Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

9rw, the bam came out in 1997 and was first an ac device. in a year or two we came out with the battery bam which ran on 4 x 9.6v german mnh cells. a charger was internally included. at first 170 mah cells were avalable, then later 200 mah and now 230 mah. it is documented here on agon what the people who owned them thought but as the battery potential went up the resound/dynamics and bass extention/fullness did too. the batteries played the system in a smoother, clearer, more expansive manner with more bandwith than the ac version. later the bam was upgraded to the sbam with a switching power supply that opperated from 100 to 230v and at 50 or 60hz so it could be used here in the us or anywhere in the world. the charging caps were changed to nichicon muse series and the voltage regulation lessened by 25%. this last change made a huge difference as the unit sounded way more expasive, more extended in bandwith, fuller, clearer and smoother with less distortion. do not down play the sbam's importance, it is a dual bandpass filter and equalizer enabling the vsm to play with bass associated with much larger speaker systems. it filters rfi and emi in the top end and out of band energy in the bass below the fs of the woofer at 28 hz. this reduces 2nd and 3rd order harmonic distortion in the bass and im distortion in the mids. the bass driver can be played much louder than a basic unit because the voice coil is kept in linear drive in the gap much longer and at mouch louder levels. it is also in the signal path and its affects are extremely obvious. again well documented here by users and reviews. and with you not hearing these changes this will be your only source of information.
last came the lead free super bam and that was the crowning achievement. it made the unit play with more substance, bandwidth and a blacker background. many have sold the earlier versions on agon to get the lead free version because it sounds so much more continuous and natural.
best, b

9rw,
the drivers are similar but both have been changed.
the esotar 330 had the suspension related amplitude depression moved lower in freq and deminished making it sound more linear and dynamic/less nasal. output went up and distortion down. the torque settings holding the face plate on were more correctly adjusted to the driver's needs in our speaker system. then a few years ago the drivers were made lead free and soon after we started taking them apart and changing the solder internally to the cardas trieutectic lead free we use in the crossover. comparing the sound of a millennium top end to the se and earlier is quite startling. the mme/mxe even more so.
the woofer, up until the se was the stock scanspeak 8545. in the millennium and later, the 8545-06. this is a driver that is made for merlin only. it uses a mueller latex compound to add mass to the cone which quiets the upper end resonances evident in the mids of se. latter versions of the 8546-06 were made lead free and shortly after that we started soldering them internally with the cardas lead free trieutectic we use in the tweeter and networks. the result is a more continuous and smooth transition to the woofer. this makes the speaker sound more coherent, like a one way.
crossover and cabinet tomorrow.
best ,b

Thanks so much for the detailed response. So adjusting the tightness of the screws holding the tweeter in place, changing batteries in the BAM, using lead-free solder and removing the tiny amount of lead contained in the drivers has led to a $6,000 increase in price and a night and day difference in the VSM's sound. Well, those and the other tweaks you mentioned. That certainly works for me. I'm glad so many people feel the same way and are willing to spend $11,500 plus another $20,000 to $30,000 for the recommended cables and electronics. Dedication and passion deserve to be rewarded.

9rw, do i sense a little bit of sarcasm surfacing again?

the vsm was designed to be an all out effort for small to moderate sized real world environments. if it is used the way it was designed to be used, there is no reason it should not be a stellar performer for its listener. with its amplitude deviation being plus or minus 2.1 db from 35 hz to 19.5 khz, the superb drivers, the careful choice crossover parts (many proprietery) and the thoughtful design approach, this thing should be capable of enormous resolution and it is. it is easy to drive, offers wide bandwidth, it is efficient and distortion free. a product like this will make little things/changes very obvious to the listener. so when i tell you the cabinet was changed with new construction techniques for the new pan fiber cabinet material, polyeurathane glues used, new proprietery z foot coupling feet, foot orientation/fasteners, port tuning/anti chuffing design, internal damping materials to dacron fiber fill, bracing added and the minimizing of diffraction effects... can you hear a difference? well imho and to most others, it was "huge" as you say.

over the years we carefully worked with the networks too adding proprietery inductors, added q circuitry in the hf, changed wiring harnesses to proprietery cardas, cardas patented terminals, cryo and lead free lead to even bigger improvements in the sound.

just because it looks very similar to an earlier vsm doesn't mean it sounds like one. ever compared a strad to a yamaha violin? i have. they both look like violins but only the strad sounds like one.

you also keep mentioning people using $20,000 to $30,000 in ancillaries like it was bad or a necessity. we have people using very low powered low cost amps (nad, sugden, audio analogue etc.,) with zip cord or signal cable and from what they tell me, enjoying themselves a very great deal. at least the vsm does not cover up or hide the effects of expensive gear. it changes in sonic character in the way of completeness or oneness when a better match is found. but because it is neutral it does not embellish the the faults found in some pieces.

and last of all the price. you mention $11,500 like it is a rip or i over charge. the truth is, suggested retail is a function of cost and mark up. industry standard is 4 to 5 times and many mark up more so. some i know of go as high as 8 to 10 times. the vsm mxe cost me $3300 to build. this is a 3.5 time mark up and an industry low. you also mention that the speaker has gone up $6000. well the finish alone on the mxe costs merlin $850 a pair to have done. this reflects in $3000 in retial. this finish was not available at the time that the speakers sold for $6000. nor were many of the other parts included in current production. i think it would be more fair to compare apples to apples... in 15 years do you not think my costs have gone up? everything has gone up at least 30 to 60%. i made little profit at the beginning and i still do. now that i have taken the time to explain all this to you, try and be a little more fair minded.
enjoy memorial day. i got up early to take care of this for you.
best, b

Since the last 8 posts here have been Bobby and 9rw and are OT, I'll start a new thread for you guys, see:

Another Merlin Thread

Then we can return this one to "regular programming" for the OP.

Marty