[GeorgeAb]

Just finished a 2,600 mile road trip from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State to Los Angeles area to pick up Shaukat’s RM-40’s in rosewood and RM-V60 cabinets in macassar ebony.  Crazy, maybe…. probably?

In the 90’s an acquaintance of mine Bill B. opened up Nuts About Hi-Fi. Through his store I was able to garner listening experience spending many hours listening to Wilson Audio, Thiel, Sonus Faber and on and on speakers. I heard many speakers that were better than my KEF 107.2’s, but nothing that the price to performance ratio justified spending the daughter’s college fund  . On a visit to a friend Warner H some 15 years ago, I listened to his newly aquired RM-40’s. Upon experiencing the detail of that midrange and imaging I had him order a set of RM-30’s and a 215 Subwoofer from Brian. I was completely satisifeid with my system which consists of a Roon based NUC server, PS Audio PerfectWave II DAC, Balanced Audio Technology tube pre and BAT solid state amp driving my RM-30’s. However, with that said, I had been toying with the idea of a dedicated 2 channel room and was looking at the Tekton Design flagship models as they are one of the few speakers that purports midrange detail that has been compared to VMPS. When I saw Shaukat had a set of one of Brian’s flagship models the RM-V60 cabinets, having the necessary drivers, Shaukat’s excellent build domentation I was a go, rented a cargo van and hit the road. I have since ordered all parts necessary for the build. I have high expectations and pretty excited about owning one of Brian’s flagship models, with increased panels, open back, and unique shape. 

I was not sure if I would keep the RM-40’s as I dearly love my RM-30’s. I find the RM-30 such a perfect trade off in size and bass performance, but since they are here and after spending a few days listening to, yea they’re staying. Wife commented, “finally some color in the room”, guess she wasn’t a fan of the piano black, and who doesn’t love the warmth of a rosewood finish. Nice that Shaukat had a Large Ribbon Center cabinet in rosewood that I was able to swap my black oak LCR into for a matching set.
 
It was a pleasure meeting Shaukat and his wife. Their warmth and hospitality was the high point of my trip. Got to meet John Castle as the RM-40’s were at his place. John offered to carry each RM-40 under each of his arms but with the long drive I needed a workout so with his hand-truck away I went. Engineered the load in the cargo van so I would be safe and the RM-40’s came through pretty much unscathed. Thank you Shaukat for the pleasant experience and speakers.   


Loaded up, Shauk and George


Shauk and John



RM-40's in my home.



RM-V60's, still have room for the car in the garage. 

[John Casler]

Hi George,

GREAT Meeting you and so glad the return trip was without incident.  Warner was a great guy and VMPS dealer for many years.

I thought that once you hooked up those RM-40's plans would change.  Shaukat had one of the best pair ever made, and then he made them even better.

You might have one of the premier VMPS Systems ever put together.

Front Mains = RM v60
Center = LRC
Side Surrounds = RM40
Rear Surrounds = RM-30
Sub = VMPS LARGER

Years ago I wrote a thread about the VMPS STONEHENGE System and your system might be pretty close.

Doesn't get any better than that.

I would offer a little "tune up" advice too.

Take each L-PAD in your speakers and twist it (gently) from all the way from 6:00 to 6:00 at least 20-30 times.  it cleans the wipers and makes a noticeable improvement to the sound.  Just be VERY careful since the shafts are not that strong, and can break or bend.

[ZAKski288]

Hello George,  Congratulations on the new speakers. I don’t think you will regret the purchase.


I have owned RM-40’s for the past 8 years, they are truly great speakers. Then I had a chance to get a pair of  RM-V60‘s and trust me, then you get your V60’s finished you will understand just how good they sound. Sadly I have not listened to the 40’s in three years, I need to re-purpose them to a new listening area.

Good luck with your build. Ken

[shauk786]

George,

Likewise it was such a pleasure to meet you. I am very happy that the journey back was uneventful and all the speakers are safely set in your home. Having had the RM40s since 2003, I was sad to see them go but I feel honored that you have decided to keep them and they will be enjoyed for years to come. Great to see them in your listening area in the picture. But most important we get to see the dog which most likely "ate the homework" 

Last Sunday as planned, George pulled into my driveway exactly at 9 am. As my house is under preparation painting, the garage was filled to the brim. And the V60s were all the way at the back. George and I had to wiggle our way around to get them out. Thank you George for your help. Once out, upon George's request we opened all the crates to ensure everything were in. Imagine George arrive home after such a journey to find something missing  . Fortunately everything were nicely packed in their respective crates and we loaded the van. After that George kindly helped me bring down the Larger Sub from my upstairs hallway, down the stairs and into the Van.

After a quick bite and drink, we then head off to John's place to pick up the RM40s. John was kind enough to keep them for me until they can get sold.

George, you will really enjoy the V60s once the build is complete especially with the satisfaction that you build it yourself. Good luck and let us know of your progress. 

I am now knee deep in my relocation to Turkey. I will resume my own post with new builds once I am there as I continue my journey with the V60s.



John And George

[G E]

What a great story!

I had contemplated getting these RM60’s but some medical issues got in the way.

Good to see they are now with “a real campaigner” and will end up in the system of the century.

Many happy listening sessions, Shaukat and George!

[Stimpy]

Not fair...!  (Eventual) RM v60s, a LRC, RM40s, RM-30s, and a LARGER.  No one should be that lucky...!    

Glad all the children made the trip safely.  At least with speakers, you didn't get "Are we there yet?" the whole trip back.

I look forward to seeing the whole family on display.  Keep us apprised pf your progress. 

Also, any trouble in finding the all parts for the 60s?  Just curious as to where you found everything?

Good luck.

[GeorgeAb]

Thanks Stimpy,

Yes, it is involved, lots of moving parts, planning and support-ability of spare parts.  Oh, did I mention I also have some VMPS Surround cabinets I intend to build?  

The plan is a two channel system in rec room.  Both the Large Sub and 215 Sub will go in rec room to support V60.  I would like to find another large Sub, but all in due time.  Other issues involved is bringing ethernet down, figuring out which GIK room acoustic panels in current 2 channel and home theater room can go down.  The room size has great potential (16X26 long X8 high). The RM-30 will be nice when I set up the room for the V60's as I have years of listening experience so it will provide a nice baseline for room setup. 

The home theater room, the RM-40 is staying with LCR and eventually VMPS surrounds and hopefully VMPS 215 when I find another large sub for downstairs. I have most of the parts to build the VMPS surrounds, have drivers all but second set of Aurum G2si's. Hoping on the neos to use some older 5 ohm neos as I have 4 in 5 ohms. 

On support-ability, I have some extra 10" speakers for RM-40's, the Misco 6's I used the super woofers for V-60 build and my spare 6.5's woofers went back into RM-30. So the RM-30 will stick around for short term cannibalization of 6" woofers, neos and passive all can be used in V-60 or RM-40 if need be. I have some spare MCM Audio Select 6.5" speakers for the LCR and surrounds as the MCM Audio Select 55-1545 are no longer in production. 

Most of the spare drivers and neos I have found on a popular auction site. Yes, it is a challenge; but knowing what to look for and being patient is paying off.  Thanks for the interest and listening as writing this down helps me sort this out.   

[GeorgeAb]

Finished the RM-V60 build. I want to start with something John Casler said when I was picking these up as it sums up my feelings as well; and pardon as I am paraphrasing, “It is great that after all these years after Brian’s passing there is still this much interest in VMPS speakers”.  Yes, it is great that another RM-V60 is born and alive and well. My second point is thanks to Shaukat for the thorough documentation of his build and everyone else’s help, much appreciated. 





Some $2,500 in speaker parts not including the cabinets and more hours than I care to mention, it is done. Nothing fancy on the crossover, just solid components. 



After initial set up and 15 seconds into listening an album “Pop Pop”, by Ricky Lee Jones which I have listened to on cost no object setups and for every tweak I have made to my setups over the years, my first thought were “hmm, great potential”, when my brain locked into the depth of the soundstage my next thought was “Holy sh*t!”.  With a new room there is still much to dial in, but there will be time for that and for now I just wanted to enjoy the music and fortunately there were no obnoxious room modes so into the depth of music I went.  Being overwhelmed with the sound stage I put on The Weavers, 1963 Reunion at Carnegie Hall amazing remaster by Analogue Productions; I found myself tearing up from the beauty of what I was hearing. That is why we do what we do and go to these lengths.

I wanted to make a comment on GIK Acoustics panels. My wife has been a champ on me running off to LA to pick up the RM-V60 cabinets and days on end of my working on this project, tearing rooms apart, etc. However, she finally had a breaking point. I was going to remove some GIK Acoustics panels that we had in our home theater area and she was like, “No, get your own; I really like those”.  Not every day that you hear of a spouse rebelling because she likes acoustic panels.



Happy listening all and thanks for your help.

[shauk786]

Congratulations George.

Enjoy. It will take some time until you reach perfection in your room. Hard work pays off in the end. On my end, all is packed back in their crates for shipping this thursday. They are being picked up by the shipping company for their very long trip to Alanya, Turkey. Good news is that my house renovation is not only complete but we already have renters to occupy the house August 1st. We are leaving our home of 18 years on Friday. And flying out to turkey mid August.

Cheers
Shaukat

[GeorgeAb]

Been making progress on the room. Still have a ways to go with respect to room treatment (ceiling, wall to ceiling corners, and back wall), but it is to the point of where I am getting really good sound out of the V60's. Repeating for effect, "really good sound". Still a bit of a construction zone. Making acoustic panels is labor intensive, but they are coming out quite nice. Ordered an amp today to power the bass section an Odyssey Khartago SE, as I am going with the digital crossover. So the V60's can get better?   


   

[GeorgeAb]

Thought I would update this post, now what room is dialed in, active crossovers and provide listening impressions of the RM-V60.

Room is dialed in.  Ideal coverage of 25% with good balance of bass traps and acoustic panels.  Back half of room only has two panels so room stays alive. Proof is in the analysis of decay, which is done before DSP for dialing in frequency response, but pretty close to “house curve”, pre DSP. I am happy with room.





The Behringer DCX2496 is an excellent tool for dialing in crossover points. For my room and my ears my final crossover critical frequencies and slopes were 63Hz 24dB low pass for subs, 68Hz 24db and 233Hz 24dB slopes bandpass for mid-bass, 266 Hz 18dB for mid/treble, and treble passive crossover all the way to max position.   

I found going active crossover in the digital domain less than satisfactory, the soundstage decreased in depth and width, and instruments would move around the soundstage depending on note being played, so piano is over there, now there, and there. The looks of the unit was also not my cup of tea. I went with a non-digital solution using Marchand Electronics active crossover. Really like how it works and looks.  For those interested and on a budget this may be of interest.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrrUhfV1bSU&t=931s.



So long term impressions of the RM-V60. The biggest difference between this speaker and the VMPS “house sound” of the RM-30 and RM-40’s is transparency and soundstage.  Soundstage could be attributed to room treatment, but my other room was treated, but the transparency that you get from a bi-pole and wing is what makes this speaker different.  Coming from a listening session with the RM-40 thinking “that is really good”, to this and thinking “oh...... so that is what transparency is”.  The sound is layered deep and wide in the room; hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it.   

Quibbles and potential upgrades. IMO the soundstage is lower than I would like. I attribute to the mid-bass being just a few inches from the floor, that and direct reflection that close to the speaker is likely less than ideal. For right now, I am enjoying the fruits of my efforts, but I do plan to raise them off the floor 4 or 5 inches with blocks. If successful, I will build some wood blocks as pedestals around bases.  I am also toying with the idea of tri-amping so I can crossover the mid-range and tweeters at 3.7K Hz so there will be no interaction between the mids and tweeters and the tweeters are used as tweeters vice super tweeters. This is more long-term and I would still have an interface for the ribbon tweeters of large capacitor (68uF) and voltage divider to protect against DC and startup spikes.

The RM-V60 are more than I thought they would be and motivated me to a dedicated two channel listening space and getting the sound as right to my ears as I can, which continues. Really happy and enjoying this setup.