SS for Merlins VSMs?

The only person I know that has tested an LSA with Atma-sphere (S30) is Clio9. Though I could, I've not bothered making the test since the Atma pre/amp combo works so well I've not been motivated to A/B the two approaches.

I only owned the Joule LA150 MKII and then the LA150
Signature preamps which I used at various times with the
amps listed in my OP.

While I certainly enjoyed the Joule mono-blocks at shows, I
would say no better than the Atma-sphere M60s which were
also more affordable - I now use an Atma preamp with them. I
went back and forth with the Lightspeed Attenuator and the
Joule preamp with my Music Reference RM10 MKIIs and loved
both combos, so I sold the $7000 Joule and kept the $450
LSA.

If I bought an SS amp I suspect the LSA would not work right
because of impedance problems in most cases, and I would
probably feel the need for tubes somewhere in the chain.

Nope, might have to go with the Atma pre, or the Joule yet again:(

I am going to post this in the Speaker forum - I think it is more appropriate.

That would like be even better than the LSA, given the absence of an extra IC, and perfect impedance match. Ralph also uses an extremely well design attenuator - wish I had the opportunity ti try that.

So, based on my experience, and having tried some pretty good SS, and still preferred tubes, there is unlikely to be any SS that will satisfy me. I lean towards believing that, but I am always hopeful that I will find an SS amp I will fall in love with; but as you say tubes are tubes and.....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 have my eye on them:)Have always loved QS amps, started with the 8417....

I will take a look. Thanks. Anything that can beat a Joule/Air Tight combo is worth a look.

Yes, the BAM proceeds the LSA then the RM9. My only concern with the M60 and the LSA is that the amp requires quite a bit of gain ahead of it as it is not very sensitive amp for full power. Doesn't mean it won't work, but it is a caveat. Clio9 claimed no problem, but his speakers are more sensitive than the Merlins.

The M60 needs 2.8v for full power, I think that is the right number. Most digital sources put out 2v max. With the wrong speakers, you might not have enough gain for the M60s to drive the speakers loud enough. My Music Reference goes to full power with 1v, so no problem with the passive approach.

Not sure about that, but call Raplh, I suspect it must not have any sensitivity issues with any standard source, but not sure how the option changes the actual spec.