Merlin Music System Master BAM and RC mod

Category: Speakers

hey all, i'm chiming in to give my impressions on my newest Merlin upgrade--the master BAM and RC's. short recap--i've owned the VSM-MX's, had those upgraded to the lead-free version, sold that pair and bought a born lead-free version that turned out to be the VSM-MXR's. i broke those in for a while as i waited my turn for my master BAM and RC parts to arrive.

it's all been set up now for a few months, i would say i've got 500+ hours on the break-in. WOW! what can i say others haven't already? they're killer. macrodynamics and microdynamics are improved--the scale of the stage is larger, the speakers sound literally bigger than before. the merlin house sound is there, but fuller, more continuous, more authoritative. microdynamics have gone up another couple of notches, so that music is more nuanced, more "life-like," less like a recording, more like an actual performance in your house.

i expected the low end response to improve (it's a BAM mod after all), and it did, i would say by about 30%. i have no need for a sub, and my room is HUGE. the bass is quantitatively better yes, but also qualitatively better as well. more authoritative in the low end, AND more musical. this maybe i didn't expect. a christian mcbride or dave holland bass solo sounds quantitatively better in the more mix, more authoritative, more energetic from the speakers; but also qualitatively better, more emotive, as you pick up even more spatial cues, more detail in his left hand fret work, etc ... and electronic music that utilizes an artificial bass that pulses and "moves" absolutely BLOWS UP on the merlins now (i.e radiohead, MIA, ...). fascinating to hear actually.

it's not a cheap upgrade, but it's painless otherwise and well worth. pay for your ticket, wait your turn, enjoy the ride!

thanks yet again bobby! total commitment to his craft, he just keeps extracting more and more from an already brilliant 2-way design.

BRAVO!