[avguytx]

First let me say that I always wanted to have a pair of VMPS speakers after seeing and hearing them at various CE shows many years back.  I was in the home/car A/V industry from about 1984 till 2009 (last 9 years as a Manufacturers Rep) but got out of it when the market went south.  Anyway, I went through tons of gear while living in the DFW area that was picked up on the cheap before the market busted out everything on CL, ebay, etc.  It was a fun ride.

Fast forward to now where I've whittled way down to a single system and 2 pairs of speakers; Klipsch Epic CF-3 version 1's and ads L1230's, of which both sound great to my ears (tolerating tinnitus, as well).  I now live in central AR in the town I grew up in so it's a rare occasion to see ads speakers and never any VMPS.  I'm 3 hours from Klipsch but those aren't abundant, either.  We build a new house that we moved into 3 years ago and I have an upstairs room over a 3-car garage that has that usual look of 5' "knee walls" that slope up to 8'.  The room is basically 15' x 28' and I have my system on the short wall.

I had always kept an eye open for VMPS and they never come up around here and I came close a time or two in driving quite the distance to get a pair...but didn't.  Just recently, a pair of RM40's have come up that I can get for a song...along with one of the original subwoofers and a Carver amp.  BUT, there's a big issue.  Both speakers were apparently wrapped in plastic, then blankets, then stored in a camper (yeah, that's what I thought, too) and one of them got wet on the back side to the point where the gloss black finish has separated and the L-Pads appear to be hidden between swolen MDF.  Pretty sad.  Now, I'm a knowledgeable woodworker and have been building cabinets since about 1980 (home and car stuff) so typically, I have no problem with a little rework.  I'm just afraid these back panels may be quite the pain to redo.  I've cut off swollen panels off of speakers and fabricated new ones in and re-veneered; that's not an issue.  But these speakers are awkward and heavy and I don't know what's on that back wall.  So, I'm in a deliberating mode.  I don't "need" another pair of speakers and I really don't want to spend a ton of time tinkering with putty on passives to get them right.  My other two pairs work great with minimal effort. 

Anyone with any knowledge of the insides and backs of these cabinets?  They don't have to be beautiful on the back side if I have to redo the one...I can live with imperfection as it's not in the front.  I'm attaching some pictures.  Thanks for any input.

[Jstower]

Looks like the back is 1 1/2” thick ( two 3/4” glued together) and the side is 1” to 1 1/8” thick. Hopefully the crossover didn’t get damaged because they are right behind the speaker post cut outs. Good  luck Jim

[Bob Stark]

The sides and back are 3/4" MDF.  The front baffle is 1.5" MDF.  The top and bottoms are each 3/4" MDF.  I was a demo dude in the Chicago area for VMPS the last 4 years before Brian's death.  I had to do work to most of the VMPS speakers I got to audition to make them operate properly.  Brian was still alive and helped me to do the correct procedures by phone.  I think you are in for a mighty big PITA if you want to take a chance on these speakers.  I've owned the RM30's, 2 pair of RM40's, 626R's, and a 215 VSS upgraded sub.  All were very fine sounding once the problems were fixed.  I still own an awesome pair of RM40 BCSE's with all the upgrades except the OX, but including the MLS cabinets in bookmatched rosewood.  They were Martin DeWulf's reference speakers at Bound For Sound for several years.  I also have a pair of Bob Smith's SP Technology Revelation Mk-V's with several upgrades I did since getting them.  I will be selling one of them soon--comes down to choice by ear.  The RM40's are not in perfect condition, but about 8 out of 10 on the Audiogon scale.  The Rev's are about the same condition.  Both of these pairs of speakers are in perfect operating condition.  PM me if interested to hear more.

Bob

PS.  It looks like all the metal parts on the back are toasted with rust and disintegration of the metal.  I would think the insides of the cabinets are in similar condition and virtually useless and may have mold from the dampness along with needing all the sound insulation material replaced.

[avguytx]

Oh, I agree completely that the one speaker is definitely one step away from being completely "fubar".  Before they would ever be able to make it into the house, all the drivers would have to come out and be surveyed and the cabinet evaluated to even see if it's worth it.  Not that I'm a fan of having to completely cut off the back side of a speaker and redo it, but I can if need be.  I've built far more complex speaker cabinets, and complex wood projects, than these big monkey coffins.    If anything, maybe the drivers would be salvageable, if most all work, to be sold to others as backups.  I have backup drivers for the two sets of 25 to 40 year old speakers I currently own; Klipsch Epic CF-3's & ads L1230's.  Never hurts to have spare parts for older stuff for sure.  Maybe someone will get there before me and take them home thus knocking me out of the loop.  ha. 

[rbbert]

First everyone should consider the fact that although these cabinets were well designed and constructed the materials are "cheap" (which allowed them to be sold new for such a good price).  Likewise if they are the "standard" Xovers the parts are not premium.

If the drivers and Xover circuit boards are in good condition you should seriously consider going ahead.  Most or all of the Xover components can be upgraded resulting in better sound anyway (the Lpads could be a challenge to find).  Hardwood is incredibly expensive these days, but again if the cabinets were built using MDF glued to hardwood rather than veneer they would both look and sound better.  It all depends on your resources and skills, but this could be one of those DIY projects which results in a product much better than what was originally sold.

[GeorgeAb]

If you have the expertise to repair cabinets, the XO is a piece of cake. I have posted schematics of the RM-30's and Shaukat has posted RM-V60's. I just posted today the schematics on another post of the guy working on the tweeters of his RM-40s. The schematics are identical and everything is wired point to point, no circuit cards. If you decide to get these, I will provide the RM-40 schematic of the XO. I have a pair, but have never taken the time to draw up the schematic.  The XO parts are not expensive and all readily available: 4 inductors, 3 sets of capacitors and two 8 ohm L-pads. L-pads are available from parts express for $16 each. We got you for the crossover. That said there will be nothing wrong with the capacitors so they can be reused, indcutors may have some corrosion (.25mH is $12, so its not going to break the bank) will not know until inspected, and just replace the L-pads. This is what the XO looks like except it is all inside the speaker, big 10" hole to get to everthing. One pic is also of XO inside speaker.





 

[GeorgeAb]

Worse case if you don't want to fuss with cabinets and selling for a song. Snag the speakers for the drivers and sell to support other VMPS owners. The 10" speakers, and panels and tweets have value. I believe I paid $325 for a pair of 10" VMPS drivers just to stash away for spares. You have four, $75 for each neo panel and you have 8, tweeters are $100 for the pair. The drivers are worth $800'ish which is more than a song.

[avguytx]

Someone bought them the night before I could get there.  If I could have made it Friday night, I would have bought everything for $500 but I was on call until early Saturday morning.  The seller was pretty desperate for cash apparently.  Someone else bought them and re-flipped already.  Offered them to me for less than listed but I had less interest at that point.