[Stimpy]

Lot of Audiophile Speakers and Electronics - $350 (St. Louis City)

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ele/4474726582.html


More QSO 626s.  And then some...







"Up for sale is a lot of audiophile speakers and electronics. The first $350.00 cash gets the following:

1. Pair of NHT Absolute Zero Bookshelf Speakers
2. Pair of VMPS QSO 626 Bookshelf Speakers with stands
3. Focal 5.1 Sib and Cub 2 subwoofer system (5 Sib satellites, 1 Cub 2 subwoofer, 2 curved stands)
4. Mitsubishi Digital VCR with Remote
5. Monster AVS-2000 Voltage Regulator (NOT WORKING)

All of the above speakers have been tested and are working. The Mitsubishi VCR and remote is also working. THE MONSTER AVS-2000, HOWEVER, IS NOT WORKING. It plugs up and lights, but makes a very loud whirling sound. If you have the means to fix it, it's probably worth around $500 on the used market.

Because of the age of this equipment, ALL SALES ARE FINAL AND THE BUYER TAKES THE ABOVE ITEMS AS IS."

[Stimpy]

VMPS SUPER TOWER IIa SPEAKERS PAIR, 75" TALL.  $399.95 (Opening Bid)  (Wallingford, Connecticut)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-SUPER-TOWER-IIa-SPEAKERS-PAIR-75-TALL-WORKING-FINE-15-SPEAKERS-IN-EACH-/291152516839?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item43ca0ad6e7




"This is a pair of real big and powerful sounding VMPS Super Tower IIa speakers, made in California by Itone Audio. They have 15 speakers in each but are efficient and don't need gobs of power to drive. These were bought in the mid to later 1980's in kit form. They were over $3000 when new in kit form, if bought assembled, they were lots more. I bought these used several years ago, and I have rewired these as there was a mistake when I bought them and I didn't need the BiAmp setup or L-pad. I will include a wiring diagram I drew for them and some of the older paper work I got with them. In the past 2 years I have updated the crossover networks, redone the foam surrounds on some speakers, and replaced the downfiring 15" woofer surround with cloth accordian surround for long life, and bought a new 15" woofer for the front firing woofer. I replaced a couple 12" woofers with equal power and specs 12" woofers. I put new tweeters in them, new midranges and a Selenium tweeter in each of them. They are now wired directly with no BiAmp network, so just one amp will drive each of them in stereo. There is a switch in the back which I have bypassed, and there is heavy Monster wires coming out for better bolt together connections, but the black and red clip connectors are wired up also so you could use either. They are air sealed speakers. They have two 15" woofers, one is down firing near the bottom, the other is on the bottom front firing as shown in the pictures. They have a 15" drone (passive radiator) inside the top section facing upwards which I replaced the surround on 2 years ago with a cloth accordian surround, so it won't have to be ever done again. They have three 12" woofers, there are five 1 1/2" dome tweeters as shown in the pictures, 1 Selenium tweeter near top in pictures, and four 5 1/4 inch midranges. All Speakers are working as they should be. They are made to take 20 - 500 watts RMS (as mentioned on the paper work), but I never put more than 125 clean RMS watts into each of them with a Crown amp, as they were plenty loud with great bass and full sound. I am only selling these because I am 71 now, and want to move south someday in the near future, and they would be too much to take that far. They work on 4-8 ohms. They are made of particle board and are painted black. They are 75" tall x 21 1/2" wide x 18" deep and they weight just over 200 pounds each, so you will need a van or truck to pick these up (and a couple blankets or sheets of cardboard). I am retired so can be here most anytime. NO SHIPPING, PICKUP ONLY. I live in Wallingford, Ct. which is in central Connecticut. No Returns."

[Stimpy]

PRICE DROP

VMPS RM-40 Awesome Floor Standing speakers  $1700 (ebay BIN)  (Reno, Nevada)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-RM-40-Awesome-Floor-Standing-speakers-/261486391357?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3ce1cdb03d






"If you're looking for the ultimate speaker, look no further!!!
These babies are amazing!.....
But they are huge, over 66" tall and weigh over 240lbs each...
Shipping these monsters is totally out of the question,
so they must be picked up.... (I will meet buyer half way within a 100 miles or so)

I am the original owner, bought them new directly from VMPS.
MANY VMPS upgrades...
The beautiful full wrap Rosewood finish,
FST tweeter upgrade..... best sounding tweeter I've ever heard.
TRTs cap upgrade...
Analysis Plus 12 gauge Silver bass wire,
MidBass MEGAWOOFER! Driver upgrade....

These speakers have been known to bring tears to the eyes of their listeners...
they are that special..... if you're a Metallica fan, or a fan of music period.... you won't believe your ears...

If you have the room for these, and the electronics... you will be blown away...

As you can see from the pictures these speakers are in excellent condition, no scratches or dings.
All drivers and grills are in excellent condition as well.....
Suggested retail for these speakers with upgrades is well over $6k....really

Specifications

     FST Tweeter, Four 8" Neodymium Midrange Panels, Two 10" Woven Carbon Fiber Woofers

    Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms

    - 3 dB at 24 Hz

    Power Handling 500W

    Bi-Wireable

    Dimensions: 66" H x 12.5" W x 17" D

    Weight: 240 lbs each

    MSRP: $5,000/Pair USA Depending on Finish; $6,200/Pair for Review Units"

[Brax]

I just bought these speakers so consider them sold.
This allows me to sell my LRC along with the RM2s I have for sale.

VMPS RM40 Audiophile speakers! rare and sweet sounding. - $2950 (Madison, WI)

http://madison.craigslist.org/ele/4452273579.html





"If you know the history of this speaker and the company you know that these do not come up for sale very often and even more rare is finding them in the mid-west and there is a reason for that. Most dealers seemed to be more concentrated on the east coast. I recently made a road trip across five states to pick up two pair of these speakers and have decided to sell one pair. It was not an easy decision but I am comforted knowing that I am keeping a pair for myself. This is a big speaker, at 66" high, 12" wide, 17" deep and 240 lbs each, they have big presence physically and sonically. The midrange and upper detail is wonderful. They have 4 ribbons, Fst tweeter, (2) 10" drivers and a down firing 8" passive radiator. They are capable of filling a large room with clean sound given good, clean power, they are some of the best sounding ribbon speakers that I have heard. The finish is Macassan ebony. They will take plenty of power and have adjustable midrange and treble controls located at the rear of the speaker. I am looking for a serious buyer, this is a very nice sounding speaker and well reviewed, they don't make them like this anymore and for the price of what people pay for decent bookshelf speakers you are getting much for your money."

[Stimpy]

I just bought these speakers so consider them sold.
This allows me to sell my LRC along with the RM2s I have for sale.

Thanks for the heads-up.  I edited my original post, to update that these RM40s were sold.

Also, congratulations on the 40s.  That should be an awesome speaker.  Do you have them yet?
Keep us updated!

[rbbert]

Those were mine, BTW, and advertised for sale here on AC since last Oct.  Although if you are geographically nearer the current seller you will get them more cheaply than you would have from me (in Reno, NV)

[Brax]

I do have them, but my system is not up and running yet. The system will feature 40s front and rear with dual rm2s for the center (if I can get dials to work without issue).

As far as getting them cheaper, yes you are correct but the real deal is the 40s on eBay for sale in reno. I was tempted to pick those up but don't have the time for that roadtrip.

[PMAT]

Those 40s are beautiful. You must be very excited. I am told that actively biamped they are retardedly good. I'm sure they are great using the passive network as well. I'd love to hear them both ways.

[Stimpy]

VMPS Tower Speakers ONE OF A KIND - $3500 (Chicago - lake in the hills)

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/ele/4486764332.html





"If you are an audiophile than you know who VMPS is already. The owner and engineer of the speaker line which was around for 20 years or more, Brian Cheney, died in 2013 and his speaker line died with him. Brian still has a wife (Shirley) and kids and so Shirley has been selling off his warehouse stock to other speaker builders nationwide.

I have the most ultimate pair of the best speaker VMPS ever built THE RM-40 which is the only not just speaker but product that has ever won the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (3) years in a row!!!! This was won with an orchestra behind a curtain and these speakers behind another curtain and everyone picked the speakers as the live performers!!! That is how amazing these are!!

These are in the $1,200 upgrade Rosewood Finish and the only pair that were book end matched which means their wood came from the exact same tree and if you know how big these are you know how hard that would be to obtain!! These have (4) Planar Neo panel mids per speaker, (2) carbon fiber woven, double stacked 10" mid/low base speakers with another down firing 10", along with the world's best tweeter unanimously selected by almost every speaker designer or audiophile on earth "The FST Tweeter"!!!. These speakers have the TRT capacitor upgrade, the internal silver wire upgrade, 24 kt gold posts, the FST tweeter upgrade, the crossover upgrade etc..etc... this is like buying a model home because they have every option available to demonstrate to others so they could pick and choose what they wanted when they ordered these.

These speakers sold for over $6,800 per pair and now that Brian is gone they have been going up in value in the past year. I am selling this review pair, with every possible option, book end matched in Rosewood for $3500 firm! Call me (see original ad) if interested".

[Stimpy]

Price Drop

VMPS QSO 626 Audiophile Bookshelf Speakers (5.0 system with stands) - $295 (St. Louis)

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ele/4485971833.html







"Up for sale is a package of five VMPS QSO 626 speakers. This is the original model and thus these speakers do not have the ribbon tweeter. You will get two pairs of VMPS QSO 626 speakers plus one VMPS QSO 626 center channel. I will also include the stands for each of these speakers.

All of the speakers work perfectly. The wood grain o the speakers are not perfect. Some of the grills are also fraying around the edges. One of the grills for one of the speakers is broken.

I do not have the boxes for any of these speakers, so this is a cash only, local pick-up sale.

Interested buyers, please provide an e-mail address and telephone number, so I know that you are not some sort of scammer."

[Stimpy]

PRICE DROP

VMPS RM-40 Awesome Floor Standing speakers  -  $1500 BIN  (Reno, Nevada - Local Pick-up Only)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-RM-40-Awesome-Floor-Standing-speakers-/261486391357?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3ce1cdb03d&afsrc=1






"If you're looking for the ultimate speaker, look no further!!!
These babies are amazing!.....
But they are huge, over 66" tall and weigh over 240lbs each...
Shipping these monsters is totally out of the question,
so they must be picked up.... (I will meet buyer half way within a 100 miles or so)

I am the original owner, bought them new directly from VMPS.
MANY VMPS upgrades...
The beautiful full wrap Rosewood finish,
FST tweeter upgrade..... best sounding tweeter I've ever heard.
TRTs cap upgrade...
Analysis Plus 12 gauge Silver bass wire,
MidBass MEGAWOOFER! Driver upgrade....

These speakers have been known to bring tears to the eyes of their listeners...
they are that special..... if you're a Metallica fan, or a fan of music period.... you won't believe your ears...

If you have the room for these, and the electronics... you will be blown away...

As you can see from the pictures these speakers are in excellent condition, no scratches or dings.
All drivers and grills are in excellent condition as well.....
Suggested retail for these speakers with upgrades is well over $6k....really

Specifications

     FST Tweeter, Four 8" Neodymium Midrange Panels, Two 10" Woven Carbon Fiber Woofers

    Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms

    - 3 dB at 24 Hz

    Power Handling 500W

    Bi-Wireable

    Dimensions: 66" H x 12.5" W x 17" D

    Weight: 240 lbs each

    MSRP: $5,000/Pair USA Depending on Finish; $6,200/Pair for Review Units"

[PMAT]

These 40s in Reno are killing me. I'm pretty close to them. And I own a Suburban.  are the large drivers replaceable? Any stock anywhere?
PMAT

[Brax]

PMAT,

If you are close, GO GET THEM! They are a steal at that price.

[PMAT]

  I'm in the justification stage. I ran it lightly by my wife  I already have 6' tall Carvers that I am not giving up. I am worried about servicing them. I think the woofers are not available so a blown one would require mods. 240 lb speakers are formidable. At $1500 it's stupid good. Damn. 

[Stimpy]

VMPS Large subwoofer - $550 (Escondido, CA)

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/ele/4488371108.html


NO PICTURE

"VMPS Large subwoofer , it has a 12'' carbon fiber woofer, 15'' polly woofer and 15'' passive radiator upgraded Mega woofers in Walnut. This is a passive sub, so a power amp/crossover is needed. Very good sound, built and designed for Music systems".

[/mp]

priced at $850 on audioaudioasylumtrader. No mention of center channel.
http://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/listing/Speakers-Floor-Standing/VMPS/Tower-II-Special-Edition/Upgraded-Tweeters-and-sub-bass/104906

Two matching VMPS Tower2 Special Editions, plus one QSO626Special Edition for center channel.  $950  (Leesburg, VA)

http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649125913-full_range_tower_speakers_plus_matching_center_channel_vmps_tower2specedition/





Seems like the price on these keeps going up, each time that they get reposted somewhere.  But, at least, the deal now includes a matching center.

"These are one of two pair of amazing of audiophile speakers that I own. Designed by Brian Cheney.
Recommended to me by Anthony Cordesman of Audio Magazine. Downsizing and need to go with only one pair.
You will NOT need a subwoofer with these!!! The bass is full, tight and strong. Goes down to 20 Hz - really. Great for movies. -Includes the matching center channel (QSO626SpecialEdition) - well worth it. THESE CAN ALSO BE BIAMPED - as they have the subwoofer inputs for it.
Upgraded built in 12" Sub-bass unit: 1 mass loaded with slot-loaded port.
Two 12" Special Edition Carbon fiber woofers, specially treated for long lasting, and high quality usage.
One 5" woven carbon fiber Special Edition midrange
1 Focal 120 Hard-dome tweeter - replaced both tweeters with brand new units this year.
PS - I have one extra Focal tweeter.
1 High Efficiency Ribbon super tweeter.
92dB/W/meter at < .7% THD, 115dB SPL at 1 meter with < 5% THD.
45"x15"x16", 105 lbs, each. Minimum Phase design. Bring your movies or Audio to audition."

[Stimpy]

Audiophiles - VMPS Tower II SE high end speakers - $300 (Sugar Land, Houston TX)

http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/4497981196.html





"VMPS Tower II SE (Special Edition) Speaker System pair, may need some work. $300 firm for the pair.

I am listing my VMPS Towers for sale. These are fairly rare and highly sought after by audiophiles. As you can see in the pictures, they are large, full sized, and in very nice condition. The cabinets are very large, with oak veneer on the front and sides. The tops are a cool black laminate, very easy to clean & maintain. Grilles are black cloth on removable frames. These are gorgeous with the grilles removed.

IMPORTANT NOTE - The 12" drivers may, or may not need to be reworked - see below - but if you're really into the high-end audiophile stuff and interested in taking this on, this is an amazing opportunity to own a pair of the finest, most awesome floor speakers ever built. Still interested? Read on.


Specifications:

Sub bass: A mass loaded , slot-loaded down-firing 12" radiator (for very, very low frequencies).
Woofers: Two 12" Carbon fiber woofers
Midrange 5" woven carbon fiber
Tweeters: 1 Focal 120 Hard-dome Plus 1 high efficiency ribbon.
Minimum Phase design.
92dB/W/meter at < .7% THD, 115dB SPL at 1 meter with < 5% THD.
44"x15"16", about 100 lbs, each.
Adjustment pots for Mids and Treble located on cab front
Can be bi-amped - switch selectable connectors rear of cab


History and background:

Designed and built by the late Brian Cheney, a legendary figure in the high-end audio community in the 80s and 90s, the Tower II SE speakers represented the culmination of the VMPS line, exceeded only by their (much) larger Tower II siblings. Brian's company, VMPS, was dedicated to building speaker systems which would accurately reproduce ALL of the frequencies and harmonics at concert volume levels that a listener in the best seat in the best house would experience in a live symphony orchestra performance. Don't be put off by that If you're into heavier modern music - these things absolutely rock! And no need for separate subs. With the massive cabinet, 12" drivers and radiator, these things will pull strongly down to 19Hz producing powerful bass - clean and tight, just amazing.

After Brian Cheney passed away, VMPS closed and the inventory was liquidated. VMPS systems rarely show up for resale and are very sought after in the high-end audio community. If you're into the best of the best, you'd be crazy to let these go at the price - you probably pay more for a single speaker cable than I'm asking for the pair of these.

Here's a review of similar (but not the same model as these) from the May 1988 issue of Stereophile Magazine:
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/588vmps/

To continue, the Tower II SE speakers are 4/5 way, with two 12 inch woofers on each cabinet, plus a passive 12 inch radiator, firing down at the bottom of the slot-loaded cabinet which provides incredible, house rumbling lows. The two driving woofers operate at different frequency ranges to provide a strong, full low-end response. The mids are very (VERY) clean and distinct, and the highs are to die for. I believe the inverted dome tweeters are made by the Focal/JM Lab people, or at least the design taken from them. And the film super tweeters just add the finishing touch for a super crisp sound to beyond human audibility.

These speakers are obviously very power hungry as performance rather than efficiency was the goal. I originally drove these in my home system with a pair of Adcom 555/IIs and they sounded so amazing.


Details and fine print

Now, before you go get your bro-in-law's truck to come racing over here to pick these up, you need to understand why the price on these is so low. In a word, AGE. I purchased these new from a VMPS dealer in southern California in 1994 for $1500 (a LOT of money then). After my divorce in 2008 all of the audio equipment was sold off but I held on to these. I had them briefly running as my main playback and entertainment speakers in my home rehearsal studio in 2009, driven by a QSC RMX2450 power amp fronted by a Presonus 24 channel digital mixer. They still sounded awesome! However, these have not been used since 2009 and I'm afraid that the 12" drivers will likely need to be rebuilt as the surrounds have probably become brittle and the heavy coil magnets are likely sagging. Also, the foam dampening around the tweeters is no longer soft - I believe the foam used in JBL le-25 tweeters would make a good replacement here. So, these will take some dedicated refurbishing work to bring them back to their original amazing performance levels.

The grilles are in nice shape with slight wear from age but the cloth may need to be re-glued at the edges in a few places. Honestly though, you'll use them without the grilles unless there are small children in the house that like to poke things. The cabinets overall are in beautiful shape but may have some slight marks or scratches on them. I only mention this because these speakers are 20 years old, are very large, and have been though several moves. They have always been kept in an air-conditioned room, never in the garage.

IMPORTANT - This listing is for a pair of USED speaker systems and are offered in "As Is Condition". The drivers MAY need to be reworked or replaced (re-read the two preceding paragraphs). I no longer have power amps or equipment to run these so if you insist on hearing these before buying you will need to show up with your own pre/power amps, cables, and an audio source.

Also - these are LARGE and HEAVY (100+ pounds each). You will need a truck or SUV with folded down back seats and a strong friend to help you carry these off. I am located off of Hwy 6 on the northern side of Sugar Land. I will NOT bring these out to you or meet you somewhere so you can see them. You need to come here to check them out.

If you buy them, for an additional fee, probably $40 depending on how far, I may be persuaded to deliver them in the Houston area (with your assistance loading and unloading).

$300 firm, cash only. FIRM. CASH ONLY. This is a very good price and you won't find another pair of these for under $1000 anywhere. If you can see this ad, I still have them. Please, don't text or call me just to ask if I still have them. That's so dumb.
I normally work out of the house so you can arrange to come by days or evenings. No texts or calls after 10PM please."

[Stimpy]

Subwoofer - $150 (Anchorage Alaska)     

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ele/4499161084.html





"Have a VMPS Passive subwoofer for sale. By passive I mean it does NOT have a built in amp, it needs an amp of some kind to drive it just like a regular speaker. 10 years old. Has one 12 inch front firing driver and one 12 (I believe) inch downward firing driver. This subwoofer is intended to augment stereo speakers in the bass in an audio system not house shaking video or rap music. Originally was $500. Specs, as best as I can remember, are:

Sensitivity: 90dbls
Input Impedance: 8 ohms
Range: Gentile roll off at 100hz down to 28hz
Power requirements: 20w-200w (I would suggest the more the better)"

[Hemy]

OMG! 

[James Romeyn]

The recent TII deal seems very fair.  Conversely though, I always preferred the earlier regular TII cabinet with round arc of mid-treble drivers near the top.  Strangely, the earlier driver array seemed to perform better, and the carbon fiber mid in the latter SE vertical array is soft on dynamics. 

Best TII would employ Brian's own poly mid range, to this day a stellar mid bass driver and best overall of all his cone mids. 

Re. planar super tweeters in all Brian's cone/dome systems: Best of all was the large Philips, then a close second was the original JVC, then tossup between the JVC clone and Foster. 

Best ever dome in the cone/dome systems was the Scan Speak D2900 series, then the Focal glass inverted dome (not the horrid Kevlar, yech), then the Philips dome we used forever....really never much liked the Morel series, even the upgraded models. 

Woofer wise they all kicked butt and I'd be least concerned about woofers, which likely all will need new surround anyway.