[rkapadia@ROOP]

Hey all,

Though VMPS does provide factory recommendations as to how to tune the floorstanders in room, I think it might not be a bad idea for users to post their own methodologies for tuning - various methods have different success rates depending on the person tuning and room.  For example, I remember Tyson you posted a different way of tuning your RM-40's, though I couldn't find the post.  (DISCLAIMER - I don't recommend any one method over another, and support the manufacturer's recommended tuning methodology, etc.. )

Thanks, and hope this helps VMPS owners out there.

Rup

[meilankev]

Hi Rupesh,

Back in Harmonic Discord's glory days, I had a number of extended posts about RM40 setup.  However, the early posts there showed my frustration at getting my system to sound right.  But the culprit ended up being my preamp had to be replaced (as it was a total mis-match for my monoblocks) - my frustration was no reflection on the RM40s (nor any difficulty in tuning them).

Tuning RM40s as I recall:

>  There are three main variables: Putty removal (and possible re-application); Pot adjustment (for mids and treble); and Speaker positioning within the room.
>  Since each of these interact with each other, there is definitely some trial and error.
>  First, you should try locating the speakers in different places within the room (before any adjustments), looking to avoid placing them in an obvious "black hole".  Even though this will almost certainly not be their final resting place, this is still the best place to start.  Otherwise, if you just stick them somewhere, and proceed on to "speaker adjustments", you could be in for a lot of extra work (as the place you chose could cause the speakers to interact with the room in such a way as to render all adjustments meaningless).
>  For me, the most difficult variable was putty removal.  When I removed minute scrapings of putty, there was not huge differences in sound.  While apparant, the differences became more and more subtle as I approached "right".  Brian advises that we should remove until the sound deteriorates, then replace the previous scrapping and you are done.  
   The apparant flaw with "getting this perfect" is that there is no way to ensure you have removed equal amounts of putty from each speaker.  Therefore, you could have the right-hand speaker perfect, but the left -hand speaker still needs 2 more scapings.  So your "next iteration of scraping" may yield no difference in sound quality (and in proceeding, you are beginning to deteriorate the right-hand speaker).
   Don't let this deter you, because you really don't need this to be perfect, and it's not very difficult to get it really close.
>  Next is the pot adjustments.  Again, for me, minor adjustments of one of these screws did not make night and day changes in the sound.  But like putty removal, the change was there.  Also, these are easier to adjust, and if you have someone doing the adjustments while you "sit upon your throne giving orders", it goes much more quickly than putty removal (note I wanted to do all putty removal myself).
   While these adjustments could be looked upon as "dialing in your preferences", I look at this as more "matching your speakers with your environment (room and upstream equipment).
>  At this point, you still are not done (but you are close).  Personally, I would listen to the speakers like this for a day or two, before re-adjustment, just to get your ears familiar with this "baseline".
>  After this, you should spend some time with relocating the speakers within the room (also with orienting the speakers "firing angle").  Even though the RM40s are big and bulky, this is not really difficult.
>  Of course, with any relocation of the speakers, this MAY prove to nessecitate some adjustment of putty or pot location.  To be honest, I have never felt the need to re-adjust the putty (since the speakers had fully broken in - about 6 weeks).  However, pot adjustment is so easy, I still play around with that sometimes just for the effect (remembering, of course, where the optimal setting is).
>  Speaking of "speaker break-in", yes my RM40s changed quite a bit over the first couple of months.  So, my last advice would be to not worry so much about achieving perfect sound the first week or so.  And remember to keep all putty you remove during your first adventure, as you may need some of it during you final adjustments (after break-in).
>  As to putty, it seems I removed more putty than described (pea-sized) - but then again, I have a tubed preamp, and I drive the RM40s full-range with tube monoblocks.  It's only reasonable to expect the speakers to respond differently to different amplification.

I hope this helps,
Kevin

I hope this helps

[soundguy3]

What helped me first and foremost was getting the speaker correctly placed AND toed in. Both are super important!!!!...In my room, and per John C's suggestion, I found that the the toe-in was best with the speakers firing directly at me... on axis......too much behind or in front of me,  and the soundstage disappeared...and they are pretty well out into the room, as you can see in the Gallery picture. Both of these things had a tremedous impact on how they sounded as far as soundstage was concerned. Mind you, this is for MY living room.

 Next acording to Brian, was to remove the putty until the SOUNDSTAGE was correct, depth, width etc and the Bass was right....it seemed to me, when the bass was right, the soundstage was right on.  Even with the toe-in, and the pots set at 12 noon, it is still possible to hear a big difference in soundstage depth and width.  

Once that was done, then it was time for the pots. Pots start out at 12 noon for both according to Brian.  I did notice that too much mids...and the soundstage becomes up in your face........but you have to experiment to hear what is closest to live.  I ended up reducing both pots from 12 noon  to make the speakers sound like they are reproducing a live performance.  

I should preface all this with this caveat:  These are tuned to my room and for my listening preferences....someone else may say...."not enough bass" or "too much mids/treble".   It sounds awfully good to me and very very close to live, especially with the EAR MKII amp and pre-amp....they both hide nothing sonically, and they reveal detail like crazy...so I am able to hear subtle differences in anything.  For example, just the minute turning of either pot makes a major difference in timbre and soundstage. It's a lot of fun and I LOVE the ability to do this, to tailor the sound to my tastes and my room.  Great stuff!!!!!!

Soundguy3

[Tyson]

I do not think there is some "magical" setting where everything just "falls in to place" and that all other settings are not even close to good sounding. The improvements as you learn to fine tune are incremental.

IMO, the pots are actually pretty easy to set, once you have the bass done well. Speaker placement and putty damping are the most difficult aspects of tuning the 40's, in my experience. Lucky for me, I've had the same room for my 2 channel setup for the past 5 years, so I know how it interacts with speaker placement WRT to bass. That made getting the putty damping a lot easier.

Once the bass damping is done, the rest is pretty easy. I listen to piano and and vocal music (since I know how voices should sound, and I've spent a lot of time listening to live piano). The pots take care of tonal balance, so I listen if the upper frequency is emphasized too much (reduce the treble and mid pot), if the mids are too prominent (reduce the mid pot), if the lower mids are overpowering (raise the mid pot), if the frequency extremes are too prominent (raise the mid pot, leave the tweeter pot alone).

If the mids are not "rich" sounding enough, it is probably a combination of the bass being over damped and/or the mid pot set too high. Having the bass overdamped and the mid pot turned up too much results in a sound that is shifted toward the upper mids and not enough weight to the lower mids.

Sometimes the mids still sound thin even w/the mid pot turned down, yet the bass is overbearing. This is a result either of a room mode (try moving the speaker), or the bass being underdamped for the proper mid pot setting. Try moving the speakers and/or damping the bass a bit more.

As you play around w/the various settings, you get a feel for how each setting will affect the sound, and once you've got that, zero-ing in on an optimal tuning is not that big a deal at all.

One thing you may find is that sibilants are emphasized and no ammount of pot adjustments will reduce it, at that point the culprit is almost assuredly the room. Most "average" rooms can be compensated for by turning down the mid and tweeter pots to combat brighness, and you will end up with a rich sounding lower mids/upper bass setting, but some rooms are so bad that no settings will help much. Then it's time for room treatments.