OK. I hate getting into these things too much. I have auditioned both in some degree of detail. The GMA room was set up by Roy ( I watched him do some of it myself). I have no idea who set up the Merlin room at CES but I have no doubt that it was done competently and with some semblance of complimentary gear. The rooms arent great and the power quality is likely questionable. I sat infront of both of these speakers for quite awhile- gievn the usual velocity at CES.
The reason I did is because both speakers are wonderfully involving Hi Fidelity offerings. Tbere is no bad choice here and I would like to have a pair of either of them. Both are better speakers than my current reference offerings in my home ( Soliloquy 5.3i- still very enjoyable to me).
I favor the Merlins overall becuase of their unbeleievable clarity, transparency and accuracy. When set up properly, they can be seen, but only the music can be heard. It is really that way. The GMA Callistos are awesome as well. You know you are listening to something special when in front of them and you dont want to get up and leave. But the speaker is audibly there-- thats the difference. The Merlins had perfect coherence of frequency range over what it was reproducing. The Callistos had a slight thinning or softening in the midrange. But I am being SUPER picky here. Both are truely awesome and would be very welcome additons in my home compared to so many pretenders floating all around these days.
OP- Hope that helps.
