[jgubman]

Michael,

agreed, people hear things very differently. Once, right before I purchased my RM-40s my brother-in-law and I stopped by Brian's for a quickish audition (20-30 mins) of the RM-2 and RM-40s. We were both in the market for speaker upgrades at that time so we went straight away to the local stereo shop that carries Dynaudio. We arrived there probably 15 minutes after leaving Brians and auditioned the Contour 5.4 and the C-2 (granted the speakers were in  much worse and less treated rooms than Brian's).

It was very funny to both of us that he walked away thinking the C-2s were the best of the bunch and I thought the RM-40s were the superior speakers. Same auditions, different ears.

 I have nothing against the C-2 and think it's a fine speaker. I personally  think the detail, bass response and imaging of the RM-40s are much superior. I'm sure he hears things completely opposite.

[mcrespo71]

Well, if you are shopping on the used market, then I agree you need to do research and buy sight unseen, as it's not really fair to go waste dealers time and then go buy used.  

However, Scott can't really buy a used pair of RM/X's, so he should get the full treatment you normally do when you buy a new product.  Obviously, he won't be able to try them out in his home, but he should be able to hear them (hopefully, with the amps/preamps/CD player he plans to use).  A 4-5 hour drive to hear a 12K of speakers seems like a reasonable trade off.

Michael

[John B]

I always thought Dynaudios were good speakers -- a friend was looking for new speakers and we auditioned a ton of them, changing nothing but the speakers, and the Dynaudio beat everything in his price range (less than 6 grand) at that store.

Dynaudios are great speakers, I wouldn't have bought them year after year if I had found another speaker that could top them.  I'd about given up on even comparing other brands when I heard the RM40's at Brians place.   Dynaudio's have a sound, it is unique to Dynaudio, no other speaker that I've heard can quite capture it.   I really liked this sound, but after hearing the RM40s I realized this Dynaudio sound, though exciting, was not quite as accurate in reproducing the sound of the actual instruments.   The other sound characteristic that blew me away was the clean transparency of the VMPS speakers, you don't realize what "colored sound" is till you hear a speaker that doesn't have it.

[mcrespo71]

John B,

BTW, how are the VMPS's agreeing with the neighbor?  I recall you had quite the complainer next door.

Michael

[ctviggen]

I think we should have a poll as to how many people bought VMPS speakers without listening to them.  I'm one of them.  Anyone else?  (I'm lucky enough to have a dealer and a person who was willing to let me listen to his speakers nearby -- but I decided to buy them simply because I like the design; but there's quite a few places where there are no dealers.)

[ted_b]

I am a brand new RM/X owner in N. Ohio, having owned the Super Towers for 17 years, and a 626 which was used as a center channel.  I used to own Maggie MG II/B's and, for years, pined to have that ribbon/planar imaging and delicacy back again, but this time with FEELINKS!  

I bought the RM/X's unheard, from John C.  I haven't modified them , nor plan to.  Just set them up, configured the variables (pots, damped radiator, tweater angle) and let them break in.   I can't imagine a speaker that I'd enjoy more.  They are very very satisfying.  

But yes, if I could have, I would have loved to have auditioned them.  I suppose I may have been less than satsified with their sound in a dealers showroom, but I doubt it.  Good luck....and don't judge VMPS owners solely from this small sample of tweakaholics and forum crazies.  

Ted_B

[John B]

John B,

BTW, how are the VMPS's agreeing with the neighbor? I recall you had quite the complainer next door.

Michael,

Well...I'd like to say he's not had to ring my doorbell, but I can't    A Doug MacLeod CD actually brought him over, it was an XRCD with an exceptionally intense drum beat...just a little too exceptional as far as the neighbor was cocerned  

He has noticed a definite lessening of the boom boom, but on albums where the bass is prominent, it can still be a bit too much for him.  In all though he's happy, and I'm happy, I can listen at lower volumes on weeknights and still enjoy the music, on weekends I get it up to between 75-80db, which has not brought complaint from him....yet.   I think he may be feeling a little contrite about it all at this point.  I told him I'd sold the floorstanding speakers he had felt were way too big for an attached dwelling, and then when I showed him the expensive wall treatments I'd bought to help with the noise transmission; he seemed impressed; though I don't think it's helped him all that much, but it's thought that counts right  

[audiochef]

Come on now Scott,

you don't even want  me to get started on this!!

I just deleted what I was just going to say!

If you're  thinking RMX, .................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SCUBADON]

Scott, after having owned about 30 sets of speakers, back in 1980, i bought a set of Infinity RS2.5's.  They each had 2 EMIM mids, 0ne EMIT tweeter, and one 12' woofer.  The set with the Infinity electronic crossover (3 piece set) was $2,700.  That was a lot in 1980.

I took them home and WOW! I listened to every CD, LP, and Reel to Reel Tape I had.  They sounded so great.  These were the best speakers I had ever heard.  With replacing the woofers a couple of times, I am still using those speakers in one of my SCUBA shops.

I missed the "old, high end" Infinity.  That was until I heard the VMPS RM40's.  If you like the old Infinity, you'll go nuts over VMPS.

It's worth a 4 hour drive, or a 1 hour plane ride, or even a 2 day walk to hear VMPS.  Everyone says the RMX is much better than the RM40's.  I guess I will find out when I can save up an extra $12,000.00

I listn to my RM40's 3-5 hours a day, and have for the past 6 months.  I am amaized every time I paly another CD.  They sounded great the first time I used them.  However, after a few hours invested in tweeking, they are much, much better.  Most of these tweeks would help any world class speaker.  If you are not willing to spend a day evaluating the RMX and a few hours setting them up to your music room, you do not deserve a set of RMX speakers. How can you expect to spend thousands of hours hearing the speakers without investing a few hours selecting the right speakers and setting them up properly.

If you are willing to take the time, and have the right amps and CD or SACD source, you can make the RMX's sound as good as, or better than just about any other speaker ever made, at any price.  

"That's all I have to say about that."

SCUBADON

[ScottMayo]

I told him I'd sold the floorstanding speakers he had felt were way too big for an attached dwelling, and then when I showed him the expensive wall treatments I'd bought to help with the noise transmission; he seemed impressed; though I don't think it's helped him all that much, but it's thought that counts right ..

Recalls the days of living in a duplex, with the QLS-1's against the inner wall and my old AR D-120 biamp rig pouring in what watts I could afford. I decided to really slam out some Pink Floyd one evening when I thought the neighbor was out; 2 minutes in, there was a distinct crashing noise from his side of the house. The phone rang 20 seconds later. He hadn't left after all; and he was not amused.

It's a dangerous hobby. To have one's own house is good. To have some trees around the house is even better.  And I'm thinking a 20 foot wall of acoustic foam around that would be ideal.

[John Casler]

Recalls the days of living in a duplex, with the QLS-1's against the inner wall and my old AR D-120 biamp rig pouring in what watts I could afford. I decided to really slam out some Pink Floyd one evening when I thought the neighbor was out; 2 minutes in, there was a distinct crashing noise from his side of the house. The phone rang 20 seconds later. He hadn't left after all; and he was not amused.

It's a dangerous hobby. To have one's own house is good. To have some trees around the house is even better.  And I'm thinking a 20 foot wall of acoustic foam around that would be ideal.

Hey Scott,

You don't appear "scared" any more.....in fact you're sounding a little "scary" yourself.

Welcome to the club    

[ScottMayo]

If you are not willing to spend a day evaluating the RMX and a few hours setting them up to your music room, you do not deserve a set of RMX speakers....

Well now. I don't know about deserve. But I plan to evaluate the speakers as soon as possible; for various reasons, arranging any travel (beyond a day trip) for my family is pretty complicated. That's why I've been whining about No VMPS Owners North of NYC. Travelling is a problem.

How does this sound to folk:

VMPS Elixirs (mains)
center: something VMPSish, undecided
surrounds: Infinity QLS-1 (since I have them)
surround amp: Bryston 4B-ST (since I have it)
front channel amp: Bryston 6B-SST
pre/pro: Bryston SP1.7 (SPV for the video)
Denon 5600 for DVD, DVD-A, SACD
SVS subwoofer (probably 20-39PC-Plus) for the movies
Sony ST-J75 tuner (since I have it)
some bass absorbing foam, and a Comfy Sofa with footstool

I'm thinking it probably won't quite suck.

[maxwalrath]

yeah...probably not

[jgubman]

Sounds good. One thing I'd warn about is the center speaker. I have RM-40s and LRC as my front 3 and the LRC can barely keep up w/ the 40s when they all start going.

If you have the room for a 48" speaker in front or underneath your display (or behind if you're lucky enough to have a FP system), I'm sure the new RM-30C would do very nicely. I know people are reporting successfully positioning their RM-30s horizontally, but that'd be something that I'd *DEFINATELY* want to audition for awhile with a refund clause, as I'm still skeptical about that placement. It must work pretty well to satisfy the people here who are using that set-up, but it just seems odd to me.

You might be able to do w/o a center completely. I guess it depends on what you're trying to do, but on-axis the RM-40s provide a remarkable center-fill image, I'm sure it only improves w/ a line source like the RM/X. Most of the time that I'm not watching 5.1 material, I just run my preamp in 2-channel mode and don't even miss the center speaker. In fact, the 2 RM-40s alone sound better than running the entire system in dolby plII.

[bkwiram]

I'm sympathetic to your problem - have family, can't get away, want to hear the things. And I personally am not quite so bold as some of the others on this list who would be willing in principle to buy *any* component without hearing it first.

I'm quite comfortable buying amps and preamps unheard - at least from a couple of manufacturers. For my tastes I think it would be hard to go wrong with Bryston or Pass (I use a Bryston 3BST which I bought without having heard, and with which I'm quite satisfied).

But with front ends and speakers, it's a whole different story. The deficiencies in review language (and for that matter in reviewers - there are a grand total of 2 whose advice I think is worth anything, and no I'm not including the big guy at TAS) are such that it's often impossible to know anything of value about a front end or speaker without hearing it, sometimes in multiple contexts.

Once you've heard something from a given established manufacturer with known and stable priorities (eg Theta for front ends) and you know you like it or don't like it, then you may proceed without hearing something in future and have some reasonable expectation that you know what you're getting (or not getting) with that brand.

But the point remains - with front ends and speakers, you have to hear it somewhere, sometime, before you're going to have any idea what it sounds like.  And it's a lot harder and more expensive to take delivery of a big speaker system, decide you don't like it, and get rid of it.

Good luck getting into a room with the RMXs!

best,

bk

[ctviggen]

Well, I'll let you know how the RM30C compares to my Linn 5120 center channel (D'Appolito on the side).  The RM30C will sit atop my TV and matching rack.  I'm also going to replace my Linn 5140 fronts (8 inch rear-firing woofer, X-inch mid and tweeter that fire forward) with RM40s and move the Linn 5140s to rear speakers.

So, I'll be comparing ribbons with cones.  It should be fun.  I'll report back.  

By the way, I have two extra channels in my Lexicon NT512 (basically a Bryston 9B ST).  Should I biamp the RM30C center channel or biamp the rear speakers? If I do biamp, is there such a thing as a splitter for balanced interconnects?  

The 9B ST is described here:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/PowerAmps/Bryston/Bryston9BST.shtml

[pjchappy]

Go all out and have Big B fully finish the 'bottom' of an RM40 and rotate the FST 90 degrees. . . put it on its side and make an RM40C.       Better symmetry than the RM30C as a center, too.

p

[ScottMayo]

You might be able to do w/o a center completely. I guess it depends on what you're trying to do, but on-axis the RM-40s provide a remarkable center-fill image, I'm sure it only improves w/ a line source like the RM/X.

I'm toying with this. It means I can settle for one less speaker, the 4B-SST instead of the 6B, and save a few thou without losing a lot from movies. But I'm also interested in 5.1 audio recordings (Blue Man Group is only the first, and I want to hear those air poles whipping around in proper 3D) ... *sigh*

[jgubman]

ctviggen,
yes, you can buy a XLR Y-cable. They're actually fairly common in pro and broadcast gear. But can you biamp the RM-30C? I know the LRC (which also has 2 6.5 woofers) doesn't have an option to biamp. Not sure if it's only the RM-30 w/ the 10" woofer that has biamp connectors or not.

Let us know how you like the RM-30C horizontally. How far from the speaker will you be?

[Marbles]

RM30C is bi-ampable.

I like mine just fine as a horizontal center with my RM40's.  It sounds seemless to me.