PRESS RELEASE
Leading UK specialist hi-fi manufacturer Musical Fidelity has updated its popular Merlin 1 system with three new colours for its unique elliptical speakers – now available in super deep, luxurious white, yellow or silver grey.
The Merlin 1 System features the Merlin digital amplifier and Bluetooth apt-X streamer and the Merlin 1 Speakers for a combined price of £799.
All of the system has been designed to Musical Fidelity’s bespoke specifications and features the highest-grade components, many found in the company’s more expensive audiophile products, plus some unique technologies to ensure the sound quality is simply stunning.
Merlin is also the first digital streaming system that has been designed from the ground up with the LP very much in mind, and includes the option to purchase the system with the dedicated Roundtable turntable for an all in price of £1300.
The system’s design is both beautiful and contemporary. The loudspeakers have a subtle elliptical shape with very fine finish in an initial choice of red, black or silver now joined by the three new finishes. The amplifier is available in black with a custom made extrusion, beautifully machined top form and elegant front panel
Merlin digital amplifier/streamer
At the heart of the news system is the sleek and compact Merlin digital amplifier/streamer which carries a very high specification featuring two 24bit, 192Khz DACS and twin high grade amplifier modules - running as completelyseparate monoblocs to minimise unwanted noise and distortion.
Peak power into the Merlin loudspeakers is a comfortable 50 watts per channel, allowing the system to replay music with high resolution, fast dynamics and accurate transients.
The integrated headphone amp is also of a very high quality - being based on Musical Fidelity’s dedicated audiophile V90 HPA model. So whether listening through the Merlin 1 speakers or your favourite headphones, your music sounds superb.
System inputs include: phono, USB (isochronous for updating the system or connecting to a PC), Bluetooth aptX and a line input (digital or analog).
The Merlin system also includes an inbuilt analog to digital converter (ADC) and a specially configurable output - analog or digital, fixed or variable – which allows direct connection to a computer so that any of the Merlin’s inputs can be ripped to the hard disk – including LP. Alternatively, it allows for the addition of a subwoofer or the connection to active loudspeakers - either digital or analog.
Merlin 1 Loudspeakers
The Merlin Loudspeakers also include a new Musical Fidelity innovation via the company’s exclusive diffraction multiplier system that allows the relatively compact speakers to offer a huge but accurate stereo soundstage.
Rather than the normal flat front baffle, the Merlin 1, calls on Musical Fidelity’s years of experience of designing high-quality dipole speakers, and features a multi-stepped baffle which combines with a single wide-dispersion BMR driver in each speaker to offer near-field flat frequency response, low distortion and a real hi-fi sound quality.
The impression is of a far larger system, with the sound seeming to be omnidirectional, giving a feeling of space and air whilst still giving a very wide but very focused image.
The Round Table
Musical Fidelity has a long heritage of designing exceptional turntables and the Round Table is no exception: Produced to Musical Fidelity’s bespoke specification, the new turntable also includes a unique feature.
Much effort has be made to ensure that, for the first time, all of the decks components have been designed and placed to guarantee that the product is perfectly, statically balanced and that its centre of gravity is at the pivot point of the main bearing.
Other top spec components include: a polished high carbon tool steel bearing – for an exceptional long life and friction free performance – an extremely inert chassis and suspension system and a very high quality pick up arm, usually used on products several price categories higher than Round Table.
The Merlin 1 system will be available in now Richer Sounds, Superfi and other leading specialist hi-fi stores. Consumers can choose to mix and match their system with the Merlin 1 Speaker being available in yellow, white, silver grey, red, silver or black; the Round Table has a choice of red or black finish while the Merlin amplifier is available in black.
