Merlin Room at 2004 HE Show in NY

I went to the show for about 2 hours Friday just to hear the Merlin room and the Epiphany room. The sound in the Merlin room was outstanding (much better than Epiphany room). I have never heard any of the pervious Merlins before, and I was truely blown away by how great that 2 way speaker sounded for its size. I am not an audio critic / writer, so I'll spare you my attemp at describing the details. I will say the sound was 'alive', exciting, fun and easy to listen too. I wished I had brought my own discs to try. I liked them so much that I told the owner Bobby that I'd be putting my order in for a pair of VSM-VX within a week, and I meant it. I disagree with previous comments on the bass, which I though sounded right on the mark. Perhaps the setup changed throughout the show.

The Epiphany room was a huge dissapointment. There were 3 rows of 3 seats, and I had the center seat back row. All of the seats were full. After about 5 minutes of listening, I asked the guy behind me (an epiphany employee) why the sound was only comming from the left had side? He said he thought it was the recording (which made me wonder why they would select it). No one else was saying anything. After anther minute or so, I couldn't stand it any more so I got up and walked over to the right channel speaker and put my ear up next to it, and it wasn't playing!! This revelation sent the room into a flurry of activity trying to debug the problem. Later, when it was corrected, I asked if the large subwoofer was playing, and the answer was 'we think so, but its not set very loud'. OK guys. At that point I left. Presumably, they got their act together later on in the show, since I was one of the first people there on Friday morning.

Merlin's always seem to sound good at these shows. Not necessarily the best, but consistently good. That's your first indication that they will probably sound great in a home environment.

Enjoy,
Bob

It was a good room, but it's not surprising because he knows what he is doing. Besides putting together an excellent speaker, he does a few other smart things:

1. The speakers are mated with electronics known to have ideal synergy. You'd be surprised how many rooms mate their components at the last minute without much prior experience.

2. The room size is more appropriate for the Merlin's versus other speakers. Two years ago, Callix squeezed their humongous $60M speaker (and the equally obtrusive Vyger turntable) in virtually the same room and it was disastrous, IMO.

3. Merlin setup only one line of listening chairs that were an appropriate distance away. Where you are sitting means alot. By eliminating second or even third row listeners, he avoids many people listening at an improper distance and the various issues of listening through other bodies and chairs.

4. They use room treatments effectively.

5. They had a corner room, which is notably more quiet and advantageous is almost every regard.

As a veteran on many shows, Merlin is almost always in my top 10. This show was no exception.

Labtec,
Excellent observations.
High aspirations, pragmatism, plenty of smarts, dedication, & what-the-heck: common sense. Not a bad recipe for long term success!
Cheers, Spencer

I would like to thank you all for your comments and for the support.
Rich and I had a great time talking to people and playing all kinds of music. More so than at any other show we were able to play anything that was thrown at the speakers with a relaxed and believable presentation. Dynamics were on the goofy side especially when a fellow asked to hear the soundtrack from Gladiator. Even I was blown away with the experience. After the initial breakin of Joe's new speaker cables the sound was as liquid as could be. He has quite a product there!! And the Joule products and the Capitole II performed with consistant honesty and grace. That's why they are in the room to begin with.
Talking to the showgoers was a real pleasure, I just hope they weren't too upset with the garbage in the halls the last day of the show. I was quite upset about this so this really needs to be dealt with next year.
Good to see you all and thanks again.
Bobby@merlin