[john1970]

Ordered the RM40s today in lite oak standard cabinets today.  I want to thank everyone who gave input and advice especially John Casler who took many of my questions.  I also want to thank Scott Mayo who is the local VMPS dealer in MA.  

If anyone has any additional advice like logisitcs for moving the beast and setting them up I would greatly appreciate it.  

Thanks,

J

[James Romeyn]

Too bad Scott is no longer at the forum.  All I can add is that you are in good hands with Scott taking care of you!  Enjoy!

[John Casler]

Ordered the RM40s today in lite oak standard cabinets today.  I want to thank everyone who gave input and advice especially John Casler who took many of my questions.  I also want to thank Scott Mayo who is the local VMPS dealer in MA.  

If anyone has any additional advice like logisitcs for moving the beast and setting them up I would greatly appreciate it.  

Thanks,

J

Hmmmm Advice....Start working out Now!!! (to be in shape to move those monsters around)

 




 

Congratulations!  You have started on a path to hear some incredible sonics.  

Be patient, have fun, and most of all "Stay TUNED"

[meilankev]

John,

Congratulations on your speaker purchase!!!  I hope you are as happy as I have been (I bought mine 4 years ago).  My advice?

> Be patient
> Trust your ears

Good luck!!!
Kevin

[CornellAlum]

What happened to Scott?  Is he taking a break again or did he get the bot this time?

Congrats on the new speaks.  What options did you get?

D~

[woodsyi]

If anyone has any additional advice like logisitcs for moving the beast and setting them up I would greatly appreciate it.
J

Congratulation.  Or may be it should be condolences to your family. Have at least one other to carry the speakers in.  Go easy on the crate (if they arrive in good shape) because they come in handy if you need to ship or move them later.  Other than that, try to involve your family to help you set up the sound.  They will more than likely get bored and leave you in peace after a few sessions for you to fiddle with your toys to your heart's content.  

Oh, and say hello to Scott for me.  I kind of miss his enlivening posts on very quiet days on AC.  Oh, well........

[James Romeyn]

What happened to Scott?  Is he taking a break again or did he get the bot this time?

D~

The latter.  Don't know why.  Probably another member does.  PM me for my best memory of the reason, which may not be correct.  It was not such a cardinal sin IMO, but the Borg is god here because it's only through his benevelonce that we type.  It was probably an accumulation of more than one trivial boundary being crossed.

[john1970]

Kevin,

Interesting that you've had your speakers for 4 yrs. (It seems that some people change speakers every year!)  What type of music do you listen to?  I listen to mainly symphonies, blues, vocals.  Can you also describe how (if any) the sound of the speaker has changed over the years?

Thank you,

John

[Skynyrd]

John1970,

I picked my RM40's up and had help tipping and sliding them into the back of my pickup.
After that, I was on my own.  Once the speakers were in my pickup's bed, I backed the truck right up to my front door and tipped the speakers into the house!

From there, I set them up alone and found the experience positively memorable:  New toys!  I lifted them out of the pickup and removed them from their boxes and positioned them myself.  Yeah, they are good sized, but you can manage fine alone.  The moving of the RM40's that required attention was getting them out of the boxes.  From the vertical position with one side of the crate removed, I just carefully pulled on the plastic and gradually slid the speaker onto a board. This was a little challenging. Once out of the box, you're home free.  An easy shuffle onto a big towel for easy sliding/dragging across the floor and I was done.

Then I tweaked the RM40 set-up to the neurotic!  
And still do when I want.


Bringing home the RM40's was a good day!

Skynyrd

[SWG255]

I bought my RM-40s in October of 2003 and set them up on Dec. 2, 2003. Why do I remember? Because this was the beginning of one of the most rewarding audio component experiences i've had since i began buying audio equipment in earnest in the early 1970's.

In the two-plus years i've had the speakers I've tuned them several times, playing with positioning, putty and pots. I did this initially, first positioning the speakers for best compromise between tonal balance and good imaging, given the confines of my listening area. Then i tuned the putty for the best overall bass balance, meaning bass extension, clarity and "slam", with a variety of recordings. I got that about right when some recordings that should sound bass-shy did, and others that should sound bass-heavy did, and those first-rate bass recordings sounded, well first rate. Then i began to tinker with the tweeter and midrange pot settings, only a little nudge at a time.

I have had to re-tune the RM-40s several times since, first when I upgraded to my Bolder jumpers with Bybees between the bass and mid/trebble binding posts, then when i installed my Bolder Nitro cable between my SACD player and preamp. Again, when i upgraded my preamp, and again when i upgraded to VH Audio AC power cords. Recently I had some fellow audiophiles help me fine-tune the speaker positioning (thanks Woodsyi), and I've again re-adjusted the tweeter level pot just a little.

Many would call this compulsive but this is the way the sound of my system keeps improving, as i change components. The key is to listen, take one's time, and don't be afraid to experiment. Tweaking the VMPS speakers is a rewarding experience and adds a great deal to the value of these speakers IMHO.

Enjoy them, as I'm sure you will.

[meilankev]

John,

Yes, it's true, I'm not typical of folks who enjoy this hobby.  But them again, I've never been into audio for the engineering aspect of it.  Nor the technology aspect.  From the outset (1977), I recogninzed that for me, audio equipment is just a means to an end.  And that end is musical enjoyment. Give me $10,000 to improve my system, and I will simply spend it on 750 albums.
 
Listen, I enjoy music played over a high-quality audio system as much as the next guy.  But my audio philosophy has always been to purchase the best gear that I can afford within my budget, and then simply enjoy it until the wheels come off.  Then I replace it, and start all over again.

When I bought my current system four years ago, my intention was for it to last ~15 years.  My previous speakers were Thiel CS-3.5 which I had bought in 1989.  They still work great, and are now a part of my wife's Karaoke-based surround system.  However, all the rest of my previous system had been bought in 1981, and was therefore 21 years old when sent to pasture.  The turntable was a Revox, but it still works fine, and is also still active in my wife's system (admittedly it doesn't get a lot of attention anymore).  My preamp, power amp, and cassette deck (Nakamichi 660ZX)  were on their last legs, and no longer work.  The tuner (Yamaha T-1) actually still sits in with my main system, but I almost never listen to the radio.

Am I an audiophile??  Certainly not, based on most folks' stereotyped image of what that means.  I prefer "music lover and audio enthusiast" anyway.

Kevin

[meilankev]

John,

The sound of my speakers (system) certainly changed over the first 3 or 4 months.  Upon purchase, I spent quite a bit of time trying to wring the best sound out of them - even enlisting the assistance of a couple of my audio buddies.

But the final results were not real good - my existing Thiels were better in many, many respects.  And over the next few months, the sound of my RM40s actually deteriorated!!!  But this was because as the speakers broke in, the settings I had dialed in were no longer correct.  But rather than chase my tail in circles by trying to adjust them weekly, I decided to wait until I felt things had levelled out (about 4 months for me).

I then re-applied all the putty, and put the potentiometers back at their 12 o'clock settings, and started all over with the tweaking.  And now that they were broken in, I was able to bring them very, very close to my ideal - and markedly better than the Thiels in almost every respect.  Note the sound has been pretty stable since then (minor adjustments only).

As such, I am a completely satisfied VMPS RM40 owner, and it is unlikely anyone shows off their system as often as I do.  This past weekend, I hosted a get-together on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  Meeting people with the same love of music is one of my favorite ways to spend time (and the primary reason I joined sites like this one).

So, some additional advice is to recognize the possibility that the speakers' sonic attributes will change somewhat as they break in.  And therefore, do not throw out any of the putty that you removed from the passive radiator in your initial setup - you may just need that when you do any adjustments down the road.

And I want to expand on something I said in my original reply to you.  When I said "trust you ears", I mean just that.  Other folks on this site (well-intentioned, one and all) can tell you the "proper" amounts of putty you  will likely remove, and the "proper" potentiometer settings that are expected.  But every room is different; associated equipment is different; owner tastes and preferences are different.

In my system/room, I ended up removing probably 2 1/2 times more putty than recommended.  And my potentiomer settings differ greatly from what is recommended.  But that was neccesary to make it work in my environment (smallish room, tube monoblocks, tube preamp).  Their guidelines are only guidelines.  So, trust your ears - because your ears are the only ears that matter.

Kevin

[meilankev]

John,

My favorite musical genres fall pretty much in 3 categories: Blues (my current obsession is Lonnie Johnson), 1970s British Rock (Roxy Music, King Crimson, etc), and the world of Tom Waits.  Of course, there are scores of other artists that I really enjoy, as well.

Also note that 90% of my listening is to vinyl.

Kevin

[clarkjohnsen]

What happened to Scott?  Is he taking a break again or did he get the bot this time?

D~

The latter.  Don't know why.  Probably another member does.  PM me for my best memory of the reason, which may not be correct.  It was not such a cardinal sin IMO, but the Borg is god here because it's only through his benevelonce that we type.  It was probably an accumulation of more than one trivial boundary being crossed.

Why haven't I a clue what you're talking about?

I know, I know -- spend more time on the Net and figure it out myself.

But: Whose (or what) boundaries were being crossed?

[theborg]

He got the bot, but it wasn't me.

There wasn't a unanimous decision in Council but there was enough feeling that if he didn't go now, he would eventually anyway. We don't really need people here who won't listen to other people's views or even bother to respect some fairly simple and straightforward rules.

[john1970]

To all,

I ordered the standard RM40s with only the Auricap upgrades.  In my opinion this gives a lot of speaker for the money (especially at dealer discounts):    

The specs include (per a speaker):
1) 2 x 10" WCF woofers (both with 80 oz. magnets)
2) 4 x 80 cm Neo ribbon midrange panels
3) 1 FST ribbon tweeter
4) A domestic lite oak cabinet made from 11/4" and 1 1/2" MDF
5) 1 x 10" passive driver (faces downward)
6) Soundcoated cabinet
7) Auricap upgrades

Of the speakers that I auditioned (Gallo Ref. 3, Thiels, Linns) the VMPS line was the clear best value.  Although I did not directly audtion the RM40 I did audition the RM30 and RM/X and based on those auditions I went with the RM40s.  I did not audition any speakers with ports because I can't stand the port noise at low frequencies and high outputs.

[John Casler]

To all,

I ordered the standard RM40s with only the Auricap upgrades.  In my opinion this gives a lot of speaker for the money (especially at dealer discounts):    

The specs include (per a speaker):
1) 2 x 10" WCF woofers (both with 80 oz. magnets)
2) 4 x 80 cm Neo ribbon midrange panels
3) 1 FST ribbon tweeter
4) A domestic lite oak cabinet made from 11/4" and 1 1/2" MDF
5) 1 x 10" passive driver (faces downward)
6) Soundcoated cabinet
7) Auricap upgrades

Of the speakers that I auditione ...

You are very correct about the "value/performance" of this model.

They should look much like this:

[john1970]

To all,

I forgot to mention that the RM40s also came standard with the CDWG at no extra charge.  

Cheers,

John

[john1970]

To all,

Monday is D-Day (the D is for Delivery of the RM40s).  I will post pics and a review of the speakers once they are setup and broken in.  I am taking the day off and having a couple of friends help me move the speakers after work.

Cheers,

John