GMA Callisto VS. Merlin TSM

I can see that. But I've read a lot of reviews in which the reviewer says something like, "as glorious as this component sounds on great recordings like the pablum in my music collection, it will also let you hear every wart, zit, and hair out of place on less-than-perfect recordings." And we've been fed that line for decades and I think that implicit in it is the premise that this is the price one must pay for having great gear. (And conversely, buy something euphonic if you want to listed to old Beatles records.) My old Quad 57's, as musical as they were, were very very fussy about recordings and very revealing of upstream changes (also, I was younger when I had them). Ditto the Thiels I owned recently. But not so much for my GMAs, Harbeths, and ProAcs. If I were a reviewer, I might opt for that greater transparency to what is upstream. As a music lover, I think not. As an audiophile and music lover, I am perpetually conflicted.

If I were a reviewer, I might opt for that greater transparency to what is upstream. As a music lover, I think not. As an audiophile and music lover, I am perpetually conflicted.
Drubin (Threads | Answers)

That conflict pretty well sums up the hobby, IMO.

Jim2
Again, comments I make get twisted and blown out of proportion. I did not say the GMA speakers make all recordings sound good. I said they make them more enjoyable and more listenable. Again they do this by not adding additional phase distortions to already distorted recordings. If you can't understand how this would make a poor recording more enjoyable, i'm sorry.

I want honestly to say thank you all for the contribution and time.

When songwriter72@ raised an issue about my notion of Merlin to be picky about recording, he directly implied that GMA's phase coherent design makes more music enjoyable.

Even if he did not say exacty so, his interpretation was "picky about recording must be meaning making some music un-enjoyable" and his implication was "Callisto presents more music in enjoyable way than TSM-MM not being phase coherent design.

Has songwriter72@ really compared listening both TSM-MM and Callisto to back what he believed and tried to convey? - No!

What I wanted was unbiased and fair opinion but songwriter72@'s looked pretty much biased and pushy and that made me feel uncomfortable - especially when my experience about TSM-MM is different than his implications about non phase coherent designs.

I had interests in both TSM-MM and Callisto and that was why I started this thread. I don't think it is really necessary to make comments that carry bad implications about the other side.

I think songwriter72@'s suggestion about the headphones is a good one and I appreciate for it.

Minbean,
I appologize if I came across as pushy, as that was not my intention. I was, and am trying to help you find the source of your problem (hence the headphone recomendation). I'm hoping the speaker is not the problem, in all honesty. Bobby has been very helpful to customers and potential customers alike. He is one of the few designers that takes time to respond publically to customers needs and questions. That says a lot about him as a person. I respect him for that even though we don't see eye to eye.