Merlin VSM-M or VSM-MX vs. Kharma CRM3.2 series

I recently heard the Kharma CR1's with Tenor's. Absolutely a phenomenal combo. One of the best soundstages I have ever heard and high's that were airy and open. The bottom end is also very tight and extended, with no bloat. In some ways I wish I had NOT heard them, now I want them, and the combo is muy pricey.
Have not heard the Merlin's, but I seriously doubt they could be in the same league, I have rarely heard a better sounding system. The CRM3.2's are supposed to be even better..WoW!

This thread has gotten very interesting. A thought occured to me however,when was the last time that Bobby or JTinn listened to live unamplified music?
I say this because having just heard a live unamplified piece,I realized that unfortunately the Kharma/Tenor combo I heard was still a joke.
So, when taken in context of the 'Absolute Sound' neither should perhaps be spouting the magnificence of their product.
Having said that the Kharma/Tenor combo is a fabulous sounding combo;but do they really deserve to be put on that high a plateau by anyone?
Something to think about, just IMHO.

Panorama, I actually do think my system is a joke when it comes to comparing it to live unamplified.
It doesn't make any difference what kind of live unamplified music one listens to, the differences between live and reproduced are enormous.
My point is that I personally have never heard any system that even remotely sounds like the 'Absolute sound' and therefore, I wander why so many people defend their systems/ product so vociferously. Unless of course their ulterior motive is to sell more product.(Nothing really wrong in that)
BTW Bobby, I am NOT saying that you have been slinging mud here, because I do not think you have. But surely you must be somewhat disappointed in your product as a musician( as must all speaker designers I would think).

Bobby, that's a very interesting response.A while back I heard a very well respected horn manufacturer's speaker that was playing a demo of a drum set. At first listen, I was struck by how amazingly like a real drum set they sounded..Then the manufacturer played various other pieces; to everyone's dismay the speakers just totally fell apart and in fact their sound was enough to drive myself and several others out of the room.
While I am not a musician by profession, I do play several instruments and have the opportunity to play live and then listen to the reproduced. One thing that I am fairly certain you will agree with is that when one hears a live instrument it is instantly recognizable as such. The reproduced sound seems to me to be also just as recognizable;and IMHO they are light years apart. The example of the sax player is interesting, maybe it is impossible to reproduce a sax so that one knows immediately that one is hearing a 'live'sax and at the same time have any chance of reproducing say a violin or piano so that again the same would hold true.
You are right, I truly love music and I am hoping that one day my system will be a little more towards what I perceive as sounding more like a real live 'unamplified'
sound.
Perhaps one of my problems is that I have a very high expectation of what I would like to hear from a true 'high-end' system.