What's the equivalent of the Devore 8 now? |
Bobby,
Are those the same kind of o-ring connectors you find on the RC's? |
Bobby,
It's Lars@sjofnhifi.com. His cell phone number is on the website, too. |
Robbob,
Very, very nice review! And that red finish is very sharp! Enjoy! |
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From what I've read and from conversations with Bobby Palcovic, the mmi's are in a different league than the mme's: more room filling and more solid state friendly, for what that's worth. |
Chadlesko,
Thanks for the input. I currently have a pair of the LSA1 Statements which I am liking very, very much. They are still breaking in but sound marvelous. But I keep running into rave comments on the TSM's and am curious about them. |
Thanks for that, hififile! Interesting that you, too, had Ohms. I had the walsh 100s for about a year and ultimately moved on to monitors. The reviews on the TSMs are so universally ecstatic that I'm curious about them! |
I've heard good things about that speaker. I even spoke with Fritz on the phone at one point. Good guy. And people with the Carbon 7 seem to love them. I know he uses a "series crossover" in that model. Can anybody explain what that means? |
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I'm going to clarify why I sold my LSA1 Statements -- if only because people making equipment choices use these threads to help figure things out, and I don't want them to draw the false conclusion that I was unhappy with the Statements.
I really do love the LSA1 Statements, and continue to think that they're wonderful (for all the reasons I've already posted) and really quite a steal at the current street price. They sounded better at 50 hours than they had out of the box and no doubt would have sounded even better at 200 hours, as LSA suggests. I got a lot of pleasure from them -- to my ears, they're the best sounding speakers, for my tastes and listening room, that I've ever owned. And I'd have kept them long term, all things being equal. The experience also convinced me that my heart and brain prefer the "conventional" imaging and presentation of a forward firing speaker to the pseudo-omni presentation of speakers like my old Ohms, as striking as it can be.
Anyway,I'd read a lot about the Merlin TSM's as I was considering what monitor to buy, and was quite interested in them, but at their list price, they were out of my league. However, I lucked into a great deal on a pair, and decided to take a gamble on them. Will I like them more than the LSA's? Dunno! I may be looking back here for a used pair of LSA's in 6 months if it doesn't work out. ;-)
But I'm determined to give the Merlins all the time they need to break in, and if they're as stellar as the pro and amateur reviews suggest, I'm in for a treat.
By the way, it occurs to me that there's somewhat of a similarity between Merlin and Ohm. Both are made in the USA by small companies, and both reflect the vision of a single designer, refined repeatedly over an extended period of time.
In any case, my hope is to be done with the speaker merry-go-round for quite a while. It's making me crazy, and I'm embarrassed to be on a first name basis with the guys at the UPS store. ;-)
Peace... |
Hififile:
Can you tell me more about your system. What kinds of electronics, cabling and stands are you using? Thanks! |
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Hooray,
Finally got my TSM-mmi's from Merlin on Monday of this week. I've had a hideous work schedule this week so they're not yet connected to my system, but I did manage to get them fully unpacked and on the Osiris stands I bought here.
Hope to finally get them wired up and playing tomorrow. So far I can say that the fit and finish is beautiful!
For those of you with TSM's, how far out from the rear wall to you have them positioned? I'm asking because according the formula supplied in the setup instructions, with an 8 foot ceiling, the front panel of my TSM's should be something like 5 feet from the wall behind them, which I cannot pull off in my room. |
Hi, Everybody,
I am enjoying my new TSM-mmi's. I haven't been posting here much lately due to having to deal with some health crises in my extended family, as well as being extremely busy at work.
My pair of TSM's got some extra break-in time at the factory; a whole weekend on the break-in system. Nevertheless, the Cardas jumpers and external RC networks that the speakers come with had no time on them when I got them, so those are still breaking in -- I've only got maybe an additional 20 or so hours on the speakers since setting them up.
Additionally, in consultation with Bobby P., who takes wonderful care of his customers and is extremely generous with his time and expertise, I've become more convinced than ever that I need to get a carpet on my hardwood floors to tame some of my room reflections in order to really get the most out of the TSMs or ANY speaker, for that matter.
With those caveats, I'll say that so far, the TSM's are very fine. They are extremely revealing speakers. Voices sound palpable and alive. Bass is surprisingly satisfying and tuneful for such a small bass/mid driver. And they throw a huge, enveloping, 3D soundstage with the right material.
I still have a lot of fiddling to do: the carpet, deciding whether I like them more with or without the RC networks, etc. But I am definitely enjoying them so far.
Oh, and the build quality is beyond superb... "loving," I'd call it.
I'll post more when I'm more convinced that I've got them optimally set up.
Best Regards... |
I've said before that I think that Ohm and Merlin have at least one thing in common: the vision of a single designer who has continually refined a few basic concepts over a long period of time. And in both cases, calling the company number is likely to get you an extended conversation with the very helpful head honcho. :-) |
One of the things I like about Ohm (along with a recently auditioned pair of Duevel Planets, is they are great for playing music when I'm having a party! Few speakers fill rooms with good sound the way Ohm speakers do. Mirage has also tackled that concept with some success.
The Merlins are a "sit down and listen" type of speaker. Robbob, My experience exactly. Ohm rightly promotes one of its advantages as being a huge "sweet sweep;" sit (or stand) anywhere in the room and get the full stereo effect. But owning Ohms for about 18 months taught me that I am much more of a "sit down, close my eyes and listen 'into' the music" kind of guy. I want to be swept away, so to speak. I don't mind speakers with a more conventional "sweet spot," as long as I don't feel that I have to keep my head locked in a vise to get the full effect. Mapman has written elsewhere that some listeners will "dig" (my word) the unique Ohm spatial presentation, and some won't. Over time, I found that I got frustrated with how the Ohm's interacted with my room (I'm guessing that was the issue) and with what I'd sloppily call a kind of "vagueness" in their imaging, especially. The Merlins can throw an enormous soundstage, given the right source material. But they seem (thus far, and I'm sure I'm not yet getting the most I can out of them) to really excel at tone, texture, nuance, and the sense that the music is all of one piece. |
Guppy: I agree tubes don't work well with the OHMS, but the Unison Research Unico hybrid did a nice job. I thought the Triangle Cometes performed much better with tubes. I ran my Ohm Walsh Micro Talls and my Ohm 100's with a Unison Unico. It sounded sweet, but when I switched to separates (a Manley Shrimp tube pre and a Bel Canto S300 with 150 w/ch) it really kicked the Ohms up a couple of notches. Yeah, the Ohms like power and current, for sure. |
Yes, Bobby is correct. I have an ICE amp, a Bel Canto S300. |
Back to the "comparison" part of this thread's subject, for a moment. Any of you folks ever gotten to compare TSM's to Green Mountain Audio products? I was reminded of this when
I noticed a pair of Green Mountain Audio Callistos up on sale here. Thoughts? |
Never mind, I retract my last question! I just discovered a huge (and pretty cantankerous) "Merlin TSM versus Green Mountain Calisto" thread. One of those is enough! |
One thing I'll say about my TSM's is that they reveal everything. Even a small change in something is audible. For example, the setup instructions recommend that the speaker tweeters be between six and seven feet apart, but no more. Mine were a few inches less than six feet apart. I moved them a little over 6 feet apart and readjusted the toe-in with the set up tool. The soundstage bloomed even further, and the low end seems to have firmed up considerably. Interesting! |
Excellent, Bobby, thanks! Eager to hear your thoughts in comparison to other products! |
On another note, thought I'd toss out there that I've been using Supra Classic 6.0 cables with my TSM-mmi's. My budget wouldn't accommodate Cardas, even used. On Bobby's advice, I looked for a finely stranded copper cable with a 9 gauge diameter. The Supra 6.0 matches these specs, and each strand of the copper is plated with tin, supposedly to decrease "skin effect."
The system is sounding increasingly gorgeous to me, as I dial things in and the speakers break in and settle in. Unfortunately, I don't have experience using other cables with my TSM's, so I cannot compare them to other cables. But given the current economic climate, I thought a potential "budget alternative" cable for Merlins might be useful to someone.
As for acquiring them, Madisound has them, or you can order direct from the distributor, sjofnhifi.com .
As for price, my 3 meter pair, with termintations (which I attached myself) ran less than $150, including shipping!
Bobby, love to hear your opinions on these one day. |
Guppy,
Thrilled to hear that you like the Supra Classic 6.0. I'll be really eager to hear what Bobby P. thinks, since he has the basis for making a comparison with the more expensive stuff. |
Great. Yes, I had to order the connectors, too. :-) |
Tabl10s,
Yep, this is the same Swedish company that makes the Sword.
Pubul57: I can't speak for Bobby, but when I was looking for a reasonably priced cable, Bobby gave me two requirements: it should be 9 gauge and made from finely stranded copper. The only currently made cable that I could find that met these specs was the Supra Classic 6.0 -- not even Monster makes anything in a 9 gauge wire anymore. Additionally, the Classic 6.0 features copper strands that are plated with tin, to increase conductivity and reduce (supposedly) "skin effect." From Bobby I've gleaned, and he can correct me if I'm wrong, that the 9 gauge requirement has to do with making a match to the Cardas jumpers. The rest of the design rationale I can't explain. |
Hello, John,
I bought the larger, spade connectors for the speaker, and the banana plugs for the amplifier end. The distributor will solder them for you, if you like, but I think it costs something like 30 bucks per connection (or maybe that's per pair, I don't remember) and Lars, who runs the distributor, said that they cannot really hear any positive advantage to soldering the connections. The small, spade connectors have a little tightening screw. The only tricky thing about using it, if our member correctly, is that it requires a metric hex wrench. The banana connectors are kind of interesting, as they allow you to have the cable coming in either flat to the banana plug itself, or at a 90° angle. You'd have to see it, it's hard to describe.
I spoke to somebody at Merlin, it wasn't Bobby, who said that while they love the Classic 6.0 cable, they had some doubts about the connectors causing some smearing. Bobby, is that correct? |
Tvad,
I'm assuming you also see me hitting the Texas lottery in your crystal ball, too! ;-) |
Received my new Manley Mahi-Mahi's yesterday. Haven't yet had a chance to hook them up, but will report back when I do due to my work schedule, it'll probably take me a couple of days. :-( |
This is very interesting to hear, Bobby. Thanks for the information. So you like the gold spade connectors, huh? The only minor beef I had with them is that they don't supply a cheap hex tool to tighten the hex head set screw... and it's metric, so I had to go to Lowe's and buy a whole set of hex wrenches to get the right size. But considering how "cheap" (by insane audiophile standards) the cable is, that's a really minor quibble. Thanks for the info about toe-in and tonal balance, too... good to know. |
jfz,
Yeah, Lars is really nice. But I agree that there's no substitute for a real, metric hex wrench to tighten down those set screws. Anything less and the wire will work its way loose from the connector, at least in my experience. |
They should. Bobby describes them as "stupid good" for the price. |
I thought I'd share some recent experiences with the other TSM owners (or prospective owners) out there.
I finally got around to using a simple bubble level to align my speakers relative to the floor, as the manual suggests. The improvement that resulted is amazing! Tonal balance is improved, but even more, the spatial presentation is better than ever: the speakers "disappear" more than ever before, soundstage width and depth are much greater, and there's an even more coherent, seamless quality than i used to get... which is really saying something.
I wouldn't say the TSM's are fussy about placement, per se, but they do give you clear feedback on even small changes, making taking the time to make adjustments really worth the effort. Just when you think they can't sound any better with your current equipment, you try a small tweak, and they surprise you! |
TSM'ers,
I hope nobody minds me mentioning that right now I'm selling a 3-meter pair of Supra Classic 6.0 speakers cable in the Audiogon classifieds. It's great stuff!
Thanks. |
Most of us who don't have dedicated listening rooms end up making compromises, for sure. But I agree with Bobby that the room is key. Putting an area carpet down in my listening room, which otherwise is very "live," made a big difference for not a lot of money. Would I like to do more radical stuff to the room for the sake of sound? Sure, but domestic tranquility prevents me from doing some of that stuff. I have to take my significant other's room livability and aesthetic considerations into account. And my budget has definite limits.
The nice thing about buying Merlin speakers is that you know that the design is so sound (no pun intended) and time-tested and that the quality control is so good, that your tweaks and adjustments will be rewarded and get you closer to what you want to hear. So, for example, if the tonal balance seems off or the speakers aren't "disappearing" as they should, you can look elsewhere in your set-up because you know that your Merlins (TSM-mmi's in my case) aren't the culprit. |
Several months ago, I upgraded my TSM-mmi rig from the RC's to the Master RC's. I can now report that the upgrade was unquestionably cost effective and very worthwhile. The Master RC's are beginning to really break in, and the improvement from the standard RC's is not subtle: everything is even more seamless and coherent sounding, open sounding and revealing. Well worth the upgrade if you're contemplating it! |
James22,
Glad the Supra's are working out for you! |
