I've owned a pair of Merlin Music VSM speakers for over 20 years. They are a tower 2-way speaker with Esotar tweeter and Scan-Speak 8545 woofer. I always thought they were good... but a little "finicky". You had to pair them with the right stuff for them to sound good. Or, was that really the problem?... more on that... Punchline: "You have to use these speakers with tubes because tubes are the only thing that are going to allow you to deal with the very forward sound due to lack of baffle step correction."
Recently, I acquired a pair of Wilson Audio Duette speakers. They were also "a little finicky"... and even more than a little finicky. They are very FORWARD and IN YO FACE! The speakers will actually melt your face, in stock form. As Danny found via measurement, the Duette did not account for baffle step loss either, and they are very forward sounding. Revealing, yep. Pleasant? Not really... but so revealing that after hearing a pair at a friends house I found a pair. I thought they were different, and they are. Now, after having a proper crossover designed for them by Danny, they should be much better - for me.
Hmm... I'm noticing a pattern. What do the Merlin VSM and Wilson Audio Duette have in common? Well, the Merlin VSM also did not account for baffle step loss. That's why they sound "finicky"... "will reveal your upstream electronics"... "must be paired with the right gear". From now on, when I read that in a review (by some person who just happens to have their opinions put into print and it influences your mental health / decision-making), I am going to think... "yeah, they probably didn't account for baffle step loss, lets see the measurements between 700hz and 2khz". The Merlin VSM is rated at 89db sensitivity. The Scan-Speak 8545 woofer is rated at 88db... because, yep, no baffle step correction! The Merlin VSM came with a "BAM" - Bass Augmentation Module which provided 5.2db of boost at 35hz. Why would you need to artificially boost the bass of a speaker? Because it's uneven due to... lack of baffle step correction. I've come to very well realize that BAM was no "feature" of the speaker - it was there because of the glaring flaw of no baffle step correction! The good news is that I'm very smart, and realizing this patter only took me 20+ years.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Batman! You live and learn... (or you keep doing dumb stuff). This all seems obvious now, in retrospect.
What's more... the measurements for the VSM show it, unfortunately. Imagine my sheer "joy" to see measurements from Danny for the VSM... after I'd already spent a $$$ number with a comma in it for an "upgraded crossover" for the VSM.
Well, sometimes you make your own luck, and this week I have found a new owner for that special, upgraded crossover. He's a long time Merlin VSM owner, wants it, and I want to move on from that "voicing / sound" (poor crossover design). Between the Wilson Duette, the Merlin VSM, and the measurements for each, I am quickly learning what I like, and don't like. TIP: Watch out for the range between 700Hz and 2kHz. Danny mentions it multiple times in various videos... the answers / secrets are being shared, if you're paying attention. He's not just filling dead air like commentators for a football game... LISTEN and connect the dots.
Merlin Music VSM Measurements
Now... what to do with this 20+ year old, 2-way tower speaker that weighs 85lbs, now has no crossover, a very good tweeter, and a woofer that appears to have some ringing up into 1khz+ range?
Well... I gotta idea... the top chamber for the Dynaudio Esotar is sealed. How about a driver that plays mids / top end coherently and assign the Scan-Speak 8545 the task of handling up to 200hz without whining / honking / shouting about it?
The LGK 2.0 fitment in the image is to scale. I'll need to fabricate a plate / something to mount it. No big deal.
Anybody wanna bet it will sound better than it does now and not be "finicky about upstream electronics" because it's "ruthelessly revealing" (because it doesn't account for baffle step loss and is in your face...)?
This is gonna happen, unless somebody says "there's just no way that's gonna work, besides, I gotta better idea..."
A Dayton Audio DATS measuring system arrives tomorrow. I have a UMIK microphone and REW will measure actual speaker response - not just room response. XSIM should be able to plot this out and get it close... then fiddle with low cost parts until... hopefully... it's "right". And, I know a guy who can probably look at measurements like he's looking at The Matrix is say "swap in and out these 2 caps / resistors". I know "it's not that easy"... but I should be able to make it better than it is now, I hope. Maybe I can even buy some variation of an LGK kit with some extra parts for measuring / fiddling?
And then there's spreading some Joy in a different way, perhaps another Merlin owner not suffering from Cognitive Dissonance will like it too... I've already spoken to one long time, well known owner who thinks any criticism, and Danny's measurements of this speaker in particular, are completely flawed and heresy: although, he never did dispute the lack of baffle step correction - the core issue with the speaker. Me, wasting time -->
People can be real "funny" about "their chosen speakers". I don't get it...(well, I do... many people are mental) it's about the Music, and making it sound nice. That's why I have a pair of Sony SS-CS5 sitting in front of me.
Stay tuned...
