OF course, The American Heritage Dictionary did not originally incorporate that last entry into the list of definitions.  At my request, the editors of Planethifi inserted the above reference to audio reproduction at press time – and for good reason.  Within its frequency range, the Merlin Music Systems VSMse with accompanying Bass Augmentation Module is the most musically satisfying loudspeaker I have listened to, without exception. (send flame email here)  Now, you could take my advice and immediately set up an audition with your local dealer or you could challenge me to a steel caged Loudspeaker Death Match.  It’s your choice. But be forewarned, these loudspeakers are exceptional and some listeners have even called them perfect.

Hey, HEY, let’s settle down and put away those keyboards.  I can hear you typing all the way over here, with subject fields filled with capital letters and exclamation points.   I know what you are typing too: “… the best?!!!”, “…you haven’t heard my speakers!”, “…you don’t know what you’re talking about!”, and my favorite, “…you must be DEAF!”.  But before all you budding WWF fans spam me with fightin’ words, take a few minutes to hear what I’ve discovered after getting intimate with Bobby Palkovic’s latest creation.  I just might convince you.

The Contender

DING! – DING!

“In this corner, currently the number one ranked contender in the world and weighing in at 84.5 lbs each, Merlin ‘Lightning Hands’ VSMse.”

Jesse Ventura – “Jim, the VSMse is about average build for this weight class.  He stands about 42 7/8” tall and is about 8 5/8” wide.  Lately, he’s been bulking up on wood pulp shakes and I think it’s paid off.  His depth is now 10.5” and his muscle mass tops the scales at 195 lbs, including both speakers, BAM, packaging and grilles.  He looks ready to fight.”

Jim Lampley – “That’s right Jesse.  Stamina has always been a strength for ‘Lightning Hands’ and I think he’ll need it tonight.  As you know, he carries a 10-year parts and labor warranty with him at all times.  And he’s got good legs too, having the rare option to choose between aluminum cones and Bull Dog Cones at no extra charge.  The ring at West 68^th Street is covered in plush carpeting so I think he’ll go with the Bulldogs tonight.  The extra long spikes will give him that extra needed traction.”

Jesse Ventura – “I like his new trunks.  All the young fighters are doing the Mike Tyson thing.  You know, basic black, no frills.  I appreciate VSMse’s attempt to spice up the rankings with a little color.  The premium high-gloss finish reminds me of the paint job on a new Porsche.  High-tech but classy, like me!”

Jim Lampley – “Yeah right Governor, just like you.  Let’s turn it over to Larry for the tail of the tape.”

Plush Limousine Service

The doormen and package room attendants were especially eager the day the VSMse’s arrived.  Although the loudspeakers are not physically large compared to many other floor-standing speakers, they are packaged two to a box and therefore present quite a challenge for any single man or woman.  At 195 pounds, we had difficulty maneuvering the box onto the luggage cart in the lobby.  It almost crushed an elderly woman who fell while trying to avoid our trembling arms and legs.  I realized that the building help was getting an early start on the Holiday Fund (they were moving instead of watching), but forked over a tip anyway.  I felt so bad for them, especially after lying to them about the contents of the box.  I told them that I had a rare ailment that required food to be stored at precise temperatures.  Hey, don’t laugh, you may want to write that one down.  When you get a pair of VSMse’s delivered to your home, you’re going to need more help than that old weightlifting belt in the closet.

After removing the glue tape and packing staples from the bottom lid, I was able to (very carefully) slide the thick corrugated outer box away from a pair of loudspeakers cuddled securely within two thick foam end caps.  This outer protective shell is much sturdier than ordinary cardboard boxes and should withstand all but the most ruthless Teamster attacks.  From my estimates, the box alone weighs approximately 15-20 pounds.  The grilles as well as a separate box containing the BAM are packaged alongside the loudspeakers but are easily removed after the outer box is pulled away.  Place the grilles under the couch and alongside the dust balls but keep the box holding the BAM nearby.  You’ll want to use this piece.

Matching Trunks and Robe

I love the way Merlin unintentionally one-ups everybody else in the industry.  Bobby Palkovic is not an arrogant man and from what I can determine, he is not overly competitive.  But his incredible attention to detail appears in the most practical ways, areas that other manufacturers appear to overlook.  Merlin shipped me a pair of VSMse’s in a gorgeous Ruby Heart Red, one of the premium high-gloss finishes.  A scrutinizing owner will notice a refreshing lack of orange-peel effect on the finish and an absence of even minor scratches or marks.  You pay an additional $1,000 to have your VSMse’s look like a Mercedes, but this is because the color application is expertly applied with an artist’s touch.  In fact, the pride of workmanship appears literally on the bottom of the loudspeaker where the artisan has signed his or her name!  Now you can justify the loudspeaker’s price to your spouse by claiming that it is also a work of art.  My wife certainly fell for it.  She asked me if we were going to keep this pair.

VSMse Fight Profile

The Merlin VSMse is armed with three powerful weapons.  The first weapon (a vicious jab) is known as the Dynaudio Esotar tweeter, unmistakable due to the huge 5 ½” baffle and translucent 1” textile dome.  Even though the Esotar is widely regarded as one of the best tweeters available, it is extremely expensive at $320.00 each.  Therefore, very few loudspeakers incorporate this structure into their designs unless they are considered cost-no-object.  Technically, other tweeter designs whimper at the thought of comparison.  The Esotar has ultra low distortion, excellent dispersion characteristics, extremely linear response and very smooth phase over its entire bandwidth.  Sonically, it holds court as the crown jewel of tweeter design.

The second weapon (a left hook to the body), is a 6 ½” paper carbon fiber woofer custom manufactured to Merlin’s specifications by ScanSpeak of Denmark.  With an inverted 2 ½” dust cap filling the center, the ScanSpeak 8545-06 contains a 2” voice coil around a vented pole piece, massive magnet and flat textured cone walls.  It is the irregular landscape of the cone walls that makes the 8545-06 so unique.  The heavily textured surface provides superior self-damping properties and helps mitigate colorations in the sound.  The bottom line is quicker, cleaner and more natural sound.   Hopefully, this will also translate into more involving music reproduction.

The last weapon (an uppercut) and in my opinion, the most effective weapon in the VSMse arsenal, is the crossover.  Unlike most typical second order systems, the VSMse’s tweeter and woofer work in electrical phase with each other.  This was accomplished through computer development of the enclosure relative to the specific needs of each driver and the separating network.  But the design of the crossover was further enhanced through the use of rare and expensive crossover components hiding beneath a removable plate on the rear of the cabinet.  These include Cardas Cross OEM point-to-point wiring, 2% Ag and 1% Cu quad eutectic solder, Hovland aluminum foil and polypropylene capacitors, Caddock Micronox Film resistors, and Merlin’s proprietary ultra-low loss inductors (also manufactured by Hovland).  You’ll also find another special addition on the fighter’s backside.  Spaced approximately one inch from the top of the cabinet are bi-wireable pairs of Cardas “low stress” binding posts.  I’m a huge supporter of binding posts that do not require ancillary tools or hardware to attach the cables.  From a consumer standpoint and personal finger-jam experience, extra requirements make setting up the loudspeakers somewhat frustrating and time consuming.  The Cardas posts contain large diameter knobs that allow the user to crank down on the cables without tools or fear of damaging the cabinets.  To George Cardas and Bobby Palkovic – we thank you for listening.

The Merlin VSMse has looks and a great physique.  Bobby has a materials science background and placed a tremendous amount of emphasis on controlling cabinet resonances.  He started with a super inert enclosure comprised of ¾” Pan-Fiber for top, bottom, and sides and 1 ½” thick Pan-Fiber for the baffle.  A cross brace ties all four sides together.  Thicker and more exotic materials were considered but the benefits were not always apparent in terms of resonance and ease of construction.  To further break-up debilitating sound waves, anti-resonance compound covers crucial areas of the inside surface of the woofer chamber.  In addition to the compound, the surfaces are also covered in Dacron fiberfill to further reduce resonances.  Although the VSMse appears to be a floorstanding loudspeaker, the bottom 1/3 of the cabinet is really a sand-filled chamber used to mass-load the entire structure.  Along with a 5” thick solid Pan-Fiber plug attached at the bottom of this sand-filled chamber, these two bottom sections act as a super sturdy loudspeaker stand for the 19-liter bass enclosure and separate tweeter/crossover chamber.  The VSMse is essentially a large bookshelf-type loudspeaker coupled to a matching, custom made, integrated pedestal.  Lastly, clear lacquered brass rods are embedded into the front and top surfaces of the loudspeaker to increase the surface tension.  I thought these tuning rods were added for aesthetic reasons but they actually help ‘tune’ the resonant frequency of the enclosure.  They balance well against the glossy blood red finish, resurfacing memories of the delicate pin striping found along the frame of a Maserati.  Like a true performance vehicle, the overall construction is overwhelming and eschews ordinary descriptors.  Vroom, vroom!

Drug Test

Unlike the original (and still available) VSM, the VSMse is shipped with the accompanying Merlin bass alignment module (BAM).  It is included with the price and should be considered an integral part of the loudspeaker system.

What the heck is a BAM?  From the pages of the Merlin website, the BAM is “a dedicated add-on module designed to augment the low-bass response of the Merlin VSM series loudspeakers. When used properly in your system, the BAM will deepen the bass response of the VSM’s by 10 Hz without affecting the rest of the speakers’ exceptional sonic characteristics.”  The BAM also acts as a filter for RFI and EMI, effectively cleaning-up any garbage and noise riding along with the original signal.  In addition, the BAM performs phase correction and works as a low-frequency filter, cutting in at 28 Hz.  Physically, the BAM is a sleek black box approximately 6 ¾” wide by 8 ¾” deep by 2 ¼” high.  The 3 lb. unit rests on two sorbothane-like rails that run the length of the unit's chassis.  These rails help isolate the BAM from harmful vibrations and also prevent the unit from scratching even the most delicate surfaces.

The BAM was developed in conjunction with JPS Labs and is inserted either between the preamplifier and amplifier, inside your tape loop, or between the source and preamplifier.  The BAM accepts single-ended connections only and sports two pair of high quality RCA jacks for both signal input and output.  The unit is powered via a small power supply that is permanently attached to the rear of the unit.  Adjacent to the fixed AC cord lies a toggle switch labeled ‘battery’ and ‘AC’.  The BAM can either run on full AC, full battery (once the internal nickel-metal hydride batteries are charged), or a 50/50 combination of AC and battery power.  This option allows the user to choose the setting that best suits his or her tastes.  I preferred the full AC setting for rock, pop or anything that benefits from more pace and rhythm.  The full battery setting imparts a bit less energy into the music and is wonderful for use with well-recorded software.  If you are seeking the highest level of performance, keep it on the full battery setting, otherwise I recommend the 50/50 option.  It is a good balance between the previous two settings.  Of course, you can switch between all three types with a flick of a toggle switch.

The Ring

Using the incredibly well-thought out set-up instructions, I placed the Merlin VSMse’s in my listening room approximately 6.75 feet apart and almost 4 feet from the rear and side walls.  I then removed the enclosed protractor tool and set the toe-in for both the left and right loudspeakers.  This was easily accomplished by placing the wooden tool against the inside face of the cabinet and swiveling the speakers until the tip pointed at the listening position.  Finally, I used the included bubble meter to level the cabinets and Voila, the set-up is done!  25 minutes from unpacking to listening, just enough time to heat-up a chicken potpie.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  After setting up hundreds, maybe thousands of pairs of loudspeakers, you learn to thank anyone who can make this arduous set-up process easier.  Merlin’s instruction/set-up manual is extremely easy to follow and should probably become an addition to the ‘Dummies’ instructional book series.  I would much rather avoid the tweaking and get on with the listening and enjoying.  Sometimes being dumb is not such a bad thing.

Pre-fight Warm-up

I used shadowboxing and the venerable XLO/RR Test and Burn-in CD for most of the VSMse’s pre-fight training.  After about 7 days of roadwork and conditioning, the VSMse was fit and ready to brawl.  Please note that only casual listening was performed during this period.

The VSMse has a solid team working in his corner – always choosing synergistic members for all of his venues.  Tonight, he’s brought along the Meridian 586 CD/DVD player, Rowland Consonance preamplifier, Rowland Model 1 amplifier, and the Cardas Neutral Reference family to handle both the line and speaker level signals.  During his entrance to the ring at West 68^th Street, he seemed mentally and physically ready, apparently fully recovered from his injury sustained at the HiFi ’99 Show (show goers tried to steal him after hearing him perform.)

Jim Lampley – “Well, looks like we’re ready for the start of Round 1.  Let’s go over to ringside where Greg is reporting on the blow-by-blow.”

Round 1 – Knockdown

Thanks Jim.  Upon listening to the “Introduction” on Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (CK 69035), the VSMse immediately shocked me.  Some audiophiles yearn for six-channel audio surround, hoping it will bring enveloping and more lifelike sound to their homes.  Well, I don’t have to because I’m already there.  The layering of individual musical components within the soundstage was unlike anything I have experienced in my listening room.  The album begins with a fade-in to a high school classroom complete with student chatter, teacher’s roll call, and school bell.  Each aspect of the environment is precisely positioned in relation to the other sounds and easily discernible from each other.  Unlike lesser speakers that have inhabited my listening room, the VSMse allowed the soundstage to extend beyond what I believed were the outer boundaries of my room’s sound field.  The result was a successful portrayal of an incredibly realistic childhood situation.  Prior to auditioning the VSMse’s I was just a participant watching the action from the corner of the classroom.  Now, I was a teenage miscreant sitting in the back row, shooting spitballs, cracking jokes, and writing on the desk.

The sheer size and weight of the music was also impressive.  On Classic Record’s 24/96 DAD, Rachmaninoff, Symphonic Dances; Vocalise (DAD 1004), the full weight and spirit of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra was present in my listening room.  Track 1, “Non allegro”, sounded immensely huge and allowed me to become more involved in the performance.  I no longer had to convince myself that an orchestra was playing in front of me.  I truly believed that I was sitting ten rows back inside McFarlin Auditorium.  But on the downside, I occasionally felt awkward cracking open a beer in the middle of the song.  You just don’t do that during a live performance.

But what really surprised me was the VSMse’s ability to adapt in magnitude according to the type of music being played.  When I cued up “Riverwide” on Sheryl Crow’s latest CD entitled The Globe Sessions (A&M 31454 0959 2), the soundstage adapted to the newly sized environment.  It no longer projected a concert-like setting but rather presented a smaller and more intimate setting.  Now, I envisioned Crow sitting on a chair with her six-string across her lap, breathing the words to her latest album from within the confines of her modest recording studio.  Whether playing large or small-scale music, the VSMse’s were able to consistently maintain a three-dimensional soundstage that was in perfect proportion to the music.

Round 2

Moving on to Miles Davis’ Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (P-7094), “My Funny Valentine” opens with a few bars of determined piano.  With the Merlin VSMse’s in the system, the notes were delicate and sweet, with a satisfying decay.  Most transducers abruptly clip off the end of a trailing note, thereby eliminating any sense of air or body to the music.  But the VSMse maintained an airiness to even the subtlest parts by allowing more emotion to transcend the electronics and flow through to the listener.  The effect was a magnificent increase in listener involvement and overall sense of realism.

With the Merlin’s in place, I found the Quintet to be hypnotizing.  It forced me to close my eyes and imagine a string of notes swaggering through the air.  Seconds later, they fell to the ground only to be replaced by the brassy bite of a legendary trumpet.  This trumpet was right on both tonally and rhythmically.  The VSMse’s midrange is extremely smooth and uncolored.  Whether reproducing the jazzy spurt of a brass horn or the textured resonance of a wooden viola, the VSMse’s were open and undistorted.  Much of this high quality can be attributed to Bobby Palkovic’s fanatical attention to controlling resonances and therefore distortion.  I cannot comment on whether it is due more in part to the massive enclosure, internal dampening compounds, tuning rods, sand-filled base, Golden Ratio, or even the alignment of the moon and stars.  I believe that each of the many hundreds of decisions made during the seven-year development process helped contribute a significant amount of quality to the end product.

I am a big supporter of audio designs that incorporate fundamental as well as cutting-edge SCIENCE and ENGINEERING into their design.  Nothing makes me more skeptical than a new breakthrough product based upon new and improved methods that have no scientific basis.  Show me the data!  So when I listened to Cookin’ after studying the VSMse’s white paper, I was convinced that this loudspeaker honestly communicated the wonderful mood of “My Funny Valentine” and the exhausting feeling of “Airegin”.  I believe that reaching out to the listener in such a rewarding way is extremely rare and any loudspeaker that can consistently achieve this feat is one worth having.  My ears and the data support my conclusion.

Round 3

Six months ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a pair of Merlin TSMse’s in the mail.  I concluded that these little mini-monitors afforded the listener with extremely high resolution in a value priced package, resolution that did not come at the expense of a tipped-up treble.  The VSMse’s also follow this path to the truth but on another level.  Using Rebecca Pidgeon’s “MacDougall’s Men” on the Super Audio Collection & Professional Test Disc (CHDVD171), I was astonished, almost dumbfounded by the VSMse’s level of resolution.  I started to smack my lips and immediately looked at my collection of CD’s to see what I should play next.  This is the most revealing loudspeaker in its class.  No question.  And it accomplishes this divine feat without additives (excess high-frequency noise, tipped up highs combined with sunken upper mids, mono sodium glutamate, etc.).  I tend to gravitate towards visual metaphors to describe the VSMse’s qualities.  For those audiophiles who wear glasses (true geeks like me), think of the time you walked out of the eyeglass store with your brand-new prescription lenses.  You were able to see fine with your old prescription, or so you thought, until you put on the new prescription.  But now, the leaves appear slightly more colorful and defined, the parking lot has more depth and size, the road sign in the distance now reads ‘Exit 23’ instead of ‘Ey#S3’, and everything has become a lot more interesting.

I busted out Crow’s The Globe Sessions for another challenge round and revisited “Riverwide” for comparisons.  Every word, noise, nuance and detail can be heard with the VSMse’s in place.  I no longer had to strain to hear the lyrics and guess what words she was singing.  Crow’s beautifully hoarse and scratchy voice is easily discernible from the rest of the music.  This wealth of newfound information helps erase the barrier that exists between CD and listener, a wall that prevents us from immersing ourselves into the music.

Interestingly, the VSMse’s extreme resolution also helped define each instrument and sound from the rest of the musical mix.  And ironically, this musical separation, in essence, makes the total piece more coherent!  I have discovered that high-resolution characteristics can improve many aspects of the sound besides clarity and coherency.  On Ben Folds Five’s The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (BK69961), the VSMse’s capture the low-level signals and cues that relate to atmosphere and ambiance.  These sound waves contribute to the reverb effects of the huge and ambient recording hall, lending a bigger and more grandiose effect to the songs.  Throughout the Cookin’ album, Miles Davis appeared life-size and three-dimensional, cardboard cutouts never imposed themselves on the music.  But unlike any other speaker I have heard in my listening room, the VSMse’s succeeded in defining another aspect to his image, girth.  I have witnessed images that contained volume in terms of height, width , and depth but never the rounding and smoothing of organic elements within the sound field.  Musicians have always appeared hard and chiseled but in reality, they have curves and rounded lines with smooth textures.  The VSMse brings you one step closer to that realism, and I believe that this is due to the unequivocally resolute properties of the loudspeaker.  I have spoken about loudspeakers and their ability to ‘clean’ a dirty window, thereby allowing the listener to ‘see’ more information.  The Merlin VSMse’s take this to another level by allowing the listener to remove the window altogether.  Some audiophiles will probably try to jump through the window and join the musicians.  Good luck and watch out for those heat sinks.  They look sharp.

Round 4 - Knockdown and Standing 8 Count

The VSMse’s reproduced the lower octaves with excellent pitch and definition.  I had no difficulty disseminating the melodic bass lines on Centaur Record’s The Triumph of Time and Truth, “Music From Aston Magna” (CRC 2431/32).  This recording was mailed to me a few months ago and has since become a permanent member of my short list of reference recordings.  The performance is wonderfully theatrical and the sonics are first-rate.  It is a double length CD that will find its way into the hands of music lovers and gear heads alike.  Moving along the musical timeline, more than 300 years later, I popped in Lauryn Hill’s latest CD.  I heard weighty and purposeful bass extension on melodic track #6, “Superstar”, electronic bass that was in bloom but always in balance with the rest of the music.  String bass, kick drum, electric and electronic bass never sounded anemic and at times, surprised me with authoritative and dynamic bass response.  I asked myself, “Can 35 Hz really be this satisfying?”  The answer is an absolute YES!

Merlin ships the VSMse with its bass alignment module (BAM).  This small box achieves a couple of interesting things.  The most obvious and audible result of inserting this unit in your signal path is an immediate increase in low-end weight and depth.  The BAM effectively extends the low-frequency response of the VSMse’s by 10 Hz, lowering their –5dB down point from 37 Hz to 30 Hz.  In addition, the BAM filters out nasty RFI and EMI in the line level signal path.  The result is a 19-liter enclosure that now sounds like a full-range floor standing loudspeaker.  On “Devil’s Dance” from Metallica’s Reload (Elektra 62126-2), I pushed the VSMse’s to ear-shattering levels but they refused to break-up.  Down the hall, I felt the eerie thump from Lars Ulrich’s kick drum as I was throwing out the trash.  Some well-regarded loudspeakers can play lower, but their extended response will wreak havoc in all but the largest or most damped listening rooms.  Standing waves will break-up the sound and distract the listener from enjoying the music.  Within their low frequency range, the VSMse produce tight, deep, and uncolored bass response.  Add to this list an incredibly large dynamic range and you have a speaker that can launch your neighbors into the next zip code.

The final question you should be asking is, “How does the system sound with and without the BAM in place?”  As a self-proclaimed audiophile, I have always believed in the less is more approach to music reproduction.  When I see extra boxes in the signal path, I am immediately skeptical but open to new ideas.  I used “The Different Kind” from The Globe Sessions and Centaur Record’s fabulous Jen-Henry D’Anglebert: Harpsichord Suites And Transcriptions (CRC 2435) to determine the effects if any, on the sound.  Initially, I felt that Byron Schenkman’s performance of D’Anglebert’s “Prelude in C”, was ever so slightly veiled with the BAM in place.  The attack and delineation of the harpsichord was a bit dull and less defined.  After performing a dozen A-B tests with the BAM inserted into the tape loop of my preamplifier, I concluded that when the BAM was inserted into the equation, the SAME information and LESS noise and distortion were present.  In addition, the opening guitar riffs and Crow’s first words were somewhat sharper and crisper with the BAM out of the loop.  End of story?  Not quite.  The first words of the “The Different Kind” begins with Sheryl Crow singing, “Think I was wrong...” And I agree with her.  I believe my initial observations were wrong and the following conclusion is right.

I wrestled with a similar dilemma during the initial stages of the Merlin TSMse review.  I finally determined that many speakers with a high-resolution reputation, were actually a little aggressive in the treble or contained excessive high frequency noise that listeners falsely interpreted as more detail.  In the same light, I feel that the BAM blackens the background and eliminates this barely noticeable hash and glare from the VSMse only system.  Without the BAM in place, this high frequency ‘pollution’ can make the presentation APPEAR to be sharper and more informative.  But this is unnatural and in some cases trickery.  Another reason that the sound appears more detailed without the BAM is that the BAM also provides an increase in low-frequency range that gives a somewhat warmer balance to the music.  This shift can at times be misinterpreted.  By adding more bass, the highs become less prominent and therefore, to a less experienced listener, the sound becomes less energized and devoid of that last bit of resolution.  But don’t be fooled.  Do the A-B testing yourself and you’ll come to the same confident conclusion.  Go with the BAM because in this case, less is not more.

The Judges’ Cards

DING! – DING!

Michael Buffer – “Judge Miles Davis ruled the bout 119 to 102 in favor of VSMse.  Judge Lauryn Hill scored the bout 118 to 105 in favor of VSMse. And Judge Sheryl Crow judged the match at 118 to 110.  And the winner is in a unanimous decision and new World Wide Loudspeaker Champion of the World , Merlin ‘Lightning Hands’ VSMse!!!”

Larry Merchant – “Jim, Jesse, it’s a unanimous decision.  Looks like that hard knockdown in the fourth really loosened the ex-Champ’s marbles.  VSMse just looked too good.  He had the power, the speed, the stamina, the build, the weapons, and the pedigree.  This guy was unstoppable and looking ahead, doesn’t appear to have much competition unless he’s willing to move up another weight class.”

Greg Kong – “Guys, the Merlin Music Systems VSMse with accompanying Bass Alignment Module is my current pick for Best of Class in the high-end audio loudspeaker division.  It dominates the field through advanced engineering, old-world craftsmanship, human involvement and a rare passion for servicing the needs of the listener.  The newly crowned champion has resolution that will make you blink twice and throw out your old loudspeakers.  Sharpshooters will enjoy their ability to pinpoint images within the sound field.  Theater buffs will appreciate its panoramic soundstage and wide left and right panning.  Bass freaks will jump at the VSMse/BAM ability to reproduce impressive low-frequency tones and neighbor-busting dynamic range.  Tube-aholics will relish the loudspeaker’s smooth top to bottom coherency; it never sounded too forward or too shallow in any band of frequencies.  And all listeners will find the Merlin VSMse/BAM system to sound incredibly free, pure, and unadulterated.  In the frequency range that it is capable of playing, the Merlin VSMse/BAM is certainly the highest performing loudspeaker I have had the pleasure of auditioning.”

Still want to fight him?  Call (716) 367-2390 and ask for the Champ.  And make sure you’re familiar with the canvas, you’ll be spending a lot of time down there.