I think that the Merlin VSMs are among the finest speakers available, period. I would follow Bobby's advice on placement and treatment, he seems to get great sound at shows, no matter what room they stick him in.
Small Floorstander/Monitor good with tubes
Need suggestions for my next speaker. I currently run Totem Rokks with a parasound multi-channel amp, but will be moving to medium power tubes soon (16-60 watts). The new speakers will need to work well enough with the parasound now, while I get funds for a new amp, and for movies going forward.
Must Haves:
1. Room is small, so must work at about 22" from wall and the speakers can't be big.
2. Sensitive or benign enough impedance to be driven with medium power tubes.
3. No more than $2500 used, and preferably under $2K.
Priorities:
1. Timbral accuracy
2. PRAT with decent bass extension (at least to 40 hz)
3. Imaging/soundstage layering
I listen mainly to studio-produced rock and jazz, but like a transparent enough speaker to dig deep into bluegrass and classical. I recently auditioned the Devore Gibbon 8 against the Dynaudio Focus 220 run by a small Leben Integrated and liked the Dynaudio better, even though I suspected the Devore was more accurate-- I liked the Dyns' "thunk."
Among those I've considered:
Dynaudio Focus 220
PSB Synchrony 2
Totem Model 1 Sig.
Acoustic Zen Adagio
Joseph Audio RM25si
Old model Merlin VSM or more recent TSM
Old model Living Voice Avatar
Appreciate your help.
Must Haves:
1. Room is small, so must work at about 22" from wall and the speakers can't be big.
2. Sensitive or benign enough impedance to be driven with medium power tubes.
3. No more than $2500 used, and preferably under $2K.
Priorities:
1. Timbral accuracy
2. PRAT with decent bass extension (at least to 40 hz)
3. Imaging/soundstage layering
I listen mainly to studio-produced rock and jazz, but like a transparent enough speaker to dig deep into bluegrass and classical. I recently auditioned the Devore Gibbon 8 against the Dynaudio Focus 220 run by a small Leben Integrated and liked the Dynaudio better, even though I suspected the Devore was more accurate-- I liked the Dyns' "thunk."
Among those I've considered:
Dynaudio Focus 220
PSB Synchrony 2
Totem Model 1 Sig.
Acoustic Zen Adagio
Joseph Audio RM25si
Old model Merlin VSM or more recent TSM
Old model Living Voice Avatar
Appreciate your help.
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- 18 posts total
North Creek Kitty Kat or Big Kat if you must go close to the wall ( 3 to 8 inches ). Great-sounding at a great price too. http://www.northcreekmusic.com/ |
Just a note to clarify my earlier post. I've owned my VSMs for almost 10 years and they're not going anywhere. I'd agree that they're among the best I've heard regardless of price. It's just that I couldn't get them to sound their best close to the wall. I had limited freedom to damp that wall, so I can't comment on this potential fix. As far as my current room goes...well, nothing will sound decent below 100hz or so without e.q. (even with the extensive treatments I've employed). C'est la vie. Marty Marty |
Marty, I don't think you were "dissing" the Merlins. I think you comments about positioning in relationship to the walls are true. Though I suspect that Bobby's comments might be a pretty good approach to ameliorate some of those problems. Is this a similar consideration with the TMX? Or would they be more suitable in this application - I suspect they give you a lot of the VSM with less bass, but I suspect very comparable (possibly better?) midrange performance. I agree, my VSMs are not going anywhere, for certain people (me) there is no better overall speaker (they all have compromises) regardless of price. |
- 18 posts total