BFS readers aren’t strangers to speakers from Merlin. In issues past we have dedicated substantial amounts of time and effort to ascertain and communicate to strengths and weaknesses of both speakers, though in their more basic VSM and TSM versions. The VSM is a floor standing two-way utilizing the state-of-the-art Dynaudio Esotar tweeter, and 7" carbon fiber/paper woofer from ScanSpeak. The options that I’ll be commenting on in this issue include the SE and the BAM.

The TSM is a two-way pedestal speaker featuring drivers from Morel for woofer and tweeter. Unlike the VSM, which has a forward firing port, the TSM is a sealed box, the first acoustic suspension design that I’ve seen in years. Both speakers are available in a number of finishes, including super high-gloss colors.

VSM SE/BAM system, $5,950. In short, the SE designation on the VSM means that the crossover is designed with some of the most exotic and expensive parts made for audio in the world. A second order design, the crossover is critically damped and voiced to compensate for driver abnormalities that occur with all drivers, such as ringing and frequency non-linearities. The BAM option is an active equalizer that flattens out bass frequency response (and phase) down into the middle 20’s. Rich Rodgers covered the specifics of this option in his review in issue #4/98. No need for me to rehash his coverage.

The important thing for me to report on here is where this speaker has gone sonically. To some extent, we at BFS have been with Merlin's VSM project from its very beginning. Numerous communications with Bobby at Merlin have allowed me to watch this product develop and mature from a good speaker in its first form, to an exceptional, and in some ways, unmatched speaker as it now stands. For this speaker, in its current incarnation, is the finest example of a 2-way loudspeaker made period! Frankly, I know of no speaker made that has undergone the same acts of continuous refinement as has this one. I know of no other speaker that has been lavished with the same quality of parts and design as has this one. I know of no other speaker that has received the same attention to detail by a fanatical, type A personality designer as has this one. I feel, that until there is some substantial advancement in driver technology, the Merlin VSM represents the pinnacle of 2-way, 2-driver design in the here and now. This is the state-of-the-art in 2-way loudspeakers.

Lest you think that the above simply reflects one reviewer’s attempt to write the ultimate in rave reviews as is so often the case in the popular audio press, realize this; I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about how best to describe what I see as the achievement of a lifetime by Bobby Palkovic.

The CTC Blowtorch that I wrote of in the introductory article presented a similar problem in that it was quite proverbially "the horse of a different color." Nothing sounds like it, hence its description would have to be unlike that of any other. The VSM is like that in that it sounds unlike any other 2-way made, and it seems that this most recent SE upgrade is the final act of the play known as the VSM. This is a finished product. It defines where other 2-way speakers must travel to even be in the same league, much less be as refined and finished.

Well, we know that Martin DeWulf is an honest guy, and that he wouldn’t have said the above had he not meant it, but has he really heard the best of the competition? Has he heard the Wilson WATT, the Gallo Nucleus? What about the 2-way hybrids from Martin Logan, and others?

I suppose the real question is how the VSM compares to what many consider "the" legendary two way of our time - the Wilson WATT. I haven’t reviewed the WATT, which doesn’t mean that it has gone unnoticed or unheard. Initially, the highs of the speaker turned me completely off, as did the hardness that I heard at, and around, the crossover point. The speaker underwent improvements, but as things in some areas improved, I thought that other areas suffered. When the PUPPY woofer system came out for the WATT, I thought that a change took place in the design. The WATT started to sound as if its primary purpose was to be used with the woofers, and not as a stand alone speaker anymore. Changes were made to accommodate the woofers that didn’t always mean better stand alone performance. That’s the way I heard it.

With respect to Wilson products, I have never requested a product from Wilson. I’ve listened to their speakers at shows, at dealers, and at friends where I knew the acoustics. Be it a personal difference in auditory preferences, or otherwise, I’ve never liked the Wilson sound very much. Nothing personal mind you, but the sound has always lacked refinement and coherence to these ears, something that I attribute to the crossover type chosen and the sharp cabinet edges that Wilson seems to always place near or next to his radiating drivers. In the past, some of the Wilson designs have come into question regarding the quality of the parts used in relationship to the price charged too. But that’s not a listening thing so much as it is a perceived value thing. For those reasons, and others, I consider the VSM the superior speaker. Others may challenge my assessment.

I’ve also spent some time with speakers from Gallo. I still feel that the Gallo Reference is a very special speaker, very worthy of mention with even the finest products in the world. But the Reference is basically a three-way. The Nucleus, on the other hand is most assuredly a two-way, and a very fine one too. In terms of creating a defined soundstage in all dimensions, the Gallo speakers are the best. However, in terms of tonal balance, high frequency purity, low frequency power, and over all resolving power, the VSM edges the Nucleus out.

The hybrids. Electrostatic and ribbon drivers used in tandem with conventional coned woofers have become the darlings of many audiophiles as of late. I think of the Martin-Logan designs as well as the new speakers from the Australian firm Ambience. While the Ambience does indeed manage to do a fine job a mating the woofer with an electrostatic panel, its dynamic abilities are somewhat lacking in comparison to the VSM. At lower musical levels, the Ambience may actually have the advantage over the VSM, but once the volume becomes a factor, the VSM takes the lead and doesn’t relinquish it.

The VSM is an awesome speaker when used in the right system. Remember, it’s still a two-way using a 7" woofer. And while I believe Merlin has squeezed every performance vector to the maximum with this speaker, a 7" woofer will only move so much air in a large listening room (even if it is equalized). T-Rex type bass the laws of physics prevent this speaker from doing. In medium to smaller sized rooms, however, this speaker just has no equal.

One other note. The VSM is much kinder to solid state amplifiers now than it once was. But I still feel that it is best suited to tube amplification. The Joule Electra OTL amps are a perfect match, as has been observed at every high-end show Merlin has attended for the last four years or so.

TSM SE, $2,300/pr. The TSM is a much smaller pedestal type speaker. It’s easy to carry around, and it represents a nice balance between high-end sensibilities and the need for something slightly more conventional. I first reviewed this speaker back in issue #5/97, and in doing so noted that while the speaker had a few shortcomings in terms of bass linearity, it also had an uncanny ability to capture the minutiae that comprise the breath of life in a recording. I loved its midrange and high frequency verve.

With the SE edition, Merlin has critically damped and adjusted the crossover to correct some of the bass overshoot that I heard in the original design. In doing so, though, the TSM has lost a bit of the life that made the midrange so come alive in the versions before it. It’s not a huge change, and Bobby tells me that the TSM uses virtually the same amount of driver damping as does the VSM. However, the size of the enclosure, and the type of bass loading employed in the VSM are quite different than that used in the TSM, and that alone may explain the differences that I perceive in terms of sonic life. Bobby has showed to me how minute changes in component values can make major changes in the perceived vividness of the sound, and changes incorporated into the speaker now have it sounding more alive and vivid, and it certainly sounds more even in the bass, but with the solid state amps I’ve been using, the life isn't completely back.

RICH RODGERS ALERT: Rich Rodgers recently gave me his assessment of the TSM with the Rogue 88 tube power amplifier. Seems that this most recent version of the TSM really does have the old life in it, but you may have to use a tube amp to get it all out - something that wasn't necessary before. The first set of TSM’s that I used were powered by solid state electronics for the most part, so I used these new speakers with similar amplification. But Rich says that the ‘bitty Merlins need a vacuum tube amp at thar’ terminals to set ‘um a singin’. And right he is. The Quicksilver Silver Sixties were promptly hitched up to the TSM’s, and a sense of ease resulted. The speakers had added jump, and the bass maintained it linearity - the breathy lively quality of the speaker was back. What a lesson to learn.