sboots

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is a review of the Merlin TSM-MME, which is replacing a ProAc 1SC in my smallish dedicated listening room. The ProAc is a good speaker; it’s going into my second system. IMHO, however, the Merlin is even better. It’s an extremely musical and revealing speaker. Sounds good at low volume, too, which is a benefit for an apartment dweller like me.

The Merlin reproduces acoustic jazz recordings, like “Miles from India”, with remarkable detail and separation of instruments, but without harshness, smearing or exaggerated glare. The result is an absence of listening fatigue when listening to jazz and other kinds of music as well.

With the Merlins, there’s a lack of compression and a natural balance that allows me to listen deeper into the music. This is obvious on classical music and rock too. Voices are reproduced with three-dimensional accuracy and delicacy—the voices of The Hilliard Ensemble and Bob Dylan’s wounded croak come through equally well.

Of course, the TSM-MME is not a full range speaker. Nonetheless, bass reproduction is accurate, well-defined and tuneful. All in all, the TSM-MME is one terrific small speaker.

hififile

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
What a product! What a company! I have a very unusual listening area. Quite simply it is very odd in shape and dimension. I have gone through many brands of speakers over the years, all of which are highly reviewed and regarded. I could never get the "Magic" with any of them. One would have great bass but no image. Another imaged well but lacked musicality and so forth. I decided to buy a pair of Merlin TSM-mme monitors partly based on all of the rave reviews. I purchased my speakers from a Merlin dealer on the east coast. I had them shipped to my home on the west coast. Unfortunately the TSM's were not properly packed by the dealer and the tweeters were damaged on arrival. I called Merlin and was immediately well served. They took care of my tweeter issue very quickly and continually kept me informed and posted on the speaker repair. In short Merlin's integrity is beyond reproach. Bobby and Bill the owners personally called me and took care of me. This is a company that stands behind it's product like no other.

Now for the sound quality. Merlin speakers produce bass well beyond what you would expect. They throw an amazing sound stage. They have been the ONLY speaker in my room that does piano and violin work with correct timbre, color and richness. I just purchased the new beatles reissues and I heard words to songs I never heard before when played on other speaker brands. In short these have been musical and magical. I would not own another pair of speakers...period.

I use an all McIntosh tube system, and VPi phono.

PROS - Company integrity and support, build quality, value, bass performance, ease of placement, overall musicaliry, image quality. These speakers at $3100 have easily outperformed other speakers at 4 times the price, making them a superb value.

CONS - None so far. Maybe causing me to think about a pair of VSM's.

markrpeterson

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
It has been a gradually increasing pleasure to listen to the TXM-MME speakers these past several months! Because there are so many previous reviews which address the soundstaging, imaging, and other properties of these modest but powerful monitors, I was determined in my review to focus as much as possible on the musical characteristics of the speakers.

In Seattle we are blessed with a wonderful symphony orchestra and a stupendous symphony hall. Listening to the Seattle Symphony live has never led me to expect or even aim for a close approximation in my home listening. The overall power, denseness of sound, and physical impact is simply at a scale that I cannot believe we will ever get that close to with our stereos,

But - a BIG but, I might add - there are several charcters of the TSM-MME that on a vastly smaller scale are striking and eminently musical. These include (1) the timbre of instruments, which are vastly clearer and therefore in my opinion more musical; (2) the reduction in distorition, which continues to capture my fancy; (3) the solidness of instruments, voices, and (4) the real dynamics as one hears a crescendo. When I was waiting on the arrival of the speakers, I mentioned to Bobby Palkovic that the most beautiful aspect of listening to the Seattle Symphony in Benaroya Hall is the magic of a massive momo image with natural "stereo" distribution of the instruments within the mono image. While we all have certain preferences, I have come to recognize that for my ears the most musical sound is one where there is denisity to the center image. Sooundstaging and discrete instrument placement come in very much a second or third place.

I have had some very good speakers over the past twenty years, including Hyperion monitors, the Von Schiekert VR-3, the Thiel 3.6, the Mission 782, and my favorite of them all - the Kef 104/2. The latter of very musical speakers, very easy to just enjoy. However, they have much more distorition and the stability of the image as well as its density is significantly weaker than the Merlin's. It's quite interesting how well Bobbyt knows his two "children," his description of what would be different with the TSM-MMEs compared to the KEF 104/2 was spot on.

I could be happy with the KEF's. I am very happy with the Merlin's. Although I know that there is much room to grow up from the ancillary equipment (Musical Fidelity pre and amp, California Audio Labs CL-15), I think I'll take a breather and enjoy the music for a while without following the upgrade pull. The cost of getting Bobby's recommended CD and amplifier, not to say the cables, is daunting. Perhaps if we had installment methods for high-cost equipment similar to automobiles....

It's of course of pleasure to support a fine father like Bobby Palkovic. His model is one very much worthy of our support (squeezing the maximum out of a limited number of items).

Witchdoc

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is my opinion and thoughts of the merlin TSM-MXe speakers.

I purchased them thru Rich Brkich of Signature Sound in late march of 2008 and took delivery July 10 2008.
The speakers arrived very well packaged in a single box. They were covered with masking tape which should be removed carefully.
I did notice a tiny chip in the finish of one of them. When I brought it to Bobby Palkovich of Merlin music's attention he suggested I send
them back to have them fixed professionally. As of yet I have not done so.

A rundown of equipment used, room dimension and listening distance.

I am using: Monster AVS 2000 and Monster HTS 5100 for voltage conditioning, Antique Sound lad Aq1003DT with Response audio mods,
Subwoofer-Valodyne SPL800-R, NAD 541i CD/HDCD player, SONOS music system with Rhapsody, and a Parasound Ultra 2000 DAC.
My speaker cables are 45' of Belden 5000 series Cable from Blue jeans and 45'of Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 for the sub.
Interconnects are VDH 102 MK III Hybrid. ATS Acoustic panels .

The listening Room is my living room and Dining room 33'LX13'WX8 1/2'H.

The Speakers are sitting on a 10"W X 14"L X 1 1/4" thick butcher block.
The butcher block is mounted to a flat panel cantilever mount. This
cantilever mount is secured to the wall beams and are positioned 8' apart.
I custom made this stand because it allows me to retract the speakers up
against the wall. When I am doing some serious listening I extend the
cantilever mounts holding the speakers up to 28" off the back wall which
improves the sound all around . The center of the speakers are 48" off the
floor so I adjusted the height of my chair to bring me back into the sweet spot.
My listening distance is 6'to 7' from the face of the speakers.

Listening straight out of the box the music coming out of these speakers blew away the pair of B&W SCMS wall speakers I was using.
I compared them to a pair of Vienna Acoustic Mozart's that I am using for home theater and I found them to be as clear but tight.
The first few nights my wife and I spent at least 2 to 3 hours choosing music and listening to the wonderful detail and clarity.
We toe-tapped and danced around to music from bands like The Talking heads "The Great Curve", Thievery Corporation "Liberation front",
Delirium "Terra Firma", Gypsy Kings, Rusted Root, Steely Dan, Allman Brothers, Cash and many others.

Its been now well over two months and I must have well over 700 hours playing time. They have opened up dramatically and disappear.
The music and sound seems to come from a larger area in front of me rather than 2 speakers. Listening to Dire Straits -brothers in
arms CD Track "Ride across the River" gives me goosebumps and made my scalp tingle. The separation in the instruments finally gave the
music a 3D effect I've been reading about but, not truly ever experienced. Now I know what is meant by audiophile review terms like "Air
between instruments", "Depth", "wide sound stage". I truly love these speakers!

I am amazed by the rich and full sound coming out from these 2-way monitors and adding the Valodyne SLP800-R Sub improved the low bass.
The music seems to extending into the room. It's dynamic,lush and deep.

The Merlin TSM-MXe's are in my opinion Fantastic speakers. I know I have a great foundation to build upon


I have improved on my system by re-tubing my amp with Mullard CV4003 and Cyro SED winged C EL34's. Next may be a better DAC.

Strengths:
Once they have broken in I noticed a clean clear 3 D sound like never before in my home.

Weaknesses:
None as of yet

Similar Products Used:
Vienna Acoustics Motzart's , B&W SCSM wall speakers,

Rapha?l F.

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
TSM-MXe Premium high-gloss finish: piano black (bought in 2008)

Need a little time to find the best placement in the listening room. When found, it's amazing how the TSM simply disappear and let the music play around and mostly behind them. Great stage, very precise, right, balanced and most neutral speaker ever heard.
Lot of energy even with a low powered (but good) amplifier like the Stingray (Manley). In my small room (15m²), the TSM and the triode mode (20w) is a killer combination.
I feel no need for extra bass with these speakers.
Bass are very detailed, defined, precise and responding.
Great speaker for classical music, jazz (great swing) and other musics, I gess.
Incredible performance on voices and acoustic music, in general.

Some very emotional experiences with the TSM:
Cello concertos Shostakovitch, Andrea Schiff (Philips)
Night Club Patricia Barber
Ligeti Cello Sonata Emmanuelle Bertrand (Harmonia Mundi)
Schubert last sonatas Leif OveAndsnes (EMI)
Mozart Violin Sonatas Hilary Hahn Natalie Zhu (DGG)
Cantata BWV 106 Gustav Leonhardt (TELDEC)
Johnny Cash American recordings Vol III Solitary Man

Strengths:
Absolutely neutral, this speaker talk about music, not sound.

Very honest and trustable bass, highs & medium "to die for", easy to drive but need a careful placement.
Gorgeous presentation (top rating WAF)

Weaknesses:
addiction ?

Similar Products Used:
Many small to medium size speakers, from Tannoy Stirling TW to DIY 3 ways floorstanding, bookshelf, etc...