looked pretty much biased and pushy and that made me feel uncomfortable - especially when my experience about TSM-MM is different than his implications about non phase coherent designs.
I had interests in both TSM-MM and Callisto and that was why I started this thread. I don't think it is really necessary to make comments that carry bad implications about the other side.
I think songwriter72@'s suggestion about the headphones is a good one and I appreciate for it. |
I have been working with my amplifier to re-route feedback from "from the final out to differential input" to "from the driver stage to differential input" with a purpose to decrease the amplifier's damping factor and isolate the feedback loop from the speakers.
I have never expected such a difference!
The charactor being picky for recording dissapeared to almost none or nothing particular.
Everything is so clear, smooth and musical. And most amazingly, the speakers dissapeared completely leaving only a very compehensive sound stage. I can't hear anything like distortion if not known from original source. Now I understand what the other TSM-MM users were about to praise!
I have to do more things to clarify why this happened but it looks like the change brought the whole system almost to the level of perfection.
I applaud Bobby of Merlin for his excellence in designing the speakers and also for his enthusiasm to support the users! Thank you! |
songwriter72@,
I did A/B according to your suggestion and honestly I could not hear any more distortion or harshness from TSM-MM than the headphones. Or TSM-MM was not interpreting music in any less enjoyable way than the headphones. I recommend you to have a chance seriously listen to TSM-MM in correct set up. I have to say that your assumption orignally had too much gap from the reality. |
