Merlin heads suck right out of the box. You never know what kind of crap they're going to ship you. If they haven't been run, tear 'em down and check them closely.
( I told World Products I'd get even with their ass for f*cking me on a set of heads!)
You are right. My merlins were supposed to come with springs with 140lbs of closed pressure. I ran them a few times. We couldn't figure out why I couldn't get any power at higher rpms. Took one off and it was a 90lb spring. WTF.
Heads flow great, but you are right about the tearing down. If they came from a catalog, even the darts need to come apart.
I gotta agree w/ the majority here. Offer $500 mabey $600 max. I dont think anybody will beat the guys door down for that stuff in the condition its in.