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Merlin VSM-mm's a good value at $3000 used?

Hi,

Quick question. I am looking to spend about 3K used, and several people seem to be very happy with the Merlin floorstanding monitor VSM-mm. These are going used for about $3000. Would you say this is a good value at the used price? Preferred music is jazz, classical, and some modern, electronic jazz mixes (I love THE NECKS, for example). Room is about 11x18x10 (with some spillover into a larger room at the end). I would also have the option of a 14x24 room. Electronics TBD-whatever works best, as I have no issues swapping out my current gear with something more suited to the task. I guess the only thing that I am worried about is the lack of low-end: I would like to get a true full-range sound (although I don't listen to organ music, but would hate to partially lose the bass lines so prominent in jazz, which has happened with past monitors I have owned). Most of the speakers in this price range are 3 to 5 ways, so it seems hard to believe that a simple 2-way can reproduce the full-range of the larger speakers. Darn, I wish I had an audition, but there is nobody within a few hours of me here! Obviously there are lots of options for $3K used (Legacy Focus, Tyler Sig System, Audio Physic Virgo III) but it seems difficult to find a bad word about the Merlin's, with several people going through mulitple upgrades over time, as new models come out. Thanks for your help!
dawgcatching
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
gregm,
agreed, but the vsm/super bam can play 111 db as stated. for rooms up to 4000 cubic feet, it is my opinion that they can pressurize the room easily. the ability to pressurize that room will vary depending on the equipment's and cable's tonality. if one desires a fuller tone, the speakers can be used with a variety of subs to flesh out the bass and extend it while maintaining the continuous and complete sound that the speaker has elsewhere. tonal fullness is depleted the larger the environment gets in volume. speakers with a full tone can over power smaller rooms easily especially those that have a mid bass hump.
always try to use the right tool for the job.
regards,
bobby
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Most of the speakers in this price range are 3 to 5 ways, so it seems hard to believe that a simple 2-way can reproduce the full-range of the larger speakers.

I believe the 6.5" Scanspeak 8545 driver has a lin Xmax of +/6.5 mm. This is in the upper range for this size of driver. I'd take good quality bass sound before full range but not everyone would agree with that. Our ears are very sensitive to harmonic distortion in the bass. Fletcher-Munson egual loudness curves imply that 3rd order harmonic distortion from a 20 Hz fundamental needs to be below 1%, or over 38 dB down, in order that it is less loud than the 20 Hz fundamental!!! This is probably why reasonably priced full range speakers that are flat to 20Hz tend to produce "one note bass". (Low harmonic distortion in the extreme LF is fairly expensive and difficult to achieve)
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swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
Shadorne- can you translate the speaker designer talk into english for us peons. I think that you really have something there and I would like to understand it.
gregm
3,021 posts
 
Our ears are very sensitive to harmonic distortion in the bass.
This is news to me. In the old times, our ears' sensitivity hit the ceiling over 300Hz to ~6kHz (ballpark figures).

HD in the bass can reach very high levels; 3% at equal loudness (as per F-M or "phon" curve) is extremely good. But, usually, HD in the bass is perceived as bloated midbass...

Fletcher-Munson egual loudness curves imply that 3rd order harmonic distortion from a 20 Hz fundamental needs to be below 1%, or over 38 dB down, in order that it is less loud than the 20 Hz fundamental!!!
Here you've lost me, too. You are referring to the "phon" curve?
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Gregm and Swampwalker,

Sorry I was unclear.

Hearing sensitivity rises very rapdily from 20 Hz to 100 Hz. The slope is roughly 24 DB/Octave. This means a fundamental note at 20Hz and its third order (80 Hz) harmonic will sound equally loud when the third harmonic (80Hz) is played at 38 db lower level than the fundamental.

In practice this means that we are ultra sensitive to harmonic distortion from extreme LF notes...often the perception of bloated/boomy/one note bass is due to harmonic distortion. Speakers with apparently awesome bass output for their size usually exploit this distortion to good effect.....but it isn't music its just distortion!
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