In the market for new speakers

Afterimage · « **on:** 29 Oct 2004, 06:19 pm »

I'm looking for new speakers. I mainly listen to rock/pop. Someone on the other forum recomended VMPS to me. I started researching this forum and I came a across a thread about what speakers people who purchased the RM 40s audition them agaisnt. One person, Jgubman, demoed them against Dali MS 4s. He said there were very comparble and simular speakers. I own the Dali MS 4s, and if the VMPS RM 40s or 30 are as polite and laid back as the Dal's, I'll pass. The Dali's are terrible for rock/pop. Has anyone else compared the two speakers. Any VMPS owners in Iowa, Minnesota or Missouri that would be will to give me a listen? Thanks.

zybar · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 06:22 pm »

Quote from: Afterimage

I'm looking for new speakers. I mainly listen to rock/pop. Someone on the other forum recomended VMPS to me. I started researching this forum and I came a across a thread about what speakers people who purchased the RM 40s audition them agaisnt. One person, Jgubman, demoed them against Dali MS 4s. He said there were very comparble and simular speakers. I own the Dali MS 4s, and if the VMPS RM 40s or 30 are as polite and laid back as the Dal's, I'll pass. The Dali's are terrible for rock/pop. Has any ...

I haven't heard the Dali speakers, but I don't think anybody will call the RM 40's polite or laid back.

George

shokunin · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 06:55 pm »

Afterimage,

If I remember correctly, the Dali Euphonia MS-4's were at RMAF in the same room as Kharma, dejavu, and manley amps. i think that room drove the Dali's with a digital amp and I didn't really care for that particular setup. In that room they were sweet and soft, a bit slow in pace, which I felt odd since they were using a digital amp.

I think many people are put off by the "adjustability" of the VMPS speakers, but they can be adjusted to sound laid back or bright, or boomy, or tight, or soft, based on your tuning of the pots and putty. You can't do that with most speakers, which I find critical to get something tuned they way you want it to sound.

Tyson has his RM40's tuned to play both classical and R&B/Rap music.

lkosova · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 07:23 pm »

Afterimage,

welcome to the Forum.

I am in Chicago and just had some folks from Iowa come by. I have the RM-30's . They Rock!!!! I think you need to correct setup and gear to make them do so. I play all sorts of acoustic jazz to Rock of all types and these play loud and clean. Your amp will give out before these speakers will.

Larry

WWW.AudioandImage.com

John Casler · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 07:38 pm »

Quote from: Afterimage

I'm looking for new speakers. I mainly listen to rock/pop. Someone on the other forum recomended VMPS to me. I started researching this forum and I came a across a thread about what speakers people who purchased the RM 40s audition them agaisnt. One person, Jgubman, demoed them against Dali MS 4s. He said there were very comparble and simular speakers. I own the Dali MS 4s, and if the VMPS RM 40s or 30 are as polite and laid back as the Dal's, I'll pass. The Dali's are terrible for rock/pop. Has any ...

Hi AfterImage,

I too would have a rough time tagging VMPS speakers as "polite".

They, as mentioned earlier can be "tuned" to be more polite, but are generally thought of as having "high resolution" and detail, coupled with rather aggressive, but musical bass.

They are not "boom boxes" or "horny". I find they are great for Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop and even Techno.

SWG255 · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 07:54 pm »

I also listen to a wide variety of music on my RM40s, including rock, jazz, classical and folk/"Americana". I really like the RM40s because they are right on the edge between in your face detail with transient authority and an effortless open sound. In other words, they possess both qualities at once, a rare combination in any audio gear. It does take some effort to tune them to match your other equipment and room, but the rewards are more than worth that time.

Happy listening.

Afterimage · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 08:31 pm »

Thanks for the replies guys. Its reasuring to know they are not laid back and polite like my Dali's. That is the sound I am trying to get away from. I'm more of a candidate for the RM 30s since I have to pass the WAF test. Other speakers I am looking at are Amphion Xenon, Triangle Luna's and Neat Mystiques.

Marbles · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 08:38 pm »

Up until about 30 seconds ago I was cranking Roadwork - Edgar Winter's White Trash Featuring Rick Darringer with Special guest Johnny Winter.

Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo at high SPL's is a real treat on my RM40's

ctviggen · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 09:04 pm »

Where are you located? Those speakers are European.

Afterimage · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 10:49 pm »

I am in Des Moines, Iowa, but there is a audio dealer in Kansas City called Primus Audio Pleasure that carries the Triangle and Amphion Speakers.

John B · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 11:10 pm »

Afterimage,

What electronics are you currently using? Do you require deep hard hitting bass?

Afterimage · « **Reply #11 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 11:14 pm »

I have a Ray Samuels Audio Stealth Preamp, otherwise known as the Emmeline 2. I have a modded PS Audio HCA-2 amplifier. The source is a Cary 303/200 cd player. I may replace the HCA-2, I don't know.

John B · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 Oct 2004, 11:21 pm »

If I were in your shoes I'd replace the PS Audio amp with something on the warmer side, like a Son of Ampzilla amp, and depending on your room size, I'd go for an RM30 and a VMPS sub. For rock you just can't beat having those really low freqencies brought into the mix.

jgubman · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 12:05 am »

When I demo'd the MS-4s, I remember walking away from the demo w/ the impression that they were very resolving, with a tight and detailed midrange, great bass and a very precise and sweet treble.

I don't remember them being laid-back or polite at all, though I'll take your word for it, as I only had a 45 minute demo in an unfamiliar room w/ unfamiliar electronics (this was at Audio Visions, a dealer in San Francisco in their "big" room, w/ lots of room treatments, and I believe a Simaudio front end, powered by their monster W10 amps).

I remember putting the Dali's at the top of my list after leaving the demo. It's been awhile, but my impressions were: detail and resolution, nice seperation and a gorgeous top-end. As others have mentioned, they're also tuneable, so you can adjust them to be as forward or tuned-down as you like.

The RM-40s I ended up w/ and have lived with for a year now have all of the above and more. I'd like to go back to the dealer and get another Dali demo one of these days for another comparison.

From memory, I think the Dali's had a larger soundstage, which probably translates into less definition in the sweet spot. That's going off of my long-term memory (I was with a friend and we swapped positions, one to the outside of the sweet spot and one directly in it. I don't remember there being too great of a difference), though, so take it for what it's worth -- not much...

lkosova · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 12:09 am »

AfterImage,

Since you are a Cary owner...I am a dealer also. I use an all Cary setup at the moment with the Cinema 8 pre and Cinema 5 and 4 channel amps. I am using the Cary cd/dvd 6 for playback which has excellent imaging and the sound is comparable to anything under $5,000(Cary 6 is $2,000 retail). The amps have plenty of power that is clean and Cary does have several new multiplayers coming to market very soon but yours is an excellent player also. All Cary amps and players are referenced against their highend tube gear so you get "tube" sound from SS.

Just thought you would like to know that VMPS plays excellent with this brand of gear.

Larry

WWW.AudioandImage.com

Afterimage · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 02:44 am »

Quote from: jgubman

When I demo'd the MS-4s, I remember walking away from the demo w/ the impression that they were very resolving, with a tight and detailed midrange, great bass and a very precise and sweet treble.

I don't remember them being laid-back or polite at all, though I'll take your word for it, as I only had a 45 minute demo in an unfamiliar room w/ unfamiliar electronics (this was at Audio Visions, a dealer in San Francisco in their "big" room, w/ lots of room treatments, and I believe a Simaudio front end, powe ...

Hi. Maybe its my electronics that make the Dali's sound polite and laid back and plodding, but I doubt it. I think it is the signature sound of the speaker. The dealer in Kansas City, who is also a Dali dealer told me I have the wrong speakers for the kind of music I listen to. Don't get me wrong, they are very enjoyable. For example, I could put on The Clash Greatist hits, and everything seems a little dull. When I put the same CD on my bedroom system with a Rotel 1065 reciever and Green Mountain Audio Europa speakers, everything comes alive. By the way, I didn't expect to get this much response or replies and input to my speaker situation. This is a testament to how strongly VMPS owners like their speakers. You guys have good insights and are very helpful. Thanks.

Tyson · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 04:01 am »

The RM40's are without a doubt the best "chameleon" speakers I've owned. Meaning that they are "the best" I've heard in most areas, and "merely excellent" in others. I've got pretty diverse tastes in music, trip hop, rap, and classical (large orchestral to chamber to solo piano or violin), and the 40's handle everything with aplomb. I've been thinking about why I like them so much for quite a while now, and I think I've hit on the answer. They have that rare combination of power and delicacy, transparency and smoothness, impact and purity, that I just don't hear in many speakers at all.

ctviggen · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 03:52 pm »

My girlfriend and I describe the RM40s as being "layered" because you hear so many details. My Linns (5140s) I thought were great speakers, but the Linns aren't even close to the RM40s in resolution, detail, bass, you name it. My tastes have gone from heavy metal to more tame stuff (even Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, two people I hated when I was younger), but I still rock out to Big Head Todd and The Monsters, Guns and Roses (who I thought were too tame for me when I was younger), Blues Traveler, Wilco, etc. In fact, I complain all the time about women (i.e., Dianna Krall and similar) who don't rock out -- I like the music but have to go from Dianna's CD to something that rocks.

lkosova · « **Reply #18 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 05:02 pm »

Bob,

It's funny you said that you like artist now that you never would when you where younger. I am finding that all the time now. I am buying cd's that I should of when I was 16....kinda funny how taste change or mature.

Larry

ctviggen · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Oct 2004, 05:43 pm »

Larry,

I read a study that said that whatever you listened to in your teen years is what you'll listen to forever. However, I don't listen to anything now that I listened to then. Back then, I had several hundred tapes, all of hard rock/heavy metal. Now, I cringe everytime I hear Boston or Led Zeppelin, as they were so overplayed I can't listen to them. I rarely listen to anything I used to listen to. Instead, I'm looking for better musicianship and song writing, and I'm even beginning to branch out into acoustical music and -- gasp! -- classical. (Now, if only I could like Jazz, my change to the dark side would be complete!)