solid state amp for merlin tsm's ?

Daz,

Speaking as a ref1000m owner using them to max out some fairly large and challenging speakers, you are probably at a very good place in regards to getting the max out of your speakers with that amp.

I consider the ref1000m amps to be absolutely rock solid in every area of performance compared to most anything else I have heard, including some very nice and pricey tube amps.

The overall flavor might be somewhat towards the "vanilla" side of things compared to some amps, but it is very smooth, rich and tasty indeed! They are capable of bringing out the best in most any speaker and recording I suspect.

With a tube amp, the specific choice of amp will likely result in different flavors of sound. WHat is preferred is largely a matter of personal preference at this point I suspect, as opposed to addressing any clear technical limitation.

So you might get a sweeter more "french vanilla" sound or some other more unique flavor that is your favorite out of any particular tube amp. But you know, vanilla is still the most popular flavor of ice cream overall last time I checked. There are lots of ways to dress up (tweak) vanilla ice cream to make for a even more tasty treat, especially compared to most other popular flavors.

I've run my VSMs with a class D Bel Canto integrated with great results. My amp is lower powered than yours, but I'm not surprised at the happy marriage. The VSM is a terrific speaker and I've run mine with a half dozen different SS amps (as well as a half dozen tube amps). They will sound somewhat different when the amps are changed out, but I've yet to hear my pair sound less than excellent, regardless of what's feeding them.

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.

It's been several years, and I honestly can't recall whether I had the Merlin RC on board when I had the VSMs hooked up to the Bel Canto. It's always case by case with the RC and, as mentioned, I've literally used more than a dozen amps with my VSMs over the years. I guess that keeping the exact set-up straight is beyond my modest capabilities.

Sorry.

My understanding is that RC network adds impedance to make speakers an easier load to drive.

My guess is that typically it adds more in the case where a tube amp is used. Tube amps tend to not like lower impedances especially in the lower octaves where commonly found with many modern smaller speakers that also have good bass extension, like Merlin and many others. High power higher current SS amps, like BC Class D or many others, will be less challenged, so I would expect less benefit with those, but I suppose its always best to compare with and without when possible and be the judge.