I think that the Merlin VSMs are among the finest speakers available, period. I would follow Bobby's advice on placement and treatment, he seems to get great sound at shows, no matter what room they stick him in.
Small Floorstander/Monitor good with tubes
Need suggestions for my next speaker. I currently run Totem Rokks with a parasound multi-channel amp, but will be moving to medium power tubes soon (16-60 watts). The new speakers will need to work well enough with the parasound now, while I get funds for a new amp, and for movies going forward.
Must Haves:
1. Room is small, so must work at about 22" from wall and the speakers can't be big.
2. Sensitive or benign enough impedance to be driven with medium power tubes.
3. No more than $2500 used, and preferably under $2K.
Priorities:
1. Timbral accuracy
2. PRAT with decent bass extension (at least to 40 hz)
3. Imaging/soundstage layering
I listen mainly to studio-produced rock and jazz, but like a transparent enough speaker to dig deep into bluegrass and classical. I recently auditioned the Devore Gibbon 8 against the Dynaudio Focus 220 run by a small Leben Integrated and liked the Dynaudio better, even though I suspected the Devore was more accurate-- I liked the Dyns' "thunk."
Among those I've considered:
Dynaudio Focus 220
PSB Synchrony 2
Totem Model 1 Sig.
Acoustic Zen Adagio
Joseph Audio RM25si
Old model Merlin VSM or more recent TSM
Old model Living Voice Avatar
Appreciate your help.
Must Haves:
1. Room is small, so must work at about 22" from wall and the speakers can't be big.
2. Sensitive or benign enough impedance to be driven with medium power tubes.
3. No more than $2500 used, and preferably under $2K.
Priorities:
1. Timbral accuracy
2. PRAT with decent bass extension (at least to 40 hz)
3. Imaging/soundstage layering
I listen mainly to studio-produced rock and jazz, but like a transparent enough speaker to dig deep into bluegrass and classical. I recently auditioned the Devore Gibbon 8 against the Dynaudio Focus 220 run by a small Leben Integrated and liked the Dynaudio better, even though I suspected the Devore was more accurate-- I liked the Dyns' "thunk."
Among those I've considered:
Dynaudio Focus 220
PSB Synchrony 2
Totem Model 1 Sig.
Acoustic Zen Adagio
Joseph Audio RM25si
Old model Merlin VSM or more recent TSM
Old model Living Voice Avatar
Appreciate your help.