Thanks all for the input! Is it true that SF are more transparent now. I know before they had a distinct warm sound as their signature basically. And no i am not a merlin dealer :). Just trying to figure out what to go with... SF i admit are dead drop gorgeous especially the new models.
- ...
- 44 posts total
The Merlin VSM is actually about the same price as the stave-constructed Sonus Faber Olympica III. If you are looking at high performance 2-way towers, the bargain in the bunch would be the Odyssey Lorelei, a 90-lb. 2-way that uses the same very expensive woofer as the Merlin, but is only $2700/pair. The second page of 6 Moons Audio's review of the Odyssey makes several comparisons to the Merlin. I find this paragraph particularly enlightening concerning your original premise of accuracy vs. musical communication: So it's more a matter of listening goals and taste, not of superiority. I find SF speakers to be seductive and captivating. They elicit a strong emotional connection with the music, and for me, that's what I'm looking for when I play music at home. At the same time, I completely understand if someone were to prefer the Merlin. But since the Olympica III is the same price as the Merlin, I'm willing to consider them of equal quality, if not in philosophy. However, I'd tend to think that a $65,000 Sonus Faber would have noticeably superior dynamics, bass extension, and room-filling power, even if the presentation were more romantic than the Merlin. |
Does Merlin offer a neutral floorstanding speaker with bass down to 40hz for $3500? The Venere 3.0 screams potential! I heard the 3.0 being pushed by a Integra 125w/ch HT amp, it sounded fine but I could hear the potential lurking. The SF Venere 3.0 is one of a handful of new "affordable" speakers that with careful component matching could create a near "SOTA" system at a very modest price point. |
So you were able to do a side by side comparison, in the same room, using the same amp, source component(s), and cables, of Sonus Faber's top model(s) vs. Merlin speakers? Exactly which SF speaker(s) did you listen to, side by side, with the Merlin? The Aida? The Lilium? And where did this happen...I didn't know there were any dealers that sold both SF and Merlin together, I thought Merlins were sold direct. |
The title of this thread betrays a bias and presumption that automatically nullifies the neutrality with which I might otherwise approach its content. My first tendency upon reading your heading says "troll alert". The more learned among us repeat daily in these pages that speakers (beyond the measurables) are a purely subjective matter. So what qualifies you to imply that one speaker is better than another by coyly inquiring why an unestablished assertion is true? Don't you first have to establish it is indeed fact? You are behaving like Fox News. |
- 44 posts total