Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

9rw, the vsm se was voiced around se triodes and is now, a 10 to 12 year old product. it has been out of production for at least 9 years. the millennium, the mm and the mme were listened to extensively with ss and tube amps and sound very different than the se. the later models are more room filling and coherent. you may have even had an early ac bam. as i said, we have gone a long way since you have listened to our product.
the vt 100 was and is a great amp but the pre was not indicative of what you could have had for sound.
none the less, imho it is pointless to discuss the sound of a product that has not been made for almost 10 years and present it like it has a bearing on current production.
best, b

Bobby: It's still a speaker that isn't phase- and time-coherent. Plus you equalize it to achieve your desired results and upgrade it continuously, making all previous models virtually worthless in the audio world. Also, the cost is prohibitive compared to the competition. Be totally objective and listen to a pair of Totem Arros -- at about 1/10th of the price. Then ask yourself if your speaker represents a good value.

The ARC LS25 was actually highly regarded and still is by many members of Audiogon.

Again, your passion is admirable, but the speakers you made many years ago were better.

9rw, you are entitled to your opinion but imho, you are very wrong.
the vsm is now a very mature and finshed design and is capable of remarkably life like sound with little or no distortion. there are different kinds of coherence and perhaps if you had heard one of the latest models you would understand what i am emplying. i equalize and filter bandwidth to control distortion components which all speakers are riddled with. the things that you did not like about the se are maybe, not there any longer.
but how would you know.
best, b

and by the way 9rw, i have heard the arro and it is indeed a very good speaker system, especially for the price asked. but it does not do what the merlin is capable of doing. again imho.
best, b

9rw,

I do like some pro audio gear, but I've never owned/lived with any at home. OTOH, I have lived with Thiel (3.x, late '90s can't recall the precise designation, probably because they belonged to girlfriend's former boyfriend). I've also heard the SC-IV and Vandy 2s (Vandy 5 and Quattro, just a bit less) extensively. I'm completely unfamiliar with Von Schweikert and Totem.

IME, the Thiels would be closest in character to the Merlin, though they have greater ultimate output capability in the bass and a slightly crisper upper mid/treble. It's the latter quality that would lead me back to the VSMs - which themselves walk a fine line for me in this regard.

The SC-IV are a very different animal with a more prominent bottom octave, a tonality that many people prefer, but just ain't my cup of tea for the long run. The Vandy 2 is great - a warm, musical speaker that represents great value, but isn't IMHO in the same league as any of the others you listed for audiophile "Parlor tricks". It's probably the best value of the bunch if you're not a hobbyist.

Oddly, my associated stuff looks a lot like yours.

Primarily LS-25/VT-130SE. Sources include a Sony SCD-1, Cary 303, and QSonix server with Benchmark DAC 1 and a DacMagic for digital. Analog is via an Aesthetix Rhea fed by an Oracle/Graham/Graham and a A-Solid/Rega/Lyra.

I also use these same sources with a Joule Line Amp with TAD SS monos (previously a Krell KSA 50s and later Odyssey monos) for SS. Tube options now include Cary 300Bs and 805s, Prima Luna 7s, and a Panacor Dyna St-70 reissue. There were too many tube amps thru the system over the last 10 years to list all of them here. On occasion, I've used my Bel Canto and Pathos integrated with the VSMs as well.

Other speakers currently include the Verity Parsifal Encore, Sonus Faber Cremona, Zingali 3s, Red Rose Ribbon monitor, and a biamp set up where mains are either Ohm 100s or Maggie SMGs with digitally room corrected subs. You may have noticed that I have some sort of disorder regarding the hording of hardware.

I'm a bit surprised that you'd group Thiel, Dunlavy and Vandy since (despite the common use of first order x-overs) these speakers sound very different, one to the next, to my ear. The Vandys, in particular, come from a different place; unless you're talking Quatros or 5s, which can be adjusted to sound like a lot of different things, including - to some extent - VSMs.

As to hearing the separate drivers in the VSMs, either your friend has much better hearing than me (possible!) and everyone else who has heard the speaker with me (feels less likely), is mistaken (also possible), or there's some issue with your particular speakers. Literally, dozens of people (including many audio hobbyists) have heard the VSMs at the various homes my VSMs have resided in over the years, and none has made that particular comment. A fair number of folks have said they'd prefer a different tonal balance (read: more bass), but that matter of personal preference ALWAYS comes into play for extended bandwidth speakers. Some like vanilla, others prefer chocolate.

There are always different takes on any speaker system, and I respect those opinions. The only reason that I commented is because the issues of driver integration and system compatibility aren't the ones that I'd ever associate with Merlin VSMs. I will concede that system matching is often something of a fetish for many Merlin owners, but that's not because there's only one right answer.

I believe that the idea of "magic" system matching to optimize the VSMs' performance arises because:

A) The speaker is very revealing. This motivates listeners to comment on upstream equipment more often than a less revealing alternative (the Vandy being a prime example, IMHO) might.

and

B) Bobby has strong opinions on system matching and fans of the speakers sometimes take that to exclude alternative choices.


Feels like one of those "agree to disagree".

Marty