Duke Spinner Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Need a one word Review .....???? FANTASTIC for more detail than that... lets talk about the Music that was used as a reference for comparison-- Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford, Howe ....prog , i guess , if you need a label Busy,congested mix- lot's going on ...Synth, Chimes, heavy Bass , Piano Adam Holzman ..... jazz+fusion clean open mix ....,Keys of all types, Synth, Hammond, Piano,close mik'ing on the drums, Bass / rotosound strings, Sax, Vibes, Chimes after you get to a certain level in equipment, the differences are small in detail.... well, actually, they are small details ... you find a great preamp will resolve details that pertain certain instruments, like .... the attack of the "Percussion" Drawbar on a Hammond B-3 ...the decay on Reverb- long, the decay of Woodwinds- short ...Splash on a Cymbol ..."ssshhht" of Brushes on a High hat ...Head "slap" on the Kick Drum ...the attack, and resonance of a grand piano ...the "woody" sound of Vibes ...woodwind details, like breath fluttering on say, a flute, lip action on a Sax Wow..! does the Merlin ever deliver ! ! ! here's the Signal Chain for this review Audio Alchemy transport > A. A. DAC > Merlin > Crown MX crossover 2/way > Crown K-2 bass amp / Pro-Valve 6L6 based mid/high amp > JBL 4430 The MERLIN delivered .. a huge 3-D image Taunt, well defined bass slighly recessed mids, maybe the voicing, the tube, equipment interaction ?? excellent resolution of the aforemention "details" an unobtrusive high register with nice sparkle i tested this A/B next to my $2500 Pre-amp... the Merlin gave litle away, and produced a more expansive Soundstage.. what a FANTASTIC job it did ...maybe Mark should raise the price...!.. a LOT .! more specific's if you've read this far , you want to know ... A,W,B,H Merlin absolutely shown it's mettle with this busy, busy mix... instruments were clearly defined, like heavy Bass, Kick Drum, and Synth..all fighting for room in the lower register there is a lot of thin, bright high end to this recording Merlin reproduced this , without becoming harsh, or overly obtrusive.. Adam Holzman Merlin came thru here too ....more detail oriented, open mix sweet Vibes, nice Decay, Huge impact on the Kick , and bass lines tang, ching, splash on the cymbols, again with the all important decay .. Sax attack ! Sax growl ..! .. i have to say ... the Merlin is much more than i expected.. Great Product, Mark.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytubepower Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 I would have to agree, I am sitting down in my studio tonight for my review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Man all this talk is making me want to dump the HT thing for a 3 channel tubed rig with a Peach and three VRD's. I don't do vinyl or else I would get the Blueberry Xtreme-Cream. Does the Peach have a center channel and subwoofer output? It need not have a crossover just an output for the subwoofer. You guys are a BAD influence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 Frzn .... i am Very curious now ... to hear a Blueberry/ Peach i was floored by the performance/ price ratio here .....Merlin +++++++ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Frozen, The Peach has L and R main outs. You could certainly use RCA Y cables to get signal to the sub and a PWK mini box to get the derived center to your third VRD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 ---------------- On 8/25/2005 2:14:28 PM Daddy Dee wrote: Frozen, The Peach has L and R main outs. You could certainly use RCA Y cables to get signal to the sub and a PWK mini box to get the derived center to your third VRD. ---------------- Mark has mentioned how many times you can split the signal without deterioration. I can vouch for that. On my right channel main out, I have the signal split three ways: (Marantz tube amp, Rotel amp and rear Dynaco tube amp). On my left channel main out, I have the signal split four ways: (Marantz tube amp, Rotel amp, rear Dynaco tube amp and sub). No deterioration despite the splits. The Peach does not have more outputs, but it does have the HT bypass, which is invaluable for incorporating it into a HT system (using your mains for both 2-channel and HT). Duke, glad you liked it. Now, you see what we have been raving about. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 ---------------- On 8/25/2005 2:06:44 PM Frzninvt wrote: Man all this talk is making me want to dump the HT thing for a 3 channel tubed rig with a Peach and three VRD's. I don't do vinyl or else I would get the Blueberry Xtreme-Cream. Does the Peach have a center channel and subwoofer output? It need not have a crossover just an output for the subwoofer. You guys are a BAD influence! ---------------- FRZN one thing I believe the Peach and Blueberry both have is an HT pass through. I have heard both the Peach and Blueberry Extreme with VRD's. An absolutely fantastic combo no matter which way you go. If I did not have so many Irons in the fire right now and had a surplus of disposable income I would drive VRD's all the way around for my HT with a good Pre/Pro and get a Blueberry for two channel use with the passthrough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 ---------------- On 8/25/2005 1:59:51 PM crazytubepower wrote: I am sitting down in my studio tonight for my review. ---------------- Where's the Merlin ...?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytubepower Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Haha, I remember that system, I don't have kg4's or that tt or cdp, and only use the hk430 in a second system, and a phono for now. Plus it is in another spot, but anyway. And that is not my studio, have to lug my **** over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 I stuck this on the bottom of James' talk about the Merlin, but here goes here: Still have the Merlin in the bedroom office. Switched out the Alesis power amp and set up my Dynaco ST-70, rebuilt with a Curcio Audio upgrade board with 3 JAN/Phillips 6922 tubes in it. Also has the P.S. upgrade and a replacement power tranny from Uncle Ned (that is one heavey sucker!). This is powering the Heresy IIs. Still feeding the PC to it at the moment. I let everything warm up for probably 15 minutes before sending any music to it. Mainly because I got sidetracked. Put in one of my favorite CDs-- David "Fathead" Newman/ Mr. Gentle Mr. Cool, a tribute to Duke Ellington. Biggest impression (again) is the imaging is rock solid. These guys are IN the room, and you can place them across the soundstage. Changing the gain on the Merlin only makes it louder or softer. The eq doesn't change a bit. That stupid line "straight wire with gain" comes to mind, but hey, it seems to be that way even if it isn't true. I'm still impressed with how cool this runs. I think I have had a pocket watch get warmer than this. Like the 8 ft. long power cord too. What else can I say. Very quiet (does it actually make any noise?). I love the looks as well. (gush... gush...) And it isn't just because someone on the forum made it either. Great job Mark. If the other models are as nice as this (and users seem to think so), you have designed something really special. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 ---------------- On 8/25/2005 6:29:55 PM Marvel wrote: If the other models are as nice as this (and users seem to think so), you have designed something really special. Bruce ---------------- They better be! Glad to hear everyone enjoying their new toys. Mark certainly hit a home run with his line of preamps. Now just waiting impatiently for some juicy watts to arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 For Mark ... input imp. ..since we are unbalanced ... was 10k ohms .. what is your ideal load ..?? this gets missed alot, and explains why people sometimes get radically different results, with, say, the same preamp.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 bump...... for Mark .. Re: input impedance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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