As I sit in the Sweet Spot, listening to my RM40's, I wonder if those with limited space, realize that instead of a pair of Headphones (no imaging or soundstage, but incredible sound) that even in small room (or for that matter even a large well treated closet) they can have "headphone" sound, with "sweet spot" imaging and soundstage.
In most VMPS models you can sit very Nearfield (as close as 5 feet) and get the most cohesive sonics you can imagine.
Because so much of the MR is carried through the Neopanels and the tweeter has adequate dispersion, and bass is well less directional, the virtues of Nearfield listening with the VMPS speaker is highly recommended.
Nearfield has other advantages also, via the VMPS speaker.
It reduces room interaction, which is further reduced if you have the non-CDWG version of a VMPS speaker, since dispersion is narrowed, and less reflected sound vs direct sound is heard.
Also it reduces comb filtering from both the other speaker and the room reflections.
So my suggestion for those who may be "space challenged", or simply want a system that is more like a Sports Car than a 4 door full sized Coupe, is to look for a space that can be well treated, allows nearfield set up, has less or NO WAF to worry about.
If you have complete freedom to assemble such a room/space, for a very low budget you can equip and treat such a space to have sonics that big living spaces with "aesthetic restrictions" cannot begin to approach at "any" budget.
Spare Bedrooms, Lofts, Extra Garage Space, Offices, Guest BR's, and other smaller spaces can be transformed into venues and concert halls, with far less expense, than your living room.
Lofts work exceptionally well since they geneally are "open" to a far larger space allowing for fare less bass problems (modes/nodes)
This is not for those who wish to "show off" your system in a pictorial in Architectural Digest, but a room/system for the true audiophile where, being able to hear further into the recording than ever before, is the goal.
For all intent and purposes, it is a single seat sport car of systems. It is "headphones" with imaging and soundstage.
With VMPS, CDWG off will give you the immediacy of "close in, up close" feel to the performance. CDWG on will give you a further back in the hall or venue sonic perspective.
This will also allow lower SPL's to produce "as much" sound as higher powers at a greater distance. The side benefit is also lower distortion, and higher S/N overall, for a much more pure sound.
Bass can be a problem, but if you do a 2 small SUB push/pull, much of that is eliminated.
A pair of 626's, LRC's, RM2's, RM30's or even RM40's can be mind boggling.
Strangely enough a pair of LRC's or LRCjr's is incredible in this set up.
The space literally becomes "headphones" with soundstage and imaging, and that is the reason for the title of this post.
So again, if you are space challenged, and don't want to spend a fortune on room treatment, and the wife has the final say in what goes where, "A-N-D" you love the sonic purity of phones, you may want to consider something like this.
