I have two tube amps (Music Reference and Atma-sphere), recently 3 - they are not going anywhere - just want to try and find a "successful" SS pairing. I have no doubt that tubes and Merlin are the way to go as a general rule as they let tubes do what they do so well (and some speakers don't). |
Would you be comfortable recommending particular room treatment products? or would you rather send as a private e-mail? I always notice your room treatments at the shows, but never took note of what you were actually using. When I brought bass traps for behind the speakers, and side absorbing panels for early reflections, I would say that was by far and away the most signdicant change in sound from any other changes of have made around the VSMs. |
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Arj, unfortuantely I hear you:) It feels a bit like chasing your tail. Why, I might just bite the bullet and by a Mac 6600 that will outlast me and be done with it. May not be the very best, but it is quite good and will be with me when I retire in 10-15 years or so. |
That has been my experience too. I was hoping to see if someone who has used them with tubes (someting like the Joule, Atma, Berning, CAT or Fila) and found SS that they found to be just as good with their Merlins - might not be possible. |
I just saw that you can get a pair of the TADs for $500 -- How is that possible? They do look interesting. |
David, how did the Belles compare with your Joule and Ars Sonum? Fair comparison? I would love it if the Belles 150A Reference were in their category driving Melrins, but.... |
I don't think anything will sound better than the Atma-sphere with the Merlins (maybe Joule VZNs), so getting more out of them is not the goal. I would like to have a no fuss SS amp that I can use in the summer, without feeling like I've taken a big step down from the Atma-sphere. Prior to that I thought the CAT JL2 were fanatastic, but they generated even more heat than the M60s. Unfortuanatley I suspect that I will need Class A SS to be satisfied and that gives off a lot of heat as well. Looking back, I should have kept the Aleph Js. The amp Bobby P recommeded was the BEL 1001, but not easy to come by, and anyting but the MKV is getting a bit old on the capacitors. |
Hi Pedrillo. I have concluded that while the idea of SS
appeals to me, I will not ever enjoy them as mych as good
tube amps, the latest having been the CAT JL2, Music
Reference RM9, and Atma-sphere M60s. I suspect your Simaudio
will be a very good match. The amp I think would work best,
based on convrsations with Bobby is the BEL1001 amps (he
also recommends the MAC amps with autoformers), but
unfortunately very hard to find now with the passing away of
Richard Brown. The Pass XA30.5 also sound very, very good,
but then I would switch to the Atma-sphere amps, and the
game was over. I think I'm stuck with tubes:) |
The Stellovox looks very interesting and I had never heard of it before. Might be problematic with tube and or passive linestages with its very low input impedance. The Sugden is one of that amps (as an integrated) that I have been very interested in, but not sure anyone has actually used them with Merlins, nevertheless they seem to be well thought of. LFD MKIII or IV also on my short list for consideration. |
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Thank you Bobby, No problem with 30 Class A watts of the 21SE?
Monk, that is the second time I have heard someone recommend the Blue Circle line, I will explore that too. For someone coming from a Joule, that says a lot, the Joule has sounded fantastic every time I have heard at one of the shows. |
Though I would love it to be the case, I am not looking to improve upon the Atma-sphere OTLs, just something I could live with happily. I also suspect that I might have to stick with Class A (Sugden, Luxman, Pass, etc.), but I am willing to try A/B. While I would consider an amp, I am leaning towards an integrated. So, no, I don't expect something better than what I already have, just viable alternative that Merlin fanatics have found to work well with their speakers, and the Merlin match is the key, for obviously some speakers need SS or high power, high current amps - thankfully the Merlins are not so demanding of quantity, but they sure do benefit from quality. |
The 6600, though not Class A, is certainly on my short list. |
You mean the "upgrade" to the Forte 4A was a big improvement? |
I have to agree, the Esotar is known to be among the very best tweeters available - no tweeter gets that hard earned reputation being agressive. The Merlin is balanced from top to bottom, one of the qualities that make it such a desirable speaker. |
I think it is one of the reasons your speakers do so consistently well at shows - the speaker has something to do with too:) |
1. More like Quads
2.First rule of system building, match your amp the the speaker you love.
3.Should almost always help if you know what you are doing, but possible to screw it up if you don't.
4.True, very true IMHO.
5. Yeah, but tweaking is fun.
6. I think they are mostly the same, except they can intentionally designed to be a filter. It is a religious argument to some extent, but to me, well built (forget designed) tend to sound pretty similar to me. But the Cardas sure don't do any harm to the Merlins, others might.
7. Harmless if you keep it cheap, once you are settled on your speaker and amp you need something to do, you could also buy more music. |
If it we available for 3-4K sold direct, I would definitely give it a try, or a used ZH270, but $8,500 for a 30 watt Class Amp in one chassis? Could not get over the value proposition there, must be priced to sell as many unit as he can make, a few a year. |
I think the TSMs use a Morel tweeter; the VSMs use the Dynaudio Esotars. |
You are correct. I read it in BPs Product News section, but the spec sheet portion does not show that change, still listing Morel. Whatever driver he chose, I'm sure found a way to make it sound "magical". |
Interesting you should mention the L-505u, on my shortlist for an SS integrated, do you also have experience with the Mac integrated, 6300 or 6600? |
And if you run it on A/C do you actually have to have batteries in the unit? |
