[John Casler]

Why VMPS?
 
Yesterday I recieved a PM from one of our great VMPS'ers. 

He said:

Hey John, this new crowd has no idea how bad the VMPS will smoke their cones and domes. And even horns? Jeez.

Now, in my opinion, and because Audio is really a "preferences" thing, I wouldn't actually say that VMPS will "smoke" a lot of speakers out there, but I would say that the newest versions have some interesting sonic technology and variety that should make it clearly a speaker to consider and contend with in most High End 2 Channel and Home Theater applications.

Now I have to admit to being extremely busy recently and not having the time to post as much as I like to.  As well, I have been a little slow to respond when some ask questions.  To that end, I thought maybe, I would take the time to write a little bit about some of the qualities, technolgies, and properties in VMPS speakers, and WHY you might want to consider them for your system.

There are MANY things that set VMPS apart from standard everyday speakers.  In fact, I don't know of ANY speaker manufacturer that offers all the qualities, performance, and options of VMPS.  Here are just a few VERY IMPORTANT things:


Why VMPS

1) HELP = High End Low Price  Brian has always enjoyed offering a product that far exceeded its sonic quality and perfromance expectations. In fact, he even wrote an article about how he felt many speaker manufacturers highly inflated their prices and did not have the performance to merit such prices.    Even as recently as 2 years ago Clement Perry, Editor of Stereo Times, wrote that the RM50 was the Best $60,000 speaker that sells for $14,900.   

2) Adjustability of the Tweeters and Midrange Drivers = Most all other speakers are PPP (place/plug-in/play) meaning except for maybe a few little breakin changes, the sound you start with is the sound you are "stuck" with.  VMPS is not like that.  We know that EVERY enthusiast is different, has different preferences, different equipment, different rooms, and changing listening abilities.  So with VMPS we have two main areas where YOU as the owner can adjust your sound to fit your preferences, gear and room.  The two main adjustable features are A)the Crossover, of which we have the Analog Crossover with L-Pad adjustments to the Neopanels and Tweeters, and the Digital Crossovers with adjustability to phase, timing, delay, slopes and frequencies.  Brian was one of the pioneers in offering both passive and electronic crossovers.

3) The Second area of adjustability, comes in the BASS System and Damping on all Floorstanders.  The Bass System of the VMPS speakers is quite unique and consists of one or more ACTIVE Bass Drivers and one PASSIVE Bass Radiator with a mass of mortite as and adjustable damping device.  This allows the end user to add or subtract small amounts of mortite (down to the size of a sesame seed) to "tune" the bass system to respond with the smallest amount of distortion possible.  This capability allows the listener to hear bass tones and harmonic overtones that many seasoned audiophile didn't even know existed and many recordings.

4) Custom Building YOUR VMPS speaker; For as long as I can remember Brian has offered more than just finish options.  He has driver option/upgrades, wiring upgrades, cap upgrades, crossover options, cabinet damping options, cabinet upgrades, kits, and other choices to allow you to BUILD the VMPS speaker that fits your budget, and listening preferences.

5) MADE IN THE USA - Currently the VMPS speakers are all made in the USA. Even many of the parts like the woofers are manufactured to Brian's specs in the US.

6) Different Models and Different Speaker Designs;  Right now excluding subs we have the following speaker models and designs:

1) The 626R
2) The Large Ribbon Center
2) The RM2
3) The RM30
4) The RM40
5) The RM50
6) The RM v60

more to come

[John Casler]

1)The NEOPANEL Planar Driver  with Patented CDWG 

At the heart of Brian's PLANAR speakers is the NEOPANEL Planar Midrange Driver. 

This is a very unique driver and at the heart of why VMPS sounds so incredibly accurate and cohesive.  Big B uses this driver on every speaker model.

In selecting a Mid Range Driver, one might want the following qualities:

1)Wide bandwidth frequency response
2)Great dynamics
3)Low distortion
4)Macro and Micro detail retrieval
5)Acceptable dispersion
6)Robust design

The NEOPANEL Driver meets all of those criteria, especially now that Brian has created the CDWG (constant directivity waveguide) that compliments the directivity.

Probably what sets it apart the most is the wide bandwidth frequency response.

As most know, the point at which a group of drivers "cross-over" to one another is one of the most critical elements in designing a speaker.  It is delicate as it is the point at which one drive is rolling off its output, and the other is rolling in.  It is this juncture where both drivers are producing a slight "overlap" in frequencies where things get dicey.  Brian selected the NEOPANEL as the heart of his speaker design because it has such performance flexibility as to allow a bass hinge (crossover point) of 280hz and a high frequency hinge of 5.9Khz.  This creates a very broad range of frequencies produced without the issues of a crossover from those points, which are generally thought of as less sensitive to your ears.

Many VMPS owners rave about the cohesiveness, clarity, and purity to the sound of VMPS and this is due in large part to the proper implementation of the NEOPANEL Drivers.

This driver is used across the line of VMPS speakers from the 626R (which has a single NEOPANEL) all the way to the RM v60 which has 6 Neopanels per speaker.  This commonality to the line insures that EACH VMPS speaker will have the same "Sonic Signature".  That is, they will match each other perfectly. As you go up the line, what you will generally gain is deeper bass (from larger and more woofers) and the ability to employ higher and higher SPLs (sound pressure levels)

Below is some of the history of the planar panels

Year 1998 saw two new drivers arrive from VMPS that have never existed heretofore. The 190cm tall push- pull, transformerless, unobstructed, high impedance (6 Ohms), high output 100Hz ribbon panels in the acclaimed Special Ribbon Edition Super Tower III (see Anthony Cordesman’s review in Audio Magazine Aug 98; the reviewer also purchased the system for his home) are nothing short of a new “Absolute State of the Art” (Audio).

Matched up with the unique synthetic granite, quadruple 30cm woofer towers and 15cm free- swinging ribbon supertweeter, the SRE/ST3 is the best speaker you can buy at any price. This is no mere repackaging of a few hundred dollars worth of cones and domes costing megabucks: our system includes the speakers, outboard electronic crossover and massive associated power supply (one million microfarads!).


In Nov 1998 we began delivery of the exclusive floorstanding Ribbon Monitor series which feature no less than the Holy Grail of highend audio: the first practical short (7″ ), push-pull, high impedance, unobstructed, high power transformerless 500 Hz ribbon midrange, the X7!

 Ingenious design shrinks the huge SRE panels to a size and cost suitable for high quality 25cm and 30cm threeways. Spiral ribbon supertweeters handled the 5 kHz to 30 kHz range; woven carbon fiber woofers and slot-loaded passive radiators supply bass well into the first octave (32 Hz at -3dB for the RM 1, 20Hz at -3 dB for the RM2.)


We never made any changes to our speakers for the “refreshing” reasons, but at the beginning of year 2001, X7 ribbon midrange became “obsolete”, and therefore replaced by even better sounding 20cm Neo panel with neodymium magnets and incredible 166Hz-10kHz bandwidth.

RM models thus evolved to respective Neo versions. RM2 includes 12″ WCF Megawoofer and Soundcoat as standard. Latest development in RM series, after award wining RM40 and exquisite RM/X – is RM30. RM40 won the “Best of Show” prize in “High-End Audio” category at 2002. winter CES.


Check out our latest designs which marked our 30th anniversary, RM V60 and new subwoofers – Very Solid Sub & Very Large Array, and then our best effort so far – RM50.

VMPS ribbon or push-pull planar dynamic mids and tweeters far outperform the best cones, domes, or single-ended planars, and you should never shell out premium prices for such again.

[John Casler]

Reserved