[ScottMayo]

I finally got to hear these, in New York. It was a long difficult trip to get there (*never* take your kid to the Empire Sate building on a holiday - four miserable hours of lines and delays and crowds and confusion).

But.. after some misadventures (driving in NYC *shudder* and parking in NYC *sob*) and hunting around (the dealer's store is not numbered or marked in any way, shape or form), I finally got in front of a pair.

The first test was a sweeping sine wave, 20Hz-10kHz in one channel, 20Hz-20Hz in the other. I hadn't had time to set up a more reasonable test (something that swept from 20Hz to 200Hz slowly would have been a better choice), but this was just a quick check to see if room acoustics or the speakers themselves were going to be playing any tricks. The dealer mentioned a low frequency suckout where the couch was sitting, but it wasn't very noticeable in the sine test and I decided not to start dragging his furniture around. Sound from the midrange on up sounded razor flat to me.

It's worth noting that the room was mostly brick walls, large and open but a bit irregular in shape, with a very large window off to the side. Wood floors, reflective ceiling, and little in the way of treatment: there was a sofa in the corner, a throw rug on the floor, and a plastic and cloth construction on the back wall, and otherwise the speakers were at the mercy of brick and glass. I expected serious problem with resonances, but it was only occasionally noticeable. Maybe irregular brick breaks up modes better than drywall; maybe the glass window and the sparse furniture bled off the worst of the problem. At any rate, room acoustics proved to be less of a problem overall than ongoing street noise.

Test music was Norah Jones, Dire Straights, Pink Floyd (both SACD and CD), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Windham Hill, and Blue Man Group.

The equipment was the dealer’s; a Spectron digital amp, a De Haviland tube and the shop's custom built 8x oversampling CD/SACD player. Dragging my amp into NYC proved impractical.

The opening to 'Scheherazade' (Telarc 80568) is not brilliantly recorded, but it's an all-digital recording of musically complex sounds, and it should grip the gut. My initial impression was that the sound was thin. Later, I realized these speakers wanted more volume before they really blossomed out, and the sense of musical confusion I heard in the lower midrange was probably due to underpowered performance. The speakers held their own for the most part, but there was a lack of bass, and a little trouble keeping voices separate. This recording has never really yielded up a good sound stage on any stereo, but I started to wonder.

Wondering if I was hearing the bass I expected to, I moved to Dire Straights' Telegraph Road. This is an acid test for my wife; because her ears (and bones) do a better job with bass than mine do. Telegraph Road starts off with a low rumble of distant thunder, and then goes on to support the music with a bass line which is not loud, but is very simple, clean and deep. Dire Straights is generally well recorded, and Knopler's vocal work demands something of a speaker.

The RM/X resolved his voice with an almost brutal clarity. The guitar work was clear, and maybe a little strident at points. But the bass line, while nice and tight, was under-represented. I walked around the room to see if it was the result of room modes, and in fact the bass was better supported off to the side, where a big couch probably helped cancel some room problems. The side firing woofer may have been helping things along there; but I'm going to be doing all my listening on-axis. The upshot is that I'm used to a 12" woofer and a smaller, dedicated mid-bass cone firing everything straight into my bones - and the VMPS weren't doing it. Putting my hand in front of the woofers confirmed that they were not being called upon to do much of anything with Dire Straights. I wasn't about to take a screwdriver to the pots, but I wondered very much if the speakers would have conveyed more energy with different settings. The bottom line was, my wife's face fell when she heard the bass guitar.

Dark Side of the Moon told a completely different story. Bass energy came out well represented, though the initial heartbeat sounded too polite. The utter clarity of the RM/X's had a chance to shine on everything else. The clock bells of _Time_ came through with a precision I've never, ever heard before - when I came home to my QLS-1's, they sounded muddy in comparison, and not many speakers can make me say that. (When I got home, I was also shocked to find that the chimes at the end were on the right, but the setup in NYC had them on the left. Is the SACD recording that different from my straight CD version, or were there some wires crossed somewhere?!)

Blue Man Group's _Audio_ is not well recorded, but it's about energy and new sounds. The air poles - a sound that relies on high frequency noise from air rushing around - sounded good, and otherwise the recording sounded a little sterile.

Norah Jones... well, she sounds good on any good speaker, and she sounded just about wonderful here. I compared her mentally to the Dali Megalines I'd listened to last month and I couldn't find any difference other than a slight forwardness. If I listened entirely to female vocalists in intimate arrangements, there would be no question about these speakers. The Dali's cost over 3 times as much and had absolutely nothing to offer that the RM/X didn't have.

Still fretting over the bass, I put on a test disk which plays 10Hz-40Hz over and over. Horrible, random crackling poured out of the speakers and my first thought was that there was a terrible problem with the crossovers. The dealer pounced on his rig and announced a problem with tube microphonics. I'm not a tube guy, and I thought that microphonics caused muddiness and general smearing, not overt crackling. But he swapped some components around in his rig for a minute and suddenly the crackling stopped. I was able to confirm that the woofers did their job at very low frequency, with the volume kicked up a bit. The bass sounded tight and accurate.

Just for laughs, I put on _Tentacles_, from "A Shoggoth on the Roof". While this is a DDD CD, it would be a mistake to consider this a high fidelity test of any kind. I was amused to find that the synth church organ intro sounded exactly like a... synth church organ. On some speakers you might mistake them for a real organ. Not on these.


Summary

Wonderful speakers for intimate recordings. But they don't shine at low volumes - they need to be fed some juice before they wake up and sing. That's a drawback for those of us who don't always want the concert hall experience.

I've heard nothing better for female vocalists with piano backing. And _Dark Side_, which was brilliantly recorded for 1973 and is one of the few albums from that era that are worth SACD re-release, came across well. Dire Straights didn't: some punch was lacking. I like a clear, crystal, precise sound and I don't need any added warmth to enjoy music, but it felt like these speakers were afraid of losing their grip on the bass, to the extent of choking it down a bit. They sang, but unless pushed, they didn't want to rock. I was reminded of maggie 3.6's.

I felt the imaging was weak but I firmly believe this was due to the room. Moving around, I was able to find decent imaging here and there. Clarity from the midrange on up was unsurpassed. I still have some questions about the 100Hz range that I couldn't possibly answer without hours of fiddling and a better choice of test tracks. (I had Blue Man Group's _Endless Column_ right there, and didn't play it. Sigh.)

I think they beat out the Naut 802's; but the Naut's are a third less in price. They don't outdo the Dali Megalines and probably shouldn't be priced over them, IMHO, and for what it is worth. And having just now run BMG through my old Infinities at an appropriate db level for drum banging bass guitar snarling gut shivering visceral industrial pleasure, I remember why sometimes politeness is overrated. The RM/X are polite speakers, at least they were in that setting. But it's not always about politeness.

So I haven't made a decision yet.

[Brian Cheney]

Glad you finally got to hear the RM/X.

However, if you heard them operated fullrange from a tube amp it's understandable they lacked lowbass punch.  A great bass amp like the big QSC gives a completely different presentation.  Tube amps hate lowbass as a rule and low impedance speakers in general, since they can't deliver the current.  It's like moving furniture in front of the woofers.

The RM/X bass pins back my ears running biamped off Plinius, QSC and Amzilla power in my acoustically treated room.

Looks like Roop could use some backwall absorption and some bass traps in his demo as well.

Tube midrange and trebles are heavenly, aren't they?

[ScottMayo]

Glad you finally got to hear the RM/X.

However, if you heard them operated fullrange from a tube amp it's understandable they lacked lowbass punch.
 ...

The preamp was tube-based. The amp itself was a Spectron, one of those odd, entirely digital beasties that output PWM straight to the speaker, probably about as diferent from tube output as can be invented. I think there was enough power available; out of courtesy, I never cranked the volume past half. I had no real desire to discover the resonant frequency of a big glass window, or how angry I could get the neighbors.

I was a little surprised by the understated bass. With 9" in front and 12" on the side, there's enough surface area to move significant air. I didn't expect problems in that area. But the Dire Straights bass guitar, which  gets well down below 100Hz, sounded indistinct. At one point my wife turned to me and said, "that should be a *note*, not a noise".

Not sure what was going on, but it probably wasn't the amp itself.

[rkapadia@ROOP]

Scott - Thanks for stopping by and posting your impressions.  The lack of midbass presentation is largely the room node at the seated position; it's about 8dB down at rougly 60Hz (I believe I mentioned this to Scott).  We intentionally do not use any room treatment to display just how good the system sounds with brick walls, hard floors, enormous glass, and a metal ceiling.  The wiring in our walls is approximately 80 years old and is current-limiting the amplifier.  Our landlord refused to bring the wiring to city specifications (typical NYC landlord), and we're currently finalizing plans to move to a 5,000 sq ft showroom with multiple dedicated rooms and 30 ampere lines to power the system.

In the interm, we will probably pick up a TacT or similar system to electronically correct for the space anomolies.

Kind Regards,

[Brian Cheney]

I am not familiar with the Spectron but with the Ampzillas (A2000 on bass, SonofA on the mid/treble) the RM/X perform splendidly in my large (14x31) treated room, including thunderous bass.  That's with 200W/ch on the bass, 100W/ch on the mid/treble.

I can't comment on Roop's room as I have not visited.

[zybar]

I haven't heard Roop's room or the RM/X's but since I measured significant bass all the way down to 20Hz in my room yesterday with the RM 40's I believe this is mostly a room issue.  

I know the previous Spectron amps, and they were all very good in the bass.

I am not sure I agree with a dealer purposely not trying to make the system sound as good as possible.    When I go to a dealer who can't showcase the products they sell to their full potential, it makes me wonder how much value they are providing and how well they will be able to assist me.

If a dealer can't provide any value (setup advice/help, loaner gear, etc...), why buy from that dealer?

George

[ctviggen]

George,

I think Roop actually performs the set up of the speakers and comes out again after they've broken in to dial in the set up.  As for the display room, I'm undecided.   Most of the display rooms I've been in have been untreated.  The nicer ones, with the nicer equipment (to the tune of 150k in equipment/speakers), have been treated somewhat.  However, I'm buying speakers for a room that's currently untreated.  And, I'll have the additional complication of a RPTV and matching rack sitting between the front speakers (I can't really push the speakers too far back).  Is it better to have a completely treated room with all the bells and whistles or have one that's something like what you're going to have?

[zybar]

Bob,

If the dealer can't show me that they can properly setup the products they sell in their own store, why should I believe they can do it at my house?

Of course, if the dealer allows in house auditions I am a little less worried about how they setup their own environment.  The majority of dealers in the NYC don't offer in house auditions (I do think Roop does offer auditions) and expect somebody to buy based on what they hear in their store.  

BTW, if you are spending $10,000+ on speakers alone, why would you put them in a room that hasn't been treated?  

George

[sbcgroup1]

Scott-

I felt the same exact way you did when I listened at Roop's place. I didn't like the room setup. I'm hoping the different listening environment at home along with the addition of a RM30C in front (2 midrange cones) and more robust power amps (Earthquake Cinenova Grandes @600WPC) will help slam out the midrange. I'm also adding their largest sub w/ the megawoofers option (extremely impressed), but that wouldn't have much to do with adding midrange sounds anyways.....

-Ed

[zybar]

Ed,

Room placement is really critical to get the most bass out of the 40's.

I will take pics tonight, but I now have mine closer to the front wall and corners than I would have dreamed of.  This placement has allowed me to get the weight and slam I always felt were a little lacking.

I also truned up the L-pads pretty significantly to balance out the newly found dynamics.  

To be honest, I am not feeling the need to add the Larger subs into the 2 channel setup like I was previously.  I am thinking that it will be too much effort and possibly not the reward.

George

[Carlman]

Room placement is really critical

period.

I've found more than once... that proper placement can cure or improve more issues in a few hours than thousands of dollars worth of tweaks.

[ekovalsky]

Ed,

Room placement is really critical to get the most bass out of the 40's.

I will take pics tonight, but I now have mine closer to the front wall and corners than I would have dreamed of.  This placement has allowed me to get the weight and slam I always felt were a little lacking.

I also truned up the L-pads pretty significantly to balance out the newly found dynamics.  

To be honest, I am not feeling the need to add the Larger subs into the 2 channel setup like I was previously.  I am thinking that it will be too much effort and possibly not the reward.

George

After living with the RM-40 and now the RM/X, I definitely feel the big VMPS speakers perform best when placed close to the front wall.  Despite the multiple big woofers, VMPS can and often does sound bass shy when placed far into the room.  Treating the side and front walls to absorb mid and high frequencies allows the midrange and tweeter output to be increased while preserving image and stage.  The perceived mid-bass weakness which has been mentioned here before disappears once the midrange L-pad is advanced beyond 1:00.  

The current VMPS website, as we all know, is archaic.  But, Brian's How to Turn Your Room into a Good Acoustic Environment is a "must read".  I found John Dunlavy's paper Listening Room Considerations very helpful too.  In my case, best result was accomplished using Brian's placement and treatment suggestions with John Dunlavy's long wall preference.

[ScottMayo]

[written by my wife]

I'm not sure I can properly address the WAF factor for the RM/Xes, seeing as I've been perfectly content to have honking big speakers dominating my living room for the past 20 years. But since I made the perfectly lovely trip into NYC and spent several hours listening to the speakers along with Scott, I thought I'd offer my impressions as well for anyone who is interested.

Scott and I look for very different things in speakers. I like a warm, full sound, and he likes a clean, precise sound. Of course, what I call "warm" he calls "muddy"; what he calls "clean" I call "shallow", and what he calls "acceptable listening volume" I call "bone rattling", or at least I would if anyone could hear me over the music. So the two of us shopping for speakers together is always an adventure. Our hope is to find a happy compromise - not an easy thing. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the RM/Xes are going to fit the bill.

In all fairness, I don't know how much of my issues with the speakers had to do with the speakers themselves, and how much was due to the set up of the room. The dealer had the philosophy that if you liked the speakers' performance in less than ideal conditions, you would only like them better in your own home. He talked about the "bass sink" where the sofa was located (so why was the sofa there, then?) and the reverberation at certain pitches, etc. I'm not sure I agree with him. I would have liked conditions a little closer to an actual stereo room, and without the very distracting traffic noise. I suspect I would have liked them much better if I'd listened to them at the store in Boston where we heard the Nautiluses, for instance. That said, there were things they did very well.

We started out with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade", and I thought they handled that nicely. There was enough bass to balance the rest of the music, (the Paradigms were terrible in that regard), the violins had a nice tone to them, and for the most part there was good depth of sound. There was a bit of muddling in the mid-range, which might well have been the recording.

My biggest disappointment was with the Dire Straits, which was next up. "Telegraph Road" is one of my favorite pieces musically, so it's a good test disk for me. It has great bass and good imaging, both important factors for me in any music. The RM/Xes simply didn't do it justice. The bass just wasn't there. In fact, the first low, sustained note in the intro wasn't even audible. (This was before we discovered that the speakers performed much better at higher volumes, but I'm not a fan of high volume listening, so I'm not sure how much of a help that would have been.) The speakers were very unforgiving to the vocals, turning a pleasantly raspy voice harsh, and the guitars were strident to the point of harshness as well. The piano had none of the sweetness that it has on our trusty Infinities, and the overall effect was monotonous rather than melodic.

I was surprised, then, at how well the speakers did do with the Pink Floyd ("Dark Side" album.) The bass was fine, the balance good, the "heartbeat" nice and crisp, and the alarm clocks better than I've ever heard them before. I was impressed enough to ask Scott to put the Dire Straits back on, thinking that maybe I hadn't been listening carefully, or the speakers had had to warm up, or somesuch. The results were the same. "Telegraph Road" just does not sing on these speakers.

However, Nora Jones does. The RM/Xes did her voice very well. Our son, who was also along, said it sounded as if were a live performance. The background instruments were very clean. My guess is that the speakers excel at this style of music. They also did a passable job with Blue Man Group, although it lacked the guts the Infinities give it. I miss the days of the nice, big woofers. I know that that's what sub-woofers are for, but I'm not sure I entirely trust them to do more than rumble. I want to be able to hear those low pitches, as well as feel them through my toes!

A few general observations: my impression is that the "sweet" spot is very narrow. The speakers in general seem to project in a narrow range - when Scott walked in front of one in regards to me, it was as if someone had suddenly flipped a switch. I don't know how much that can be adjusted by placement in the room. The side speakers didn't seem to me as if they added much of anything. Even with my ear up close to them there was very little volume. I don't know if they are designed this way and are intended just to give added support, or if the dealer had set them up to be quiet so that he didn't break his neighbor's glassware. I'd love to know if that's where my missing bass tones were supposed to be! And (again, as set up) the imaging was good, but not great. I'm absurdly fond of very distinct imaging, so I always listen for it.

All in all, they are very nice speakers, but I have misgivings as to whether they're what we're looking for. I wish we could have heard them in a setting more closely resembling a home.

Jan Mayo

[ekovalsky]

Thanks for the report Jan.  Very nice to hear a lady's point of view on this (very nearly) all male forum.

After reading your comments I whipped out my 1982 Warner Bros CD of Dire Strait's "Love Over Gold".  

Overall the sound on "Telegraph Road" was a bit thin, particularly at lower volume levels.  The bass was there -- I definitely could hear the low bass at the intro -- but the balance didn't sound quite right until the volume was set higher.  I feel it reflects the equalization used on the master tapes.  On my system, the bass on Madonna's "Ray of Light" CD is just spectacular at all volume levels.  Great pitch definition and a powerful bottom octave which effortless locks the room, giving the ambience of a live event.  I've heard this CD sound horribly muddy and bass heavy on a lot of home and mobile systems.  

Mark Knopfler's voice did have some grit to it, but I certainly wouldn't call it harsh.  It sounded about right from what I remember of a Dire Straits concert about a dozen years ago, the only time I heard him live.  I should probably point out that was during my college years and my memory is rather bit hazy  

The sound of piano was not particularly natural.  But I am confident this reflects the recording showing its age.  With a few recent discs, such as Marie Kodama SACD of Beethoven piano sonatas and Vienna Teng's "Warm Strangers", the RM/X produce the best recorded piano I have heard.  The piano notes during the final moments of "Angel" from Sarah McLachlan's "Mirrorball" are spectacular, reliably giving my wife goosebumps.

I am not a big Nora Jones fan, but I do listen to a lot of female vocals and the RM/X do a wonderful job with them.  I made a CD-R containing the track list from Sarah Brightman's Harem concert back in May, each time I listen to it I am transported back to America West Arena.   Both voice and music are reproduced with stunning accuracy compared to the riginal event.

Unfortunately you have no way of judging how the RM/X will perform in your home with your equipment.   It sounds like Roop has some limitations he has to work with at his current site, and probably you didn't hear the speakers at their full potential.  The RM/X are challenging to properly set up even in good listening environments, because of their multitude of adjustments.  I'd hate to be in the position of demonstrating them in a difficult room with no treatment and driving electronics with poor quality power.

Good luck to you and Scott on your quest, hopefully you can find a mutually satisfying speaker!

[mcrespo71]

Jan,

Thanks for the review.  Very cool to have a female voice her opinion using audiophile lingo no less!

Michael

[John Casler]

[written by my wife]

I'm not sure I can properly address the WAF factor for the RM/Xes, seeing as I've been perfectly content to have honking big speakers dominating my living room for the past 20 years. But since I made the perfectly lovely trip into NYC and spent several hours listening to the speakers along with Scott, I thought I'd offer my impressions as well for anyone who is interested.

Scott and I look for very different things in speakers. I like a warm, full sound, and he likes a clean, prec ...

Jan,

You are breath of fresh air!!!

I can't say I have ever heard a wife have such a delightful awarness of what she likes and dislikes regarding a speaker and with test recordings even.

Scott you are a lucky guy.

As far as the RM/x, I would still put it up against most any speaker in the world, "IF" it is set up correctly, in a good room and the goal is to reproduce what is on the recording (good or bad)

As far as the Bass, all that can be changed with either "positioning and set up", or a VMPS Sub.  Now I say VMPS sub because they "are" musical.  That is, they are not the "droning", thumping, one note subs you might have heard in the past.

And I'll tell you something interesting.  

I would bet that 99.9% of all RM/x owners never heard a note from the RM/x until it arrived in their listening room.  

And on top of that, as far as I know, each and every one of them is "very happy" everytime they fire them up.

Now, the fact that you have heard a CD cut sound different on another speaker has to do with the charachteristics of the speaker, and what it adds or "forgives". (I already mentioned room set up)

I have to say that if a recording is the least bit under engineered, the RM/x will tell you.  Now that does not mean that all the anomilies you described were all bad CDs.  

The great thing about the RM/x and all VMPS ribbons is that they have adjustability.  

Women have much more sensitive hearing (in general) than men.  I think you would have to assist Scott in "tuning" your speakers the way "you" like them.  The mids and highs can be accentuated or attenuated as you like.

If your pleasure is to have greater bass to Mid/highs, then you can "dial down" the mid/highs and this then, makes the bass more prominent even at lower levels.

The other thing is electronics.  The RM/x will allow you to use a quality of electronics that will allow Scott to have his "detail" and you to have your "smoothness" in the same package.

And do know that the other speakers you heard, were also not in your living room.  The Dali's and the B&W, along with their electronics might sound "entirely" different when they're sitting in your house, who knows??

So that is not a defense, but more an explanation of what can make a speaker perform in a certain way.  

But getting back to my original complimentary point.  Scott is a lucky fellow to have such a discriminating spouse who will even entertain the arduos task of audition after audition.

You don't have a 39-45 year old unmarried sister do you?

[ScottMayo]

Overall the sound on "Telegraph Road" was a bit thin, particularly at lower volume levels.  The bass was there -- I definitely could hear the low bass at the intro -- but the balance didn't sound quite right until the volume was set higher.  I feel it reflects the equalization used on the master  ...

I wonder. I took the intro to Telegraph Road apart with a frequency analyzer when I got home. Modulo the limitations of running an analyzer on a PC, it tells a pretty clear story. The high A at the beginning rises in volume slowly, then the distant thunder kicks in, and out of that rises a deceptively simple sounding fundamental D (around 32Hz), which turns out to have a lot of harmonics. About 20 seconds into the song, the very high A and the very low D are at about equal volume. Well, equal peak db, anyway: the human ear devalues the low frequency sound a bit. But the two sounds should come at you with about equal sonic impact; if anything, the bass probably packs more energy, because there are more frequencies in it, all at about the same db. And my old Infinities bear this out. The bass rumbles at you, without any bloat but without being shoved into the background, either. Then other high pitches come in, at higher dbs, and the bass fades gracefully into the background a bit. It sounds glorious on the Infinities (and pretty trashy on my PC, because the sub gets bloated on pitches that low.)

I think we just found Brian's next test disc.  

As to Knopler's voice sounding strident, now I'm wondering about the big glass window just a few feet to the right of the speakers. I remember reading that sheets of glass can do that...

[ScottMayo]

Jan,
I can't say I have ever heard a wife have such a delightful awarness of what she likes and dislikes regarding a speaker and with test recordings even. Scott you are a lucky guy.

Yup!

Jan's been dragged into the audiophile world by slow degrees. First it was reviewing the amps (Bryston, Classe, Aragon) at our house, doing blind A/B tests for a weekend. Then it was reviewing preamps (Bryston, Tandburg). Then there was the trip to hear the Maggies, and then into Boston to hear the Paradigms. Now it's NYC. Pretty soon I'll be able to explain that a trip to Denmark to hear the megalines in their natural setting is our only reasonable option. *noddle*.

Of course, I do put up with being up to my ears in her small animal collection - ferrets, cats, a dog, fish, rats, frogs, lizards, turtles. I'm pretty sure that if I propose any more trips for audiophile purposes, she's going to trump in with a pony. *mutter*

I would bet that 99.9% of all RM/x owners never heard a note from the RM/x until it arrived in their listening room. And on top of that, as far as I know, each and every one of them is "very happy" everytime they fire them up.

See, that's a dangerous argument. "We sell exclusively to people who don't do A/B comparisons!" Besides, I'm willing to bet that everyone but the crazies, listened extensively to 40's or some other VMPS speakers first, and knew what they are getting into. I don't. Everyone I mention VMPS to out here in the northeast gives me a blank look. It's not like you can find lots of reviews on them, either. I can point you to a frequency response graph for a Nautilus 801; B&W publishes 'em, faults and all. There's no equivalent for the RM/X, showing what happens when they are dialed to "flat response curve".

That's why I'm still thinking.

[ctviggen]

Supposedly, Brian doesn't release anechoic chamber type graphs because they're only good if you have the exact same chamber.  If you don't, it's impossible to get the same response.   As an engineer, I like them, but I don't think they really tell you much.  Plus, what's attractive to me about VMPS speakers is their adjustability -- you can biamp them, biwire them, adjust the pots and the putty and peform other tweaks.  With a B&W, what do you do if it doesn't sound "right"?  (Personally, every B&W I've heard has sounded as if the tweeter needed to have padding placed over the top of it -- they're way, way too bright for me.  During one testing session, I had to go to another speaker because the B&W was literally hurting my ears.)

[tkp]

Scott,

You are doing the right thing by not buying the RMX yet.  12K is a lot of money so one has to be absolutely sure.  If you and Jan don't feel the RMX has what you are looking for then you need to audition other brands to see if you can find what you are looking for (and affordable).  Every one here mention the positive sides of VMPS speakers and I agree (I have the RM40s).  However, I will mention the down side of getting something that is not quite what you want.

a)  You can return the speakers if you don't like them but consider the size, weight, and shipping cost, I am not sure returning the speakers is really a good option.  In addition, you most likely will buy the speakers with the Auri or TRT caps option so that would eliminate returning them because they are customized for you (I could be wrong on this).

b)  The great thing about VMPS speakers is that they are adjustable to your taste.  However, this could be very frustrating at times so not every one is positive about this feature.  I have the RM40s for two years now and I am still adjusting and tweaking.  It is fun at times but sometimes it gets real frustrating.

c)  It is easy to buy but hard to sale, especially for expensive, large and heavy speakers.  I assumed you are looking for a pair of speakers which will keep you satisfy for many years so you need to be absolutely sure.

On the other hand, I have the RM40s for two years now and I found out that I can pretty much tweak the speakers to suit my monthly mood and/or to balance out the weakness of the source.  For example, I am checking out the APL modded Pioneer 563A player as we speak.  This player has a lot of potential but one of its weaknesses (to my ears) is that it has a bit more midrange than other CD/DVD players that I had in the past.  I was able  to minimize this last night by removing putty and adjusting pots.  I will continue to tweak the RM40s to complement the 563S.  I don't see how this is posible with any other brand of speakers.

For the record, a friend of mine like the RM40s enough that he asked me to order a pair of RMX for him.