I purchased a Line Magnetic 518IA Integrated about 3 years ago and it has been a perfect match for my Merlin TSMs. I'm getting bass I had never gotten even with solid state and tone is nicely fleshed out without ever getting anything near syrupy or "golden." I have heard wonderful things about the synergy between the Ars-Sonum Filarmonia with Merlins, but I haven't heard that combination personally. All I can say is you really should try the LIne Magnetic. The amp is $4500 so a bit more than your $2k preamp + Hibachis (and you'll need to budget for some tubes), but you can sell your interconnect between your power and pre and save a lot of rack/shelf space, in addition to having an amazing partner to your Merlins.
Good preamp with Merlin TSM speakers?
I own Merlin TSM bookshelf speakers which are nicely detailed but a bit on the dry side with my Modwright 9.0 se preamp. I'm looking for a preamp to warm up the sound and thinking about CJ tube pre. Suggestions, ~$2k or under? I like the detail of the Modwright but would like more flesh on the bone. I use Tube Audio Design ss monoblock power amps ("Hibachi").