Merlin TSM - DIY'd speakers

For Sale: Discussion in 'Classified Adverts' started by daws0n, Apr 5, 2009.

  1. daws0n

    daws0n

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    I bought these from a guy on eBay about 10 months ago, they've served me well and sound fantastic considering the price I paid for them. They're based on Merlin's high end TSM speakers, and sound great with acoustic/jazz and any kind of laid back music. However if you're into dance/metal or anything hard/bass heavy you might as well stop reading here, otherwise here's some more info.

    (copy and pasted from the original eBay description which I saved for info etc...).

    ---------------------------

    this auction is for a set of quality magnetically shielded speakers, made by a skilled enthusiast from superb quality components. His description follows. I can confirm everything here - these are extremely well constructed units, with outstanding performance, although I would recommend quite a punchy amp to drive them properly. I'm very reluctantly parting with these after rationalising my equipment and relocating my system to a smaller room, which calls for smaller speakers (Royd Edens, in case you were wondering...).

    These speakers began life as a design similar to the Highly regarded Award winning Merlin TSM standmounts, details found here: WWW.MERLINMUSIC.COM .

    They use high class drive units from Morel - If you haven't heard of Morel then you really are missing out, they are quite similar to Dynaudio (hardly surprising as they started out together), thus they incorporate the same design features and high quality build, resulting in their near identical look.

    Morel units have long been the drivers of choice for many of the worlds finest speaker makers, among them: www.Duntech.com.au , www.egglestonworks.com , www.wegg3.com , etc...

    When I first made these they were fitted with the exact same driver arrangement as the Merlin's - a Morel MW164 6.5" woofer and a Morel MDT-30 Tweeter. However after continued listening, tweeking and testing of the speakers I found my prefered match was to use a similar but more compact shielded tweeter from Morel's range (the MDT-39), this allowed me to easily recess the tweeter and accurately time align the drivers (something not possible using the MDT-30 with it's larger faceplate).

    The speakers themselves are solidly constructed, using a differing thickness dual layer method with intensive extra internal bracing (all assembled using Marine grade Epoxy Resin - no cheap weak PVA glue used here), they are finished in gloss black with 1/2" solid mahogany side panels. The result of this is the speakers are incredibly strong, solid and inert (with wall thicknesses all 1" at least) a perfect start for producing the very best sound.

    Here are some specs:

    Sensitivity - 87db/w

    Impedance - 8 nominal

    Freq Response - 55hz to 20khz +/-3db

    Size - 14.5"H x 8"W x 12.5"D

    The speakers are single wired (I tried bi-wired/Bi-amped but found no advantage) sealed designs (tried ported but prefered sealed), using symetrical 2nd order (12db/oct) filters on both tweeter and woofer, acoustic damping felt is fitted around the tweeters - this is to help eliminate any possible diffraction effects.

    I had thought of fitting grilles, in fact I did when I first made them - but they were removed, as I prefered them uncluttered - if needed I would suggest using acoustic foam attached using velcro pads (as used by Wilson Audio) thus reducing any possible ill effects of both speaker cloth and frame (easily found on ebay).

    These speakers really do sound terrific, I have compared them against many more expensive speakers and they always proved their quality (displaying a much smoother/more even in room frequency response, which no doubt helps them produce their wonderful natural sound).

    These really are a bargain - if you were to buy just the drive units alone it would cost more than my auction price (these drivers are normally used in speakers costing £1500-£4000 a pair, or more if mated with larger woofer), added to that the high quality crossover components and cabinet and these are an absolute steal.

    ----------------------------------------

    Fast forward to now, we've cleaned up the cabinets considerably - my dad who is a decorator by trade sanded off the heavy gloss and applied a satin black matte finish to them. We also had some grilles made up for the fronts. They look much better now (though not perfect) and sound great.

    I am asking £235 for these (what I paid altogether) which really is a bargain for what you're getting. The guy who sold them to me is right, they're great speakers and were a big step up from the Epos m5s we were using before them. To buy the drivers/parts alone you would be looking a lot more money that this.

    Anyways, enough with the hard sell :) They weigh about 15kg each so they've got to be pick up only I'm afraid (based in South Wales, near Cardiff). Auditions/try outs are more than welcome, though you'll have to bring your own amp(s) as we've switched to some active ADM9 speakers instead.

    Pics are available here -

    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG]

    One other thing to mention is that the bottoms were not touched as no one sees them, so they still have the high gloss mahogany finish

    [​IMG]

    If anyone's interested let me know. I'd like to keep them but unfortunately they're too big to store any longer so they've got to go. The speakers they're based on retail for $2100 so you're getting a lot of speaker for the money :)

    Dawson
     
    daws0n, Apr 5, 2009
    #1
  2. daws0n

    daws0n

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    bump
     
    daws0n, Apr 6, 2009
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  3. daws0n

    daws0n

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    bump - no one interested?
     
    daws0n, Apr 7, 2009
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  4. daws0n

    daws0n

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    bump again
     
    daws0n, Apr 10, 2009
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  5. daws0n

    daws0n

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    Still for sale - these are a real bargain guys. Been trying them out with my quad 34 / 405-2 and they give a really rich full sound. Stunning vocals! If I hadn't of sold the quads already (going today) I would probably keep this setup and sell the ADM9s.

    I can now demo them with my exposures for you so no need to bring your own. No commitments, come over and take a listen!
     
    daws0n, Aug 3, 2009
    #5
  6. daws0n

    daws0n

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    Not the most flattering of pictures, but with the grilles and on stands (so you cannot see the bottoms) they look fine. They're very plain and "boxy" looking, but I think they make up for their bland looks with a great sound.
     
    daws0n, Aug 3, 2009
    #6
  7. daws0n

    KimKo

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    Hi,

    Do you think that would be a good match to my Acuuphase amp?

    How much would be posting them, overseas?

    All the best
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 3, 2009
    KimKo, Aug 3, 2009
    #7
  8. daws0n

    daws0n

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    Hi mate,

    No idea, haven't heard accuphase myself so can't comment. Unfortunately overseas shipping is out of the question on these, they weigh about 35kg between them and there's and no packaging!

    P.S Are there any UK'ers out there that would be interested if I were to P&P at cost?
     
    daws0n, Aug 6, 2009
    #8
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