I emailed Mark from Linear Tube Audio and asked about the possibility of pairing the Merlins with the ZOTL40 and this is what he had to say:
"I only know one guy with Merlins, David Berning. He has his own custom sub.The ZOTL40 drives them nicely. I am using one ZOTL40 at home driving my 86db maggies in my 35 foot bedroom. Typical listening is 11-1 o'clock and very loud is 3 o'clock.I am also using it with a MZ2 of course. You do get more gain with a preamp."
Good to know that David Berning himself uses Merlins for his designs!
"I only know one guy with Merlins, David Berning. He has his own custom sub.The ZOTL40 drives them nicely. I am using one ZOTL40 at home driving my 86db maggies in my 35 foot bedroom. Typical listening is 11-1 o'clock and very loud is 3 o'clock.I am also using it with a MZ2 of course. You do get more gain with a preamp."
Good to know that David Berning himself uses Merlins for his designs!