solid state amp for merlin tsm's ?

Also consider that the Totem's you're considering actually require tubes moreso than the Merlins - the Totem aluminum tweeter is going to sound smoother and less fatiguing if tube amplification is used, whereas the Merlin soft dome tweeter sounds fine with good SS. In the past I had great results with the Magnum Dynalab receiver with the TSMs, and the other Simaudio amps (SimAudio co-designed the original amp secton for Magnum Dynalab's receiver) would work well also (for example I owned the I-5 integrated from SimAudio and it sounded great with the TSMs). You will not be disappointed by the TSMs - I also bought them before hearing them, and the result was that I was simply amazed at how great they sounded, and this was 10 years ago. I now own the VSM-MXe with the new Master BAM and RCs, but I could definitely "get by" with the latest TSMs - both Merlins are fabulous music makers and the closest thing to musical truth I've ever heard.

Ditto on the Totems being bright to my ears. Though it's always important to remember that this is a VERY subjective issue. All speakers have specific colorations. The trick is to discover the speaker that sounds "right" to your ears.

PS: I recently heard the GMA Eos HD....a fine speaker, but I was even more thrilled with my TSM's when I returned home.

Has anyone tried mating the Luxman 505u with the Merlin TSM-MMi's? Any experience would be GREATLY appreciated. I currently am running tubes but want an amp that I can just leave on for long periods of time.

The Luxman is definitely on the radar, I do wonder if any Merlin owners have actually tried; I suspect few.

Silly me. I was thinking of replacing my beloved but nearly 30 year old pair of KEF Reference 104/2s with a pair of TSM MMi, to be driven by my Proceed Amp 3 or HPA-3. The last time I balanced tubes was when I was a grad student working in a psychoacoustics lab that had a dozen or so MC-60s. What a PITA that was. Guess I'll stick with the 104/2s tell one of them dies.

db