As I've mentioned in a few other post, I recently sent my Merlin TSM-M for upgrade to the latest MMe status. The MM part (the 'magic mod') is an upgrade to the crossover which among other things involves cryo'd parts. The 'e' portion is replacement of all solder w/ a lead free variety. My speakers got more than this though. The tweeter diaphragms were replaced along w/ both woofers. In fact the only retained parts were the cabinets, tweeter motors and the binding post.
Frankly, I did not care for the original TSM-M in my system. It was very revealing and 'fast' and clearly a good speaker, but it seemed brittle and edgy. I wrote this off as the rest of my system and room as not being up to snuff. I was wishing I'd gotten something more euphonic like a Spendor, Harbeth or ProAC. I had borrowed a pair of ProAC 1.5 and liked them for the most part, except that they sounded 'small'. I was thinking more along the lines of the ProAc 2.5 ultimately.
Well, the Merlins got damged by a shorted IC, so I had to at least get them fixed before I sold them. However Bobby P....the owner and designer of Merlin assured me I would love them after the upgrade.
Boy was he right! These things are fantastic. I know everyone who likes a speaker says 'they just sound like music' but in this case, it's true. The TSM sounded like a hi-fi speaker, these sound like music. The sound is what I would call 'liquid', it just fill the room w/ no trace of edge or harshness but are still ultra detailed in the high end. You can hear all the suble overtones in cymbal work and differences between different types of guitars. This is exactly what I wanted all along.
Downsides? Well they are a small sealed speaker so they have no bottom end to speak of. Maybe in a small room they'd work ok, but a good sub is must. My crappy Mirage is barely adequate, so I'm going to build a pair of OB subs using Danny's version of the Rythmik servo soon. They image well, and pulled well out in the room they present a nice soundstage. However, in someways I still like the big presentation of my old modded Maggies 2c's (though these beat them in every other category, by a wide margin)
Obviously I've not heard everything out there. But these compare favorably in terms of musicality and listenablilty to some much more expensive designs I've heard. Still for a small speaker they're not particularly cheap. I think new they go for around $3K. I paid $1200 for the original pair and all the upgrades and shipping cost me at least $1K. However, I couldn't be happier. Once I get some good subs and more GIK panels, I think I'll be done. At that point I could just start upgrading source and anps, but faced w/ tuition for pharmacy school and some much need building repairs, I'm probably done.
BTW: I tried the diffraction-be-gone wool pads and these speaker don't need them. In fact they make them sound a bit muffled. The old speaker probably would have benefited from them, but not needed now.
To sum up, if you are in the market for a small standmount speaker..... give the latest Merlins, the TSM-MMe or the TSM-MMXe a listen. ( the X version is the more expensive version finished in gloss laquer....mine have the textured matte black coating)