I've just ordered Bobby's Ars Sonum 30 Watt integrated for the VSM-MXe. I will be comparing it with my 100 Watt, Class A, Triode CAT JL2s - with which Bobby is quite familiar, having shown with CAT in previous years. So apparently, he thinks 30 Watts is more than sufficient for the VSM-MXe.
How many watts are you pushing your Merlins with?
I'm thinking of going from 60 watt mono's(ASL) to a 16 watt stereo(Art Audio). I don't play loud music and the space will be 16 x 11 x 10. Will this be a mistake?