What new amp for my Merlins

Depending on Merlin model, room size, listening volumes, etc. - you may want to audition some SET amps. On paper, it looks marginal, but my VSM SEs sounded great with Cary 300B monos. Vocal reproduction and dynamics! were amazing. Overall warm, but rolled off bass. A Krell KSA 50s (unsurprisingly) punched up the deepest bass but lost some of the SET sparkle. At present, a Dyna Stereo 70 provides very good reults with the speakers backed up a bit toward the wall behind them.

If you can audition in your room, try a bunch of different amps. Moving the speakers toward/away from the rear wall reinforcement will yield many possible combos of warmth vs. bottom end extension vs. max imaging vs. dynamics, etc. Depending on your temperment, you'll find this process either fun, rewarding and educational or a hellish pain in the ass.

Good luck and happy listening!

Give us more parameters- cost, pre-amp, music types, tube or SS, etc.

Am I missing something? Which model do you have?

What I have is the VSM-SE with Battery BAM. I want tube. Like classical and jaz. Cost up to $20,000 for amp and pre.
Jay

Talk to Bobby on the phone and describe what you're trying to accomplish. There are certainly many threads on this already if you'd rather wade through it. Many here have Joule Electra VZN80 stereo, VZN100 mono's (I do), VZN160 mono's, and the Berning ZH270 which all match well with the VSM's. If you must have solid state try Ayre.