Focal Mini Utopia vs Merlin MXe

I owned the Minis for well over a year and never could get them to sound even close to good..Tried Pass labs 150.5/McIntosh 402 as well as numerous tube amps including AR/Cary/Wavac( paired up with a couple different subs) Loaned them to a buddy and he came up with the same results.Ive never heard the Merlins but they have to be better than those Focal minis,IMO..If you decide to open the thread up for speaker recommendations that blow those mini yucks out of the water let us know!!!!

"that blow those mini yucks out of the water let us know!!!!"

Wow! You must have gotten really hurt. Did Frenchy break your heart? - LOL

Toetapfactor, I have owned the original line all the way up to Grand Utopia speakers and I suppose I have fairly good experience with their overall character. I have had moments when I thought they were ordinary (mainly in the bass area). Proper placement is the biggest key in my opinion. I have made them sing..or lets say they made me sing everytime. They are not without flaws though eg, grand Utopia just needs a very big space away from all the walls and still can feel not so tight (?congested) in base region. On the other hand there is a lot to love for in Micro and Mini Utopia monitors (midrange, highs, presence, imaging...). They are not the ultimate in base but to my ears they are very musical. BTW, with proper placement my mini Utopia can easily go down to 40Hz and I feel the punch. I guess I am looking to experiment different "brand" sound for a change, so feel free to make a suggestion.

testpilot,
i thought about this for a few days before i made my response.
imho, the merlin vsm is a critically designed speaker system with a very flat amplitude, flat impedance, high resolution and low distortion. with the e versions especially, they are as friendly to ss and tubes as they can be. the mme for ss and leaner tubes and the mxe for tonally flush tube systems, which i prefer. these pieces tend to have less feedback and lower damping both of which the vsm does not need (this is very important). a thoroughbred is a specialized design. it will work better with ancillaries that they are designed to work with. trying to make them work with other items that do not share their design goals may be not the approach to take. this is not a matter of synergy but more of neutral embellishments because the resolution of the vsm is very high. the items you mentioned are wonderful but we have people all over the world using the likes of rega amps, sugden, the stingray and cary integrateds with fantastic results. so i do not share your feelings on this point. after all you wouldn't buy a ferrari and use 88 octane fuel in it and $30 tires on each corner. if you did you would never appreciate the fine engineering that went into it.
yes there are items that are less critical and can be used with a wider selection of ancillaries but then again, they "may" not have absolute potential of a more specialized design. and this will depend on the taste of the listener because there is not one design that can make everyone happy.
i just wish you had owned the mme because it would have been much more to your liking.
merlin resale prices right now are poor as most items are due to the economic times. remember too that we have made thousands of pairs of these speakers and many have been pre owned and upgraded many times. also the resale price is a function of what they were paid for new. and no one has ever paid full retail for them. many pairs have been sold direct and at a discount to the end user. it is just a different way to market and a way that the industry is moving towards.
thank you,
bobby at merlin

Sstalwar...IMO, the Micro BE would be a better step up and of course the new UtopiaIII if wanting to stay in the Focal family.If it were my money I would addition the Dynaudio C1.At 4 grand on the used market there is no way you can compare the mini utopia to it on any level.Add a sub and your done.Pesonally I think the tweeter on the mini sucks especially when compared to the Esotar2.Just my take on it.Let us know what you do