Paul, I know almost nothing about the Merak, but just based on the numbers you can apparently do a little better. There's a considerable amount of opinion that for the same price other subs(e.g. Hsu, SVS)have more to offer but there's little solid information on the point. Since cherry EP175s are on sale now for $450 it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.