[esprits4s]

Man, I want those RM/X so badly!  If only they were a little closer to MA. 

[BEM10001]

Man, I want those RM/X so badly!  If only they were a little closer to MA.

It pains me to tell you this and I will only do so if you promise me right of first refusal if you offer to sell someday, but I was in contact with the seller on those Elixirs. Shipping to Philadelphia was only like $750. Not great, but not bad all things considered.

[James Romeyn]

It pains me to tell you this and I will only do so if you promise me right of first refusal if you offer to sell someday, but I was in contact with the seller on those Elixirs. Shipping to Philadelphia was only like $750. Not great, but not bad all things considered.

Does that number include packing or just transport?  RM/X have to be either crated or double boxed and strapped to a super sturdy pallet, one pallet per speaker.  That's a lot of truck real estate.  I'm happy to explain how to pack them in double carton, preferably on the phone, which you can record.  Any carpenter can make crates for them.  Pack with a mix of rigid and high density foam.   

I suspect the total # of RM-X pairs is <10.  Roy's pair is in fine form.  I heard that exact pair at 2014 RMAF and the sound outperformed what Brian ever coaxed from them, likely the result of Roy's analog front end, and tube preamp/power amps, about ten times the cost of anything Brian ever used.  One particular modern SS amp would outperform Brian's preferred $7500/pr Ampzilla mono, for less than half the cost.       

I suspect a fine digital source could approach Roy's analog front end, but Brian's best DAC was the Wadia 27ix, which may have set a benchmark in stage size and imaging, but IMO lacked musical involvement, w/grit/grain in the upper mid/treble.

RM-60 Wings have some good qualities, but the mechanical junction to the three 6.5s lacks refinement, the Wings are satellites/require subs, plus the foam damping pad is, well, I don't know exactly how or what to say about it except operation was never mechanically sorted.  A couple owners here can help with fixing those two items.  The 6.5" on the Wings go too low to take best advantage of a distributed sub array, which defines state of the art bass.  This was not a design error when Brian invented the Wings, because distributed sub array was an unknown quantity at that time.  The ideal application with Wings is to active HP cross the mid bass around 120-140 Hz.  Cross two forward subs @ 120 Hz, cross two rearward subs in the 70-80 Hz range.  Ideal is active HP/LP on the 6.5s, active HP on the mid planar drivers.  This calls for two sub amps total, two main amp channels per Wing, and a lot of active xo and cables.  RM60 also have larger footprint, especially when accounting for the subs.  I'm not knocking the Wings, it's just the performance/complexity equation favors the X.   

I'd lead toward the RMX, especially driven by the SS mono blocs I'm thinking of.  Brian's best work purely for audio performance is his last flagship the RM-50 (his first and only flag ship bipolar speaker), but it's a big flat box and lacks the X charisma.  The only reason the X discontinued was no one would make the cabinets, for any price.

Again: I'm curious if Neo planar owners would take a close look and confirm whether they do or do not see magnet and/or diaphragm deformation.             

[James Romeyn]

Man, I want those RM/X so badly!  If only they were a little closer to MA.

I have to agree with the other poster.  If you like those X, I can't imagine an estimated 2200 miles would stop you from getting them.  A friend of mine is unemployed and might even drive them to you in a rented mini van, requiring only foam padding (Logan, UT > Las Vegas > MA drop off van > fly home).  Ask seller Roy if he knows something that can drive them to you in rented van then fly home.  Three days and it's done.   

The amp I was thinking of weighs 8.5 lbs and makes virtually infinite clean voltage and current, obviating almost any advantage for biamping.

If you get them, liberally spray Caig DeOxit Gold into the L-pads vents, onto the internal contacts.  It's considerable work, but I suspect worth the trouble to replace the L-pads with high end L-pads @ $100/ea (again, sprayed liberally with Gold) or completely replace the L-pad w/two fixed resistors.  One resistor would be parallel with two dedicated binding posts located in the area where the L-pad now resides. 

User would trim mid and treble gain up/down by varying external resistor value (lowest gain = empty post/no external R, maximum gain = lowest R value to be determined).  The external R option requires minor engineering, but likely outperforms the L-pad upgrade. 

The upside is this upgrade further negates the biamp advantage, and is the absolutely best performance option for single amp, which I like just because it's simple and minimizes clutter.  The upgrade cost a lot less than biamp, cables, etc.             

[Stimpy]

Man, I want those RM/X so badly!  If only they were a little closer to MA.

Well, I guess it's a moot point?  The RM/X Audiogon ad has been deleted, so I assume the speakers have been sold!     

Maybe these will compensate?   

VMPS FF3 Special Ribbon Edition - (West Valenica, AZ)  $2000

http://tucson.craigslist.org/ele/5474938269.html




"These speakers have amazing audiophile sound. Theses speakers won over the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show with 3 audio magazines writing articles declaring them the best of show. 1999. This set has the biamp set up with external crossover and power supply, a 800 dollar add on, there are also finished in a piano black finish, a additional 500 dollar cost to the base price of 8400 dollars for a total cost of 9700. This set was originally set up by Brain Cheney. He signed and dated both speakers. Please research these speakers, or call me with questions or to audition these speakers. Email with out telephone # will be ignored."

[Stimpy]

VMPS SUB N DENON POA 6600  -  (Santa Clara, CA)  $500

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/ele/5475702486.html







"For sale is a vmps sub with piano black lacquer finish with a denon POA6600 amp to drive it. Both are working perfectly. The sub is the larger sub model with a 15" n 12" active woofers plus a 15 mass tune passive radiator. It also has the carbon woofer option."

[titaniumheads]

I have heard these MANY times, including the night Brian tuned them for Roy.

Great Sounding, and with w TRUE Free Swinging Tweeter.  In fact the FST Tweeter name came from the RM/x.

Just bought these behemoths

[Stimpy]

Just bought these behemoths

Ding, Ding, Ding...!!!   We have a Winner...!!!     

CONGRATULATIONS!!!    

[titaniumheads]

Ding, Ding, Ding...!!!   We have a Winner...!!!     

CONGRATULATIONS!!!    

Roy is driving them up personally to my house in Boise this Sunday. What a guy.

[James Romeyn]

Roy is driving them up personally to my house in Boise this Sunday. What a guy.

Congrats!

Roy is good people!  You'll enjoy his company.  Roy's wife Donna is gourmet cook, and they are fantastic hosts.  They put up a couple musician friends for CES that played in VMPS live/reproduced demos.

I think Roy passes right through Logan Utah traveling to/from your place.  I'll contact him and see if he can visit.  You're welcome to visit anytime.  Images of my latest sound room mods coming next week when camera arrives.

What amp drives your new X?  Brian over stated sensitivity about the same as the industry average.  The main item is VMPS eat current like it's going out of style.  In that regard the X may be worse than VMPS average.  Lots of drivers, lots of mid bass, etc, etc.  I suspect X impedance drops quite low, w/difficult phase angles.
     

[John Casler]

Roy is driving them up personally to my house in Boise this Sunday. What a guy.

Yes. Roy is the greatest.

Good Score!   

[esprits4s]

Congratulations!!  Please post pics!

[titaniumheads]

Congrats!

 Sorry messed that last post up

[titaniumheads]

Congrats!

Roy is good people!  You'll enjoy his company.  Roy's wife Donna is gourmet cook, and they are fantastic hosts.  They put up a couple musician friends for CES that played in VMPS live/reproduced demos.

I think Roy passes right through Logan Utah traveling to/from your place.  I'll contact him and see if he can visit.  You're welcome to visit anytime.  Images of my latest sound room mods coming next week when camera arrives.

What amp drives your new X?  Brian over stated sensitivity about the same as the industry average.  The main item is VMPS eat current like it's going out of style.  In that regard the X may be worse than VMPS average.  Lots of drivers, lots of mid bass, etc, etc.  I suspect X impedance drops quite low, w/difficult phase angles.
   

I have a pair of  pass labs XA 100.5 monos. A pair of Jeff Roland 525 monos. And a pair of Ncore 400 monos.
I will get the tube amp if I need too
I feel very privilege to meet Roy after hearing about him. He said he was even going to stay and help me set them up.

[James Romeyn]

Awesome! 

You have amps for three RM-X pairs!  Search for two more pairs!   I suspect the cat's meow to power X is any bridged nCore series, 400 or lower cost 500.  The 1200 is a nice beast, but twice as costly as bridged 400s for marginally better performance.  nCore and VMPS separated at birth IMO.     

X is the most "collectible" VMPS model, if such word applies to VMPS.  As I said, I suspect the 50 likely is Brian's best work, but it's just an absolutely huge flat box. 

Those X curves are kinda luscious.  How many pairs did Roy say Brian made? 

[Brax]

This looks like the same Neo panel used by VMPS (13 slot) but when you look at the spec's is says it's 2.8 ohm.

http://shop.speakerenco.nl/planar-ribbon

[James Romeyn]

I'd probably just purchase used Monsoon rigs and cannibalize the panels.  I serviced about a dozen panels, both Brian's and Monsoon, replacing the terminals, and wrote copious notes comparing impedance and sensitivity.  I think I can find the notes if anyone's interested. 

 

[Stimpy]

VMPS TOWER II LOUDSPEAKERS  -  (CHELMSFORD, MA)  $750

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/ele/5477820807.html





"VMPS TOWER II LOUDSPEAKERS BY ITONE AUDIO, CA.--HIGHLY EFFICIENT SPEAKERS--GENUINE WALNUT VENEER WITH SNAP OUT BAFFLE COVERS--50"H X 21.5W X 17D--POWER REQUIREMENTS 20-300W RMS--12" SUBWOOFER, 12" LOW BASS WOOFER, 5" MIDRANGE, TWO FRONT TWEETERS ONE TOP TWEETER. SPEAKERS WERE PURCHASED NEW BY PRESENT OWNER AND HAVE HAD ONE IN HOME FACTORY UPGRADE."

[Stimpy]

VMPS QSR 626 - One Speaker Used As Center  -  (Independence, Missouri)  $250  BIN

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172123794416?rmvSB=true




"VMPS QSR 626 speaker. Single speaker. Used as center center. Seems to work very well. Paypal only. US bidders only."

[Stimpy]

PAIR OF VMPS SUPER TOWER SPEAKERS  -  (Pawnee City, Nebraska)  $450

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/ele/5479549136.html





"VMPS Super Tower speakers, each speaker stands 52" tall, 19" deep, and 19" wide.

I have the original documentation and brochures on them.  I have the manuals and documentation.
They were a 'kit' speaker, I assembled them in the 90s.  Still in great condition and work and sound
great.

$450 or best offer - cash only - you pick up."