[JakeJ]

Aren't those tweeters the Aurum Cantus G2Si?

And yeah, the Birds-eye Maple veneer is one I have never seen on any VMPS and even with those bad picks you can easily see the flaws.  Poorly done job and also not a quality level that I've seen to date.

Just my .02.

[GeorgeAb]

Brian has mentioned a speaker he built for a "Grammy Award winning Producer" in a few posts. I find it likely that these are the special digital edition (SDE) RM-2 FST speakers Brian lugged (personally delivered and set up) for Grammy winning Producer Norman Dayron in 2008. https://www.discogs.com/artist/386812-Norman-Dayron

The eBay seller is a tad confused on some of the specifics as yes those are Aurum Cantus GS2si's and same neo used in all the ribbon monitor (RM) series. IMO the seller's hyperbole about original selling price is total BS as is the desired price the seller mentions.

These are posts about what I believe are these speakers. Also, think about this... Brian lugging those speakers to the guys home in 2008!
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=59669.msg530833#msg530833 

This is a post quoting Grammy winning Producer Norman Dayron on his RM2 FST speaker Brian dropped by.
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=60459.msg539389#msg539389

That room looks fantastic! High ceilings, large tight non plush carpet, well treated. It reminds of a room Jim Thiel designed for the owner of "Nuts about Hi Fi" in the 90's

[Stimpy]

So, the seller is asking $6500, but didn't set a reserve...?  Someone is going to be disappointed...!   

[ZAKski288]

VMPS Subwoofer Pair with Dayton SA1000 Amp - $1 (Monrovia)


Insanely deep low end, the amplifier is very flexible and can be setup to either gently feather a little extra bass in there or absolutely part your hair. You know you need stereo subs and I need these out of my garage. Make me an realistic offer. Trades, whatever. I could use a preamp....Audio stuff.....anything

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/ele/d/monrovia-vmps-subwoofer-pair-with/7280879435.html

[dB Cooper]

Error

[davidc1]

Lol.

Does anybody know exactly what model these are? And the time they were sold?

[JakeJ]

If you were closer to 99336 I'd be working a deal for these.  Too much for my room but oh what fun to shake up the neighborhood.

GLWTS

[simon wagstaff]

Brian has mentioned a speaker he built for a "Grammy Award winning Producer" in a few posts. I find it likely that these are the special digital edition (SDE) RM-2 FST speakers Brian lugged (personally delivered and set up) for Grammy winning Producer Norman Dayron in 2008. https://www.discogs.com/artist/386812-Norman-Dayron

The eBay seller is a tad confused on some of the specifics as yes those are Aurum Cantus GS2si's and same neo used in all the ribbon monitor (RM) series. IMO the seller's hyperbole about original selling price is total BS as is the desired price the seller mentions.

These are posts about what I believe are these speakers. Also, think about this... Brian lugging those speakers to the guys home in 2008!"

These are set up for tri-wiring. Was that the SDE edition?  Mine have the AC ribbons, but only bi-wire.

[Stimpy]

Lol.

Does anybody know exactly what model these are? And the time they were sold?

Those are the Original Subwoofers.  They use a 12" woofer and the down-firing 15" passive radiator.  I'm not sure when they were released, but there are reviews on Audio review, that date back to the 90s.

[davidc1]

So, my guess is they didn't originally come with the Dayton amp. I'm assuming they have passive crossovers inside.

Also, I would guess they are sort of bass equivalent to the Tower II speakers as  the drivers are the same size?

[Rtsandman]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/786422525324848


https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/246429827142585

[GeorgeAb]

So, my guess is they didn't originally come with the Dayton amp. I'm assuming they have passive crossovers inside.

Also, I would guess they are sort of bass equivalent to the Tower II speakers as  the drivers are the same size?

I doubt that Brian would of sold an external amp with a subwoofer.  Brian did use Dayton Audio amplifiers in his subwoofers that were ordered with a  built in amp. My 215 Sub that I ordered from Brian had a 1000W Dayton Audio amplifier built into it.  I use a pair of that same Dayton Audio S1000 amplifier the seller is selling to driver my two subs. The amp alone is $420 from parts express and used they go for around $250. The thing I love about those subs is they have similar volume and drivers as the 215 sub, but take less real estate as the volume is more vertical.

[GeorgeAb]

These are set up for tri-wiring. Was that the SDE edition?  Mine have the AC ribbons, but only bi-wire.

This is my understanding of Special Digital Edition. It could be done with an external crossover or a modification of internal crossover. Only the tweeters passive crossover was used and the bass and mids were driven directly. A Behringer Ultradrive Pro DCX2496 electronic crossover was set up to divide frequencies vice the internal crossover and amplification was then provided directly to woofers (low pass), and mids (high pass), the same high pass amplification going to mids would go through the external (or internal if done that way) tweeter crossover (this protected the ribbon tweeters from getting fried). Good post concerning here: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=63025.0. For my RM-40 it has three posts going directly to the drivers and requires an external crossover. It could also be done with just two posts, but internally the bass and midrange passive components would be jumpered past and tweeters would still be used.   

For the RM-2 being sold you would have to actually go into the speaker to figure how it was done before putting an amplifier to it.

IMO, DCX2496 and SDE is a significant improvement, but with most of us having fairly high end consumer equipment having a $300 pro gear doing A/D and D/A conversion is an area where performance can be improved. The DCX2496 is great to find your crossover points and levels for your room as it is programmable and xover points/levels can be changed with a few key strokes particularly when used with some of the sophisticated tools like Room EQ Wizard (REW) a $100 microphone and your ears. After I got everything dialed in with the DCX2496 and REW I replaced with a Marchand Electronics XM-44 active crossover that does everything in the analog domain and is in keeping with the rest of my gear. Really nice unit, love that piece. Our own VMPS AC contributor John Casler happens to be a Marchand dealer (shameless plug) and if interested you can ask for the "VMPS friends and family" discount. 

[GeorgeAb]

Aren't those tweeters the Aurum Cantus G2Si?

And yeah, the Birds-eye Maple veneer is one I have never seen on any VMPS and even with those bad picks you can easily see the flaws.  Poorly done job and also not a quality level that I've seen to date.

Just my .02.

Jake,

If you ever sell your RM-30's, you may want to add to the description that the neos frames were replaced with unobtanium and assembled within the great pyramids to get the perfect resonance.  

[JakeJ]

Absolutely!  Annealed and annointed by Tutankhamen's high priest Hyperboletankhamen. 

Well it's going to be a while before I have to worry about that ad copy.  As it is I am planning a room swap (office ↔ bedroom) and that will give me two decent official listening rooms.  It is about 12' x 16' and should be a good space for nearfield setups.

[davidc1]

ADVICE ON SHOULD I GET THESE NEEDED!!

So...this seller lives near me and I'm considering these, but I'd like your guy's advice, please.

Simply put, the seller is not willing to do the usual test of the surrounds by running his finger around them to see if they fall apart.

He's not the original owner...he got them around 2012 and said he has been using them since and has had no problems. We don't know the age, but they are the Original Subwoofers, so they could be from the mid-1980s to the 1990's I would think.

He wants to trade equipment, not cash. I've got a bunch of vintage electronics equipment from the 1950s to the 1990s. He's interested in a Marantz 3250b preamp from around 1980. Goes on eBay for $600-900 usually.

The amp is worth probably $250 or so as the ever-helpful GeorgeAb has mentioned and it is an amp that Brian offered as a standalone option at one point.

I've seen them here and there for asking prices of $200 each to $500 for a pair.

I'm not sure how much of a "vintage" audiophile he is, although I get the impression he's owned some high-end stuff through the years.

BUT...he's not willing to do the finger on the surround test. I discussed with him that old woofer surrounds tend to disintegrate and that they can "look" OK, and play fine, but if you touch them even lightly, they will fall apart and make the woofer useless unless replaced.

I understand his reluctance, but then again, I feel this is a test somebody selling a speaker should do in good faith. Sort of like having a piece of electronics, but refusing to flip the power button until the sale is complete, and then the buyer finds it won't power up.

I've never redone the surrounds on a woofer...I've always been concerned that given how carefully Brian chose and designed his speakers, I would think the surrounds have a strong effect on the parameters of the woofer and how could you know it's the same as the original. But...maybe I'm wrong on this? Any idea what the cost would be to have 1-4 drivers repaired...including shipping if there is no one to trust in Southern California?

What do you guys think? Should I chance it?

VMPS Subwoofer Pair with Dayton SA1000 Amp - $1 (Monrovia)


Insanely deep low end, the amplifier is very flexible and can be setup to either gently feather a little extra bass in there or absolutely part your hair. You know you need stereo subs and I need these out of my garage. Make me an realistic offer. Trades, whatever. I could use a preamp....Audio stuff.....anything

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/ele/d/monrovia-vmps-subwoofer-pair-with/7280879435.html

[TRE]

I have a pair of the VMPS taller subs that have the 12" and 15" active speaker as well as the 15" passive, probably around the same vintage as these and other than the previous owners cat scratches the surrounds are holding up well.Keep in mind these are for music not home theater. Mine are crossed over at 70 Hz and real add a ton to the music event low level listening. Really love mine.

[GeorgeAb]

I would not have any issues purchasing those subs sight unseen. WRT your driver repair costs question, no idea. I have a pair of older VMPS subs and IMO they should be good for another 40 years. That amp is a mono amp, so you likely would need another. IMO the value of the subs are approximately $125 each and $250 for amp. Amp is in current production and is $419 new, but generally sell for $250 used. 

Another set being sold in TX asking $300 for pair:  https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649682345-vsmp-subwoofer-pair/

[davidc1]

WOW!! They sold for only $1275!!

[/size]

VMPS  speaker full range   ( look like standard RM-2 w/FST tweeters to me )



VMPS Speakers Full Range. Condition is "Used".
Wehave a pair of custom made VMPS speakers which were made for a Grammy AwardWinning Producer and are one of a kind.  Here are some fine details on thebuild quality and driver topology:
Cabinets: These areusing 1.5 inch MDF laid over a birds eye maple.  The finish is a 10/10.The cost alone just for the veneer was $3,000.  Standard speakers aremade with 3/4 inch MDF so these are double that.
Tweeters: These arethe BEST hand made JVC ribbon tweeters and are the same as the $20,000 pairProac's and the ATC speakers
Mid-range drivers:These are planar magnetic drivers made and are hand built magnesium frames tohold the ribbons versus sheet metal on the original ones.  They were madeusing a spectro-graphic analysis.
Woofers: These usecarbon-fibre 12 inch woofers; one active and one passive.  One has a phaseplug driven by the air inside.
Sound: We had thesesetup in our store with McIntosh MC1.25 amps with a Lumin X1streamer/DAC/Preamp and the soundstage was to die for.  The sound is veryinvolving; similar to many $20,000 pair + speakers.  If you are in themarket for a new pair of speakers costing up to $10,000 pair, these speakerswill be on your short list. The original owner paid $15,000 for this pair andthese can be yours for only $6500.00 pair.   Offers will beconsidered. 
 
 We will alsoinclude for free a Behringer Ultradrice Pro DCX2496 electronic crossover inwhich the original owner of the speakers used to tri-amp these speakers.
 
LOCAL PICKUP ONLY ORYOU CAN ARRANGE FOR BOXING AND SHIPPING.
 


https://www.ebay.com/itm/VMPS-Speakers-Full-Range-/363298964536?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

[davidc1]

Thanks George as usual!

Well, for $125ea it's worth the risk of the surrounds being bad. I thought they might be worth more like $200-250 each. I think they were around $500-600 new.

He was running them in parallel for a 4ohm load on the amp.

Now...if I get these...and use them with my Super Towers...(15" in woofer, 12" mid-woofer, 15" PR) how would if integrate them into Home Theater? Still run the ST as my main full range L/R speakers and use the subs as LFE channels? Do two subs "need" to be stereo, or can they be in different parts of the room as a mono pair?

I would not have any issues purchasing those subs sight unseen. WRT your driver repair costs question, no idea. I have a pair of older VMPS subs and IMO they should be good for another 40 years. That amp is a mono amp, so you likely would need another. IMO the value of the subs are approximately $125 each and $250 for amp. Amp is in current production and is $419 new, but generally sell for $250 used. 

Another set being sold in TX asking $300 for pair:  https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649682345-vsmp-subwoofer-pair/