I've been reading up lately on all kinds of monitors, and have been intrigued by Merlin's TSM. The latest iteration is the mmi, I believe.
If you've heard the TSM lately, especially in comparison to other, current monitor offerings out there, I'd love to hear your opinions. I know that there are other Merlin threads on Audiogon but I am especially interested in hearing from folks who have compared them to others, especially if you've lived with them.
I might be willing to wager Rebbi finds his true loves in less than 7 years, though I don't think that timeframe is uncommon!
For me my path was essentially OHM, Magnepan, B&W, Triangle, Dynaudio and back to OHM 30 years later.
My original OHM Ls and Walsh 2s stuck around for comparison the whole time while the others came and went. Well, the Dyns and Triangles have stayed as well mainly because I have room and use for them and each is quite nice.
When I upgraded my OHM Ls myself, I almost decided to punt on updated Walshes, but I decided to go for broke.
I've never missed the B&Ws. I would consider giving the Maggies another run with newer models if I needed new speakers again and I were able to set them up correctly just to hear what the rest of my upgrades since could do. But practically, the Maggies just are not a good fit in any of my listening rooms in my current home.
I would have liked to have heard your impressions of your OHMs when you had them if they would have worked out somehow.
I'd be curious if anybody has compared these Merlin monitors to those?
Also I see these have used Morel drivers. I have a pair of OHM L bookshelf speakers that I have custom modded myself using some high quality 8" Morel woofers. That has worked out extremely well!
All the newer OHMs (inclusing my custom Ls) also use an internal bass equalization circuit called the "sub bass activator" which as I recall is somewhat similar in concept to Merlin's BAM.
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. ;-)
You gotta tell us what aspect of the sound you think you are missing still or can do better with that attracts you towards the Merlins?
I am off the opinion still that no mini monitor can do it all at a realistic scale. Add a good sub, then perhaps, and the choice of viable monitors goes way up depending on preference.
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?
I owned the Merlin TSM-SE speaker but after a side-by-side comparison preferred the Silverline Audio SR17.5. But we are talking about speakers that were at two different price points when they were being made. At the Merlin price point, I know of no finer speaker.
Other differences aside, I have come to prefer what I hear through 1st order crossovers. Silverlines have first order; the Merlin second order. And that is simply the point I wanted to contribute to this thread. I have not heard the current TSM model so my post should be taken in that context.
The Devore 8's are no longer made, the closest model is the Super 8 which is a more expensive speaker.
And I wasn't implying that the Merlins aren't a great speaker, they are, or that you might not prefer them to the Devore's, just that within your budget you might find something else you like as well or better if you can spend some time listening to the options.
hi, the tsm mme is the only version that is camparable to the mmi. only one pair was mentioned above. they sound very different when compared to earlier versions. best, b
I agree that the Merlin TSM's are great speakers and also that there are quite a few great speakers in that price range.
I owned the TSM-MM's at the same time that I owned a pair of the identically priced Devore 8's and spent a couple of weeks comparing them. I kept the Devore 8's, they were better in every way with my gear and in my space.
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.
I have to agree with Steveaudio. After the TSM I had Usher and Volent monitors and the latter are here to stay. The Merlins are good speakers...but equipment matching is very critical. Ultimately they were just not for me...but ears vary so use yours to be the judge.
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.
IMO, Merlins are not like other speakers. They don't do high SPL's, they don't have great bass, they don't have that precise, studio-monitor type sound like some Dynaudios or Totems. They "need" tube amplification, so part of that sound may be using tubes instead of SS.
I enjoyed my TSM-M's immensely during the 2-3 years I had them, when I had a tube power amp. But I always felt that they were missing certain qualities, & I sold them & bought Totem Mani-2's (& a SS amp).
But if you're into tubes, & can score a pair of used TSM's at a good price, I'd say go for it.....I don't regret the time I spent with my TSM's for a second.....just depends on what kind of sound you want.
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 currently have the Merlin TSM-mme. I have had these since September 09, and prior to that I had the TSM.
Here is what I have owned in the past and/or compared to, Dynaudio Special 25, Magnepan 3.6, Linn Ninka, Magnepan 1.6, Quads, McIntosh XLS320's, Dynaudio Contour 1.4, Audio Physic Tempo, Audio Physic Spark, Ohm walsh 4's.
All of the above are excellent speakers and well made. However it is the Merlins that have stayed and I have no desire to sell or trade. They disappear in my room, the music has a resolution I could not get with the other brands. One might have sensational sound on violins but sound like a cardboard box on a bass drum and so forth.
Only you will be able to determine what sounds good to you and fits your aesthetics and budget. But I can enthusiastically recommend the Merlin monitors. Well worth their price!
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