[John Casler]

Hi All you New (and Old) VMPS'ers

Below we have basic information, and "portions" of informative posts that might be useful in setting up and tuning your VMPS speakers.  Please look all the way through this information to get the best results

Congratulations on owning what I think are the most accurate and best sounding speakers on the Planet.

NOW WHAT???

Let me try and offer a "step by step" approach to what to do now.

1) Carefully unpack your speakers, taking care to:
    
    a) not damage the grills or finish during the excitement of the unpacking process
    b) save all cartons and packing material in a safe place
    

2) Maneuver the speakers into their basic listening positions

    a) this should form a triangular set up based on generally known speaker placement
     b) angle the speakers to converge (crossfire) at a point 1.5 to 2 feet in front of your normal listening position

Those with RM30 and RM/x speakers that have "side firing" woofers may wish to try both "in firing" and "out firing" options to see which yeilds the most accurate and pleasing bass response.

3) If you have the 626R standmount Monitor place it on a stand that puts the top 1/2 of the neopanel at ear level.

4) If you have any of the floorstanding speakers, make sure your listening height (ear level) is either at the top half of the neopanel with the tweeter "above the ear", or the bottom half of the panel above the tweeter, with the tweeter "below the ear".

addendum: For those speakers with the FST tweeter, the tweeter can be slightly higher or lower, than above due to increased vertical dispersion.  This has prompted the "Tall Boy" set up.  This entails raising the speaker as much as 8" (depending on listening height)

Those with the RM/x speaker have an additional adjustment.  The FST  means "Free Swinging Tweeter", which allows adjustment of the vertical firing angle of the FST pod.

This requires loosening the bolts used to secure the pod so that it can be adjusted.  Adjust this height to your preferences or measured accuracy if you so desire.  Then resecure the pod by tightening the bolts.

5) Remove the cellophane protective shield from the FST tweeter

6) Check the L-Pad adjustments at the rear of the speaker and gently adjust them to the 12:30 - 1:00 position with a small "bladed" screwdriver if they are not already preset from the factory.

Additional adjustment should take place after 100-200 hours of 75db or greater SPL, and then "ONLY" if the sound seems too edgy or splashy.

To accelerate the break in of the tweeter and midrange, they can be set to 3:00 or greater, and run at 85db (at the listening position) with pink noise or Pink Floyd


7) If your model has a Passive Radiator, it will arrive "overly damped".  Please remove a "large" pea sized amount of putty from each radiator

Unless the bass is extremely "wooly", additional adjustment should take place after 100-200 hours of 75db or greater SPL, and then "ONLY", if the bass is not tight, dry and detailed.

It is suggested for the maximum in detail that the speakers are run with the grills off for serious listening.

9) Making sure that there is no music playing, (CD in stop/Tone arm in the up position) take care that the volume control is at its lowest setting, and your amp is turned off, you can plug or secure your speaker cables into/onto the rear binding posts.

For those models with 2 pairs of binding posts, the "upper posts" are to the bass drivers, and "lower posts" are to the Neopanels and Tweeter.

10) Models with two sets of binding posts will require "jumpers" for full range operation.  This is simply a short length of speaker wire (preferably of the same type/quality you run to your amp) that "connects" the two pairs of posts.  Caution should be used to make sure and connect red to red, and black to black.

11) After the speaker connections have been made, again make sure the Volume level is at its lowest setting, amp is turned on, select the correct "input" (CD/Phono/Tuner/etc) adjust volume to suit, and enjoy your speakers.

Do be aware that depending on your use, and listening habits (SPL's, type of music, etc) the drivers may take quite some time to fully break/burn in.  I have noticed steady improvements over 30, 60, and even 90 days.

These improvements will come as a "blending" of the ranges of each driver, with a "smoothing" and richness to the midrange.  Bass too will deepen while Highs will remain extended but will become more "clear" and pristine and any glassiness will dissapear.

FROM a post/thread  on Putty Pinching 8/06/06

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=30236.0

The Fine Art of Pinching Putty - The Why, the How, and the Method

Years and years of putty pinching have given me many insights as to what results to expect.

As most of you know Big B, now does most of the "pre-Pinching" for you so likely you'll be called on to do very little.

What does putty pinching do? 

It adds mass to the Passive radiator to cause it to "cooperate" with the other active bass drivers, in such a way as to "react" to them at a lower frequency, and different phase.

This reaction to the active drivers extends bass response in frequencies lower than the actives, because the Passive Radiator moves slower, and in a different phase.

If the putty is exactly right, this reaction will "seamlessly" add the lower bass extension.

If it is too light or too heavy, it will create cancellation and distortion.

If I have one caution, it would be to tell everyone not to "keep removing" putty.

I would guess that a great percentage of VMPS speakers and subs have "too little" putty damping them.

This causes the PR to react too fast, and will not create the lowest of bass performance.  If the PR reacts too fast it will put out too high a frequency, (closer to the active driver) and this will not give you a clean, well phased frequency, and sound.

So the point is, DO NOT be afraid to "add" putty.

The goal is to adjust the mass to the amount needed to cause the PR to fall within the reactive frequencies and phase.

The sound of too little putty is a bass that doesn't sound low enough, and is a little woolly.  This is caused by the PR moving too fast, and too close to the phase of the active.  It might be described as "lean, yet fuzzy"

The sound of too much putty is the same, except, it will sound deeper and "woolly" or slightly boomy and too full.

I suggested to some to try various positions and orientations of the PR on their subs.  I also suggested that they might "remove" the bass plate, and allow the woofer to "fire" out into the room.

What I might have neglected to mention, was that in doing so, you reduce the impedance or pressurization that the PR sees, and you must "add" putty to make up for this.

So just a little bit more info, on the fine art of "tuning" your speakers, and what you might need to understand in doing so.

Oh and in case you missed it, those with the RM series speaker (RM1/RM2/RM30/RM40 and RM/x) you can "reverse" your passive radiator slot, and cause it to fire rearwards rather than forward, as an experiment to see if that orientation might offer a more pleasing and enjoyable bass performance "in your room".

Have fun,

And

"Stay Tuned" (in all the best ways possible) 
 
 

And what kind of putty is it?  I remember reading 'mortite' -- is this correct?  What should I buy at the hardware store if I need some more?

Rope Mortite is the best.

Here are B's suggestions, should you wish to "de-putty" and begin "fresh".

RM30 = 5" each PR
RM1 = 8"
RM2 = 6"
RM40 = 6"
RM/x = 6"
 
Dedicated and Smaller = 7"
Original and 215 sub = 8"
LARGER Sub = 8"
 
 
 

[John Casler]

Aside from purchasing the best speakers for your application, placing them in the room will yeild some of the best results for your listening goals.

Generally the goals of speaker placement are:

1) Produce the best soundstage and imaging
2) Produce the smoothest frequency response
3) Produce the best bass to other qualities to satisfy your prefernces
4) Produce a "balanced" sonic
5) Be acceptable within you room

Many of the above criteria come at the sacrifice of the others.  For example placing a speaker next to major room boundaries (in a corner for example) will cause it to produce more bass, but might sacrifice imaging and soundstage.

In general it is best to place the speakers, by the "rule of thirds".  That is, you divide the rooms length into thirds, and place the speakers 1/3 into the room from the front wall, and the listening position 1/3 into the room from the rear wall.

Many then like to take this 1/3 measurement and place their speakers that wide also, which forms an eqilateral triangle.  In general the better soundstage, imaging and depth will be acheived with the speakers as far away from room boundaries as possible while still creating a reasonable listening triangle.

This is a good starting set up, and the speakers and listening position may be adjusted in small increments to "fine tune" even further.

This is a general set up guide and due to room dimensions, furniture, drapes, openings, and boundary textures and reflective properties, the placement may require further adjustment.

[John Casler]

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