The San Francisco Audiophile Society enjoyed hosting Merrill Wettasinghe, Principal and Founder of Merrill Audio. Merrill Audio is known for their award winning amps, preamps and phonostages. Merrill spoke about his latest developments in amplifier design with the GaN (gallium nitride) transistor and his Tape Head Preamp.
From the Merrill Audio website:
Merrill Wettasinghe is the principal and founder of Merrill Audio. Merrill, though an engineer by education and profession, studied piano from an early age and continues to play as a beloved pastime. Merrill was building components, aged 10. Long ago he entered entered the ‘twilight zone’ of advanced electronics, where magic can happen and things are hard to explain. Merrill wonders about the word ‘audiophile’. What does it mean? Does it mean a love of sound, or a love of music? Perhaps it is both, but the love of music wins, every time.
Because Merrill is a pianist he understands certain things about how music happens ? particularly how important speed is. Musicians are pretty fast, they have lightning reflexes. They have to because the notes in the score don’t account for the time it takes to get between them on an actual physical instrument. Composers create seamless things. Musicians have to express that seamlessness in physical space, with a physical instrument, that has distances to cover. Musicians learn to think with the spine, the small muscles, the body intelligence.
What happens when the musician, the audiophile and the advanced engineer meet in the same person? Something special ? audio reproduction devices that reveal the beating heart and soul of musical performance. This is Merrill Audio. The vision of true musicality, its depth, its subtlety and nuance, its micro-gradations of refinement and taste. Its emotive power and joy.
Merrill has a BSEE and a MBA, has worked for Fortune 100 companies as well as many startups, including a few that he started himself. Merrill is bringing 30 plus years of experience in research, marketing, global sales and management to the brand. Merrill Audio is here to stay.
Link to Zoom meeting:
https://youtu.be/YL9dxX-e6mE