[James Romeyn]

For sale on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-Tower-II-Super-Tower-Vintage-Speakers-Tower-II-R-2240-2-recycle-/331243811896?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276#ht_5575wt_1573

Of every used VMPS model you guys posted here since Brian left us, this is unquestionably the best deal IMO.  For several reasons this is one of Brian's best efforts.  I'm convinced, after assembling hundreds of TII models of this era:

• The "arc" mid-treble driver array is audibly superior to the vertical line array of the so-called more costly TII SE special edition...yes, I know this is anti-intuitive and don't care, I only assembled hundreds of both models and owned them both...I gave up trying to figure out what was better about the older model and this is the only item I can attribute it to.
• This is unequivocally, by good margin, the best cone mid Brian ever sold...his own design, USA made, graphite loaded poly, gauze dust cap, rubber surround, better than the Asian-sourced Versa Tronics WCF (again, from the SE line)...the reason WCF came and went in loudspeaker drivers is because the best thing about it is also the worst thing: when employed in a mid range the CF self damps to such great degree that it has no untoward resonance, but it also severely lacks dynamic snap...it softens too much the transient speed.

If I was closer I'd buy these just have them.  Condition looks superb.  These kick butt to cutoff in the mid-high 20 Hz range.

This is the absolutely best ever TII model by huge margin.  The only driver I don't like so much is the Morel dome (never liked even the upgrade MDT33).  I'd replace it with Scan Speak's lovely D29 series and redo only the dome crossover, and that's it.  The planar driver is the JVC clone, a good driver.   

Well, there are other items worth changing, but they'd be far more intrusive and would completely change the whole Gestalt (but would improve performance).  You'd not believe how good these sound with a killer tube amp.  Do not, I repeat, it is illegal to biamp this speaker unless both amps are identical.  The QSO crossover splits the inputs between the mid and two tweeters.  Go straight to Guantanmo.     

Killer deal.  Get this speaker. 

I sold to the assistant director of In The Heat Of The Night two of these and two ST/R, both in walnut like this, with brown grills.  Brown grills look fantastic on these walnut veneer models.  You can change the cloth but it takes a good degree of effort. 

[DFaulds]

I love the Diapason...heard them decades ago at Las Vegas CES, Riviera Hotel (back in the day when there was a Chicago Summer CES).  Same year I heard the big IMF transmission line speakers and Dunlavy's Duntech Sovereign 2000.  WOW!  What a CES that was.

With all due respect to Richard Shahinian, our Late Ceiling Splash radiation pattern pretty well sends Diapason home on the truck, which was cutting edge thirty years ago.  LCS meets all four of Toole's and Gedde' criteria for ideal reverberant field, whereas Diapason falls short in three criteria and completely lacks one.  To Shahinian's great credit, I mention him and his implementations in my Patent Application.  Further increasing respect for Shahinian is the fact that Toole and Geddes had written nothing on the subject when Diapason arrived.

With high level of certainty I believe if Brian was alive now, at least one VMPS model would have LCS radiation pattern.   

IIRC, it was Dr. Robert E. Greene who noted, Newport THE Show had about five speakers (including our AudioKinesis Zephrin 46) with novel implementation of reverberant field theories, high end audio's "final frontier" (in homage to NCC-1701).

The description of what you call LCS reminded me a bit of my beloved Diapasons, which is why I posted the link.  I'm glad you like your creation, and I'm sure it sounds glorious, but we'll see if it's still around 40+ years from now, which is about how long Shahinian Acoustics has been in business.  The Diapaison was, I believe, introduced in 1987 and has remained relatively unchanged since then.  Vasken explained that they have changed the drivers slightly since the early versions, but performance has changed very little.  I also own other Shahinian speakers, including a pair of late 70's Obelisks and all share the same voicing and musical presentation.  While the Obelisk driver complement and arrangement has changed since the early models, the basic design goals have remained consistent, and their speakers are the only ones I've owned from the late 70's that used all film caps in the crossover.  Much of the Shahinian designs were inspired by the work of the great Stu Hegeman, whose speaker are still marketed under a different banner.

After looking at the LCS product on a link I found by googling, I think your basic design might be a difficult sell.  The Shahinians generate a great deal of reflection from the ceiling in a relatively small footprint and WAF friendly presentation.  Do you offer a product with the ceiling reflection in a single enclosure?

[James Romeyn]

The description of what you call LCS reminded me a bit of my beloved Diapasons, which is why I posted the link.  I'm glad you like your creation, and I'm sure it sounds glorious, but we'll see if it's still around 40+ years from now, which is about how long Shahinian Acoustics has been in business.  The Diapaison was, I believe, introduced in 1987 and has remained relatively unchanged since then.  Vasken explained that they have changed the drivers slightly since the early versions, but performance has changed very little.  I also own other Shahinian speakers, including a pair of late 70's Obelisks and all share the same voicing and musical presentation.  While the Obelisk driver complement and arrangement has changed since the early models, the basic design goals have remained consistent, and their speakers are the only ones I've owned from the late 70's that used all film caps in the crossover.  Much of the Shahinian designs were inspired by the work of the great Stu Hegeman, whose speaker are still marketed under a different banner.

After looking at the LCS product on a link I found by googling, I think your basic design might be a difficult sell.  The Shahinians generate a great deal of reflection from the ceiling in a relatively small footprint and WAF friendly presentation.  Do you offer a product with the ceiling reflection in a single enclosure?

Har'e she be: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=125924.new;topicseen#new  $4900/pr includes CONUS shipping.  Anyone who enjoys Shahinian's philosophy would love this presentation, much more dare I say.  The fact it plays undistorted peaks with 10-12W tubes, and works even flush with the front wall, is icing on the cake.

ETA for images early August, for all new separate LCS Effects Speaker and power amp to add LCS to any pre-existing loudspeaker, stand mount or floor standing.  Dimensions much smaller than first LCS Effects Speaker, only 16x12x18 (HxWxD), and lower cost, about $2500/pr, plus even tighter radiation focus for better performance (less early reflection from vertical walls till after the initial ceiling splash).  Amp projected 250Wpc and have level controls (for LCS Effects only), plus a special "LCS" switch control, plus "Bass Mode Damping" switch (two positions + off, not electronic EQ but rather mechanical, damps modes in 3-D space), plus RCA input plus speaker level input for those lacking spare pre out, estimate $500.

Lawn mowing feature while you sleep in Saturday, add $150.

The above described new LCS Effects Speaker and amp is a marvelous upgrade for any pre-existing speaker such as VMPS RM-60 Wing, and even the beloved Diapason.  Two per channel would be required for the mighty 107 dB Edgarhorns.

Again, all due respect to Shahinian...I won't ever stop singing his praises, he was several decades ahead of his time.  It took a long time, but now Toole and Geddes fleshed out with much more solid math the four parameters describing ideal reverberant field, and LCS fulfills them better than Shahinian: high SPL relative to on-axis, full spectrum/full range, target delay time 10ms-20ms, and maximum decorrelated signal (anti-intuitive, but relative to on-axis output the more chaotic and more unrelated are reverberant field directional cues the better is performance).

The distance between our full range LCS woofers and on-axis woofers allows us to provide the Bass Mode Damping feature impossible with any other architecture.  The more one is familiar with the audio performance of systems with bass modes cured (not band-aided with EQ), the more they would appreciate LCS Bass Mode Damping feature.         

[DFaulds]

So the single cabinet now utilizes reflections from the angled back of the cabinet?  This is quite a bit different than the seperate enclosure for reflected sound I saw from the link I found on your site.  I would suspect the separate cabinet gives more flexibility but is more difficult to implement in room, correct? 

The cure for problematic room nodes of using multiple subs has been around for decades, the problem has always been finding the correct spots and getting spousal approval.  Luckily, software has almost eliminated the first problem.  We still need help with the second issue.

I'm having a hard time with the concept that this going to sound so much better than Shahinian or other designs that utilize ceiling reflections.  In a nutshell, what are you doing that is so drastically different?  I own a number of vintage speakers that used upward firing drivers for ceiling reflections besides Shahinian, like several Burhoe designs and the Ohm I.  If you'rve got tailoring in the crossover for time delay, then wouldn't any delay be dependant on the room it's setup in, or is that adjustable?

I love what you're doing here, but it needs to be marketable and easily understood.

Nice review from Newport.

[James Romeyn]

Zephrin 46 review first posted minutes ago:

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2014/06/25/newport-2014-audiokinesis-and-electra-fidelity/

Regarding what we're doing different vs. Shahinian...IIRC, price wise, Diapason is closer to Dream Maker LCS than Zephrin 46.  Compared to DM LCS, Diapason appears to present higher ratio of reverberant field SPL relative to on-axis.  I have experimented a lot with separate amp driving our LCS system, and found there is a "sweet spot" for reverberant field SPL, beyond which performance decreases.  I'm not saying I am certain Diapason exceeds this threshold, but am saying it appears its reverberant field ratio appears to exceed what might be the ideal specification.

LCS system is full range with its own dedicated mid bass.  This is the only architecture providing different physical geometry for two bass systems per channel, required for the previously described Bass Mode Damping feature, which we demonstrated to good effect at Newport THE Show.  The coming dedicated LCS amp has two positions for this switch + Bass Mode Damping off.  The more any particular music program excites bass modes the more audible is this feature.  I do not enjoy nor appreciate electronic bass mode EQ so won't comment except to say that it is net zero effect, meaning any decrease in bass modes in one locations worsens performance at one or more other locations.     

Diapason on-axis output lacks DM LCS Constant Directivity architecture, which would be consistent with better image performance.

Beyond that, there may or may not be LCS major performance oriented specification that I might or might not describe in personal telephone conversation, but would rather not announce publicly.     

[DFaulds]

James, thanks for the reply and I look forward to listening to your creation at some time as I have an affinity for the Hegeman/Shahinian type designs.  Just remember, it's all about marketing and profitability.  Shahinian was established and well respected in the field as he introduced his designs.  He was able to reach a decent market share and keep it as the company is now nearly 40 years old, but your starting in a different climate.  Don't over step, and make sure you pay attention to the business side of things as that's usually what sinks small speaker companies.

About a decade ago, Artistic Audio introduced what was almost a perfect pulsating sphere by creating a 5" diamater two sided dome midrange driver.  I was lucky enough to score a pair of their Mobius speakers earlier this year and I can see now how they failed.  The front of the speaker looks almost like a 3' tall cast aluminum Y to suspend the sphere on and the speaker retailed for only $2,500.  I'm sure his margin wasn't adequate because he couldn't sell in the volume to support such an ambitous pricing.  Of course you worked for Brian who knew how to stretch a nickel, so you probably won't make that mistake.

Good luck, and mabe I'll be a customer some day.

[Stimpy]

Of every used VMPS model you guys posted here since Brian left us, this is unquestionably the best deal IMO.  For several reasons this is one of Brian's best efforts.  I'm convinced, after assembling hundreds of TII models of this era:

• The "arc" mid-treble driver array is audibly superior to the vertical line array of the so-called more costly TII SE special edition...yes, I know this is anti-intuitive and don't care, I only assembled hundreds of both models and owned them both...I gave up trying to figure out what was better about the older model and this is the only item I can attribute it to.
• This is unequivocally, by good margin, the best cone mid Brian ever sold...his own design, USA made, graphite loaded poly, gauze dust cap, rubber surround, better than the Asian-sourced Versa Tronics WCF (again, from the SE line)...the reason WCF came and went in loudspeaker drivers is because the best thing about it is also the worst thing: when employed in a mid range the CF self damps to such great degree that it has no untoward resonance, but it also severely lacks dynamic snap...it softens too much the transient speed.

If I was closer I'd buy these just have them.  Condition looks superb.  These kick butt to cutoff in the mid-high 20 Hz range.

This is the absolutely best ever TII model by huge margin.  The only driver I don't like so much is the Morel dome (never liked even the upgrade MDT33).  I'd replace it with Scan Speak's lovely D29 series and redo only the dome crossover, and that's it.  The planar driver is the JVC clone, a good driver.   

Well, there are other items worth changing, but they'd be far more intrusive and would completely change the whole Gestalt (but would improve performance).  You'd not believe how good these sound with a killer tube amp.  Do not, I repeat, it is illegal to biamp this speaker unless both amps are identical.  The QSO crossover splits the inputs between the mid and two tweeters.  Go straight to Guantanmo.     

Killer deal.  Get this speaker. 

I sold to the assistant director of In The Heat Of The Night two of these and two ST/R, both in walnut like this, with brown grills.  Brown grills look fantastic on these walnut veneer models.  You can change the cloth but it takes a good degree of effort.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-Tower-II-Super-Tower-Vintage-Speakers-Tower-II-R-/331243811896?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=9Ws4I5dFfMYFnkhHE6RRtQyMZ5M%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Well James, someone must have taken your advise.  The VMPS Super Tower II/R speakers have sold.  Best offer too.  So, someone got a bargain!

Also, good luck with the LCS system!  I've looked at your website, and read your breakdown on the design.  It looks interesting, and I'd love to hear the technology one day.  Maybe I'll do an experiment at home, as I have four A/D/S/ 570 speakers, that I could use for the test!   

[Stimpy]

REPOST & PRICE DROP

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331243775397

VMPS Large Subwoofer - (Maineville, Ohio)  $449.00 Opening Bid





"This is a VMPS Large Subwoofer with 12" CARBON FIBER active subwoofer AND a 15" passive radiator that fires out the bottom thru the vent. This puppy is capable of 18Hz and of cheek flapping stomach wrenching bass! In fact, NASA uses these subs to generate low rumble bass to test equipment onboard the space shuttle to make sure it will hold up to constant low frequency vibrations!

The VMPS company had to close its doors in Dec. 2012 due to the death of its owner and had been in continuous business for 35 years! These were available either in a factory cabinet, or you could order just the woofers and VMPS would send you exact plans for constructing the cabinets. This is what I did and a local cabinet maker constructed these for me out of HD Particle Board (recommended).

These speakers are NOT powered and will require an amp to drive them. With the passive radiator, their efficiency is 90db/watt. They will take as much power as you want to feed them!

These are heavy at about 80-90 lbs so you will have to come pick them up. I've sold most all of my audio gear (I'm getting ready to move to central america when I retire) so I have no amps remaining to test these with. I guaranttee that they are in perfect working order. Obviously, I've owned them since they were new and used them up until about 6 months ago.

I have some walnut veneer that I would sell for $50 extra that could be used to veneer them if you wish.   If you want the CABINET then everything MUST be picked up locally (because they are too heavy to ship economically).  The shipping you see posted is ONLY if you want just the separate drivers shipped REMOVED from the cabinet and NOT including the cabinet!!!  The drivers consist of the 12" active sub and the 15" passive radiator.  If you purchase just the drivers, I will supply exact drawing and dimensions to make the cabinet"

[Stimpy]

VMPS Type 12" CARBON FIBER RAW SPEAKER - (Reno, Nevada)  $250 BIN or Make Offer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171369904679








"This is one single extremely rare VMPS woven carbon fiber 12"speaker made by Brian Cheney.
It is an 8 ohm speaker and I believe it is 200 to 300 watt RMS.  These were used in the VMPS Subwoofers
and the awesome Tower Speakers that VMPS made.  Was not able to fully test with music so I tested with
a 9 volt battery and it does pump smoothly"

[Stimpy]

SAWAFUJI DYNAPLEAT / DYNA RIBBON Speakers.  Rare.  Used by VMPS  -  (Pennington, New Jersey)  $70 Opening Bid

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAWAFUJI-DYNAPLEAT-DYNA-RIBBON-Speakers-Rare-Used-by-VMPS-/191230100370?pt=US_Speaker_Parts_Components&hash=item2c8633c392








"

This auction is for a pair of rare SAWAFUJI DYNAPLEAT / DYNA RIBBON Speakers.

Used by VMPS in their flagship.


Condition used

All original parts.
No grills on speakers.
One shows split on the diaphram (see picture).

Dimensions: 6"H x 6"W" x 1"D"

[Stimpy]

PRICE DROP


VMPS Tower II Limited Edition full range Speakers -  (Leesburg, VA)  $800

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ele/4544957377.html






"These are one of two pair of audiophile speakers that I own. Designed by Brian Cheney.  Recommended to me by
Anthony Cordesman of Audio Magazine. Downsizing and need to go with only one pair. Recently upgraded subwoofer
and tweeters.

You will NOT need a subwoofer with these!!! The bass is full, tight and strong. Goes down to 20 Hz. Great for movies. -
I have the matching center channel (QSO626SpecialEdition) for $75 more - well worth it. THESE CAN ALSO BE BIAMPED -
as they have the subwoofer inputs for it.

Upgraded built in 12" Sub-bass unit: 1 mass loaded with slot-loaded port. 
Two 12" Special Edition Carbon fiber woofers, specially treated for long lasting, and high quality usage.
One 5" woven carbon fiber Special Edition midrange
1 Focal 120 Hard-dome tweeter - replaced with new units this year (see picture).
1 High Efficiency Ribbon super tweeter.
92dB/W/meter at < .7% THD, 115dB SPL at 1 meter with < 5% THD.
45"x15"x16", 105 lbs, EACH. Minimum Phase design.

Bring your movies or Audio to audition.

I also have the matching QSO626SE matching speaker, used for center channel - will negotiate on this one.  I WILL
MEET YOU HALFWAY FOR DELIVERY (UP TO 4 HOUR DRIVE) - CASH ONLY" 

[DFaulds]

I still have quite a few of these that I'll sell for a lot less, especially if someone wants multiples.

SAWAFUJI DYNAPLEAT / DYNA RIBBON Speakers.  Rare.  Used by VMPS  -  (Pennington, New Jersey)  $70 Opening Bid

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAWAFUJI-DYNAPLEAT-DYNA-RIBBON-Speakers-Rare-Used-by-VMPS-/191230100370?pt=US_Speaker_Parts_Components&hash=item2c8633c392








"

This auction is for a pair of rare SAWAFUJI DYNAPLEAT / DYNA RIBBON Speakers.

Used by VMPS in their flagship.


Condition used

All original parts.
No grills on speakers.
One shows split on the diaphram (see picture).

Dimensions: 6"H x 6"W" x 1"D"

[Stimpy]

PRICE DROP

VMPS Large Subwoofer (as used by NASA) - (Maineville, OH)  $425

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/ele/4511115366.html





"This is a VMPS Large Subwoofer with 12" CARBON FIBER active subwoofer AND a 15" passive radiator that fires out the bottom thru the vent. This puppy is capable of 18Hz and of cheek flapping stomach wrenching bass! In fact, NASA uses these subs to generate low rumble bass to test equipment onboard the space shuttle to make sure it will hold up to constant low frequency vibrations!

The VMPS company had to close its doors in Dec. 2012 due to the death of its owner and had been in continuous business for 35 years! These were available either in a factory cabinet, or you could order just the woofers and VMPS would send you exact plans for constructing the cabinets. This is what I did and a local cabinet maker constructed these for me out of HD Particle Board (recommended).

These speakers are NOT powered and will require an amp to drive them. With the passive radiator, their efficiency is 90db/watt. They will take as much power as you want to feed them!

These are heavy at about 80-90 lbs so you will have to come pick them up. I've sold most all of my audio gear (I'm getting ready to move to central america when I retire) so I have no amps remaining to test these with. I guaranttee that they are in perfect working order. Obviously, I've owned them since they were new and used them up until about 6 months ago.

I have some walnut veneer that I would sell for $50 extra that could be used to veneer them if you wish".

[Stimpy]

VMPS Original Subwoofer Pair with Upgrades - (Rosemead - L.A., CA)  $150

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/ele/4546499694.html





"VMPS Original Subwoofers with Upgrades.

Here's a pair of VMPS Original Subwoofers. These are rather large (27" x 21" x 17", 90 lb.) enclosures each with a 12" front woofer and a bottom-firing 15" passive radiator vented through the front. The finish is oak, but the veneer is split on top of one of them (see photo) and there is discoloration in other areas). The grills are intact and removable. The original woofers used clear polypropylene cones and foam surrounds and were replaced with rubber surround units provided by the designer, the late Brian Cheney, in 1996 (these are not the phase plug woofers used subsequently by VMPS). I soldered them with 10 gauge stranded wire to 5-way dual binding posts mounted on tempered fiberboard, replacing the original cheap plastic terminal cup that used spring clips (yuck). The 15" passive radiators use foam surrounds, and they were refoamed and are intact (if you push slowly on these, the 12" woofers move outward, indicating a proper air seal). However, if they ever deteriorate, I am including a pair of New Old Stock passive radiators (I purchased these from John Casler in 2013) as direct drop-in replacements (you have to turn the enclosure upside down and pull the bottom plinth--held with nails--off, to access the passive radiator and you need to transfer the rope caulk mass from the old passives to your replacements to properly tune/dampen the woofer resonance; I also include gasket-sealing foam tape to mount the passives to the enclosures).

Price is firm at $150/pr; I won't sell single units. Oh, these are not self-powered subs. If you need a sub amp with a crossover and EQ, I am selling a Dayton SA1000 (see my other ad) that I can combine with these subs for a package price of $350. For output and extension, this combo will absolutely kill any assembled powered sub at least double the price.

Cash only. Will not ship. You must pick up. Bring a BIG vehicle and your muscles.

Send an e-mail with your voice phone number and first name. I will not respond to e-mails without phone numbers and I do not text.

Happy Listening"

[TAFKA Steve]

Stimpy, you found my ad for a pair of Original Subwoofers!

[Stimpy]

Stimpy, you found my ad for a pair of Original Subwoofers!

Nice price...!!!     It's a shame they're the other side of the world!   

GLWTS. 

[/mp]

What is GLWTS?

It isn't listed in several acronym sites.

[Stimpy]

What is GLWTS?

It isn't listed in several acronym sites.

GoodLuckWithTheSale...!   

[/mp]

[TAFKA Steve]

For my sake, I hope good luck means Cindy Margolis wants to buy my subs .