Merlin VSM-SE speakers   

Can I make a long story short? Can we talk?
From about 40 Hz up, these speakers are darn near perfect. I have not heard better under familiar conditions. They are easy to place in a room, easy to drive with 20+ watts, and, most importantly, completely true to the music. There is a piano in my listening room, and when playing recorded piano music, the VSM-SEs sound like the real piano. And not just the initial note, but the decay, the subtle harmonic content, the proportion of the harmonics where higher overtones are lower in volume (and where most speakers sadly disappoint), all delivered with uncanny realism. Folks, it just don't get any better than that!

Review system: Well-Tempered Reference/Koetsu Urushi and van den Hul Black Beauty cartridges, AHT-DM phono stage, Sony XA7ES CD, passive preamp, Atma-sphere M60 mk. 2 amps, the Merlins, REL Stadium 2 sub, JPS speaker cables, Harmonic Technology interconnects. WOW!

There are many competent reviews on the Merlin Web site, so I won't say how good these speakers are yet again.

I guess I just did, but that's all! But as one reviewer said, these speakers will provide the audiophile with a listening experience of the highest order. Hear, Hear!

Overall Rating: 10 LPs