Top or best amps for merlin vsm

VAC 30/30 would be tops on my list. I don't think you need the power of the VAC 70/70 for Merlin's.

I don't have experience with the other tube amps you have listed, but based upon what I've read in the past, I'd also be considering Atma-sphere, Music Reference RM9 and several Cary offerings.

Solide state amps would not be on my list.

I think it would depend on your taste and in the case of the lower powered amps, room size. The Trancendent T8 for example at 25 watts may not have enough power in a large space. Sound wise I would choose any of the OTLs on the list for their ability to work well with the Merlins along with transparency, speed and full bandwidth performance the fact is that for MY taste they offer all the positive attributes of ss and tubes, the best of both worlds. Have you listened to any of the amps on your list with the VSM? You're going to get a lot of different opinions and at the end of the day yours is the only one that matters.

As it probably will be no surprise to most Merlin fans, I was hoping to find an SS amp with OTL qualities, but that may not exist.
I have a small room so then I may get away with an Atma-sphere M30, but I thinketh that I would like to have the power of M60, but the heat is too much and don't want to deal with so many tubes. I would consider the Berning but the price tag is stopping me.
I liked the sound of M60 though.
I didn't title this thread as such;"best ss amp for Merlin" because I was wondering if there are other tube amps that may not run hot or be too expensive.
Plus I was wondering in what order do these amps fall in.

Ollirdep, do you own Merlin VSM now, if so, which version? My understanding is that the newest VSM sounds very good with either tube or SS amplification. I used to have the VSM MM version, and they definitely benefited by using tubes. I still own the TSM MM in a second system and run a Cary sli80 with excellent results. Good luck.

Regarding the M-60s it is possible to run them with less output tubes per channel. For example you can remove two output tubes per side. Less power and less heat are the results, but in this configuration you should still have more power than an S-30.

You have a lot of nice choices on your list.