solid state amp for merlin tsm's ?

I'm rekindling this discussion from a year ago because I thought it was a very helpful one, and to share my recent experience. I was lucky enough to get a like-new pair of VSM MMIs for a great price from a local owner. I'm driving them with the amps I already had, which are Bel Canto Ref500m monoblocks. I know that's far more power than these things need, but they sound fantastic so far. The improvement in the treble range over my previous speakers (KEF XQ40s) is incredible. And top to bottom, these have to be the most balanced, musical, full, and detailed speakers I've ever heard.

But of course, having read tons of posts about the magic pairing of tube amps with the Merlins, I'm wondering what I might be missing! I guess that's an example of why this is truly a life-long quest for all of us, though. For now I'm just going to try to enjoy the music and not start thinking about my next system move.

Anyway, as a new owner of Merlins and a very happy one at that, I wanted to share my experience with the SS amplification of the Bel Cantos.

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts. Martykl, do you use the Merlin's supplied RC network with your VSMs? I installed it per the speakers' instructions and the speakers sound quite good to me, but apparently the Ref500m uses a Zobel network (they confirmed that for me today), so I'm going to go home tonight and remove the RC from the speakers and see what difference that makes. If they sound even better than they do now, I can't imagine how happy I'll be.

I'm curious if you (or others) use the RC network on the Merlin speakers when driving them with Bel Cantos.

I had a friend over last night and we did an a/b comparison of the Merlins with and without the RC network. We started with it on, and they sounded great, and we were both fully prepared for there to be little or no noticeable difference when we took them off, but we were both struck hard by the difference. Without the RC network, vocals had a little more air, there was more separation of sounds and instruments, particularly in complex passages with a lot going on, but the biggest difference was a significant increase in the bass.

I would highly recommend that all Merlin owners try their speakers with and without the RC network, but particularly those who have amps that terminate with a Zobel network. The difference was far more than I expected, and the speakers now sound even more amazing than they did before!

Bobby, I would love your 2 cents. Or even a nickel's worth if you're willing.

Thanks, Bobby. That makes sense and explains the difference I heard last night. It really was striking.

And thanks for making such great speakers! I've only had them for a week but I think these are going to make me happy for a very long time.