[jonbee]

to Big B for all his contributions over the years. In my opinion, he is among a handful of designers that have survived the wars and truly advanced the art. The culmination is his current creations, particularly  with the cdwg. I think the RM30 is a true classic, as much a statement of the "real world" state of the art as any speaker ever made. After a week I'm still amazed at what they offer. It's true that I just forked over a chunk of $ for these, but I feel fortunate to have come across this level of quality at all at a price I was willing to pay. So thanks, Brian- I wish you all the best.

[dubravko]

In my opinion, he is among a handful of designers that have survived the wars and truly advanced the art.

A fact that I felt the same a couple of years ago was practically the only relevant reason why I stepped into audio business. At present, I may be intimately inclined to only a two or three other loudspeakers manufactures, but so far their sets of pro & contra are still not as appealing to me as at VMPS. Plus Brian also takes care for improving of his products towards an ideal real world loudspeaker, a Veritone, step by step. When I came here, there was "you don't have to listen to cones anymore", now there is "you don't have to listen to lobing and so-so polar response anymore". With RM V60, Veritone seems to be even closer...

[Zheeeem]

I feel pretty much the same way.

There were a few things that really appealed to me about VMPS and the RM30s in particular.

Maybe first is Big B himself - a real nutcase with a passion for music.  I had the chance to "meet" Brian on AA a few years back and enjoyed his sense of humour and knowledge and love of music long before I ever considered his speakers.  It left a seed that said "if you consider new speakers, consider Brian's."

Second is the handmade nature of (almost) everything, from drivers to XOs.  So many manufacturers today simply OEM everything.  It's not that there are not some really great drivers, etc. out there.  But I reckon that when you make your own, you think a bit more closely about what you're doing and how things work together.

Third is that with VMPS you get the same quality in all product lines (with some minor exceptions).  So many manufacturers have lines where the cheaper version uses cheaper drivers, cheaper cabinets, cheaper XOs - the message being if you want our best stuff, you need to buy our zillion dollar flagship.  But with VMPS you get, for example, the same neo panel with the 626 and RM40.  It's good all the way.

With regards the RM30, I had been looking very very closely at the AP Virgo.  I like the design of the side-firing woofer, especially in my small listening room.  What I didn't like is the price/performance of the Virgos.  I also really liked the idea of having 2 6-inch and 1 10-inch woofer per side.

So, without ever having listened to any VMPS speakers I took the plunge.  Since then, not only did I realize that all the above was correct, but also that I now greatly prefer in-phase speakers and 1st order XOs.

[John Casler]

I feel pretty much the same way.

There were a few things that really appealed to me about VMPS and the RM30s in particular.

Maybe first is Big B himself - a real nutcase with a passion for music. 

I think that about "nails" Brian Cheney

[warnerwh]

Well you guys are right and I'm glad you discovered Vmps speakers. I bought my first pair of Brian's speakers in 1996, Tower II SE's. I'd only seen his ads in the back of mags plus read a couple of magazine reviews. Turned out they were a super bargain. Myself and my friends have been very impressed.

Then I purchased a next generation model, Supertower/R SE's, these things still sound outstanding. A friend of mine has them and has been hemming and hawing about RM 40's but says when he listens to the Supertowers they are very satisfying. It's only when he comes down and hears my RM 40's that he can tell they've been superceded.

Within 3 seconds of hearing the RM 40's at Soundguy's home I knew I had to have that sound! I remember wow coming out of my mouth before I could sit down. To this day my system is immensely enjoyable.

As you can see my last three pair of speakers have been VMPS. In each iteration the sound for the money has been exemplary. I've really never heard anything that can compete with my system anywhere nor Vmps speakers dollar for dollar. I'm sure they're out there but I've heard speakers costing triple the price and I'd buy the RM 40's over them even if money were no object.

[Brian Cheney]

Thanks everyone.  In order to get the results I want I have to treat each pair individually, tweaking crossover, bass damping, and level controls in my soundroom before shipping.  It's a lot of work but it pays off.

[Zheeeem]

In order to get the results I want I have to treat each pair individually....

Ah!  That explains all the fingerprints.

[Brian Cheney]

Fingerprints are not mine, had them removed a while back after an unfortunate run-in with law enforcement.

I agree that prints do enhance your spackle-over-red-Krylon finish so if you need some more, let me know.

[warnerwh]

Is there a picture of the red speakers anywhere? Thanks

[Zheeeem]

Is there a picture of the red speakers anywhere? Thanks

Gee, sorry Warner.  Brian swore me to secrecy.  He said he was considering it to be a new even better finish than the MLS piano rosewood, possibly for use on the new RM60s.  Maybe that's why the hush hush.

I'll try to describe the look...

Take a pair of piano black Bud Bailey TM30Ms.  Take a baseball bat.  Play Mickey Mantle (or Pete Rose, your choice) for about 20 minutes or until the blisters start to pop.  Sand down any rough spots with 40 grit.  Spray with Krylon red high gloss.  Don't worry about drips.  Repeat until it's all pretty shiny.  Now, if you did the bat work properly there will be some rather large cracks or seams opened up in the cabs.  Grab a can of spackle (Big B said he used DAP to match my renovation job).  Smear liberally in the cracks and larger holes or dents.  It'll shrink a bit when it dries, so a second coat is probably necessary.  When dry, stuff with drivers.

For the waveguide, Brian seemed to just spray a pair Krylon red, then left them in the driveway and ran over 'em a few times while still wet.

Of course, the look is not for everyone.

Hope this helps!

[warnerwh]

Well if they fit into the decor of your room then that's what matters. I have my own room that I put together myself and you can tell if you compare it to the rest of the house. Then again I'm a guy and I don't care Looks fine to me. Besides alot of the time in there is spent with my eyes closed.

I was just curious what these must look like as they're no doubt very unique. I think you should take pics due to the novelty.

I'm not sure I understand what has been done. It sounds like you tried to use a hand texture using spackle. Using hot mud may have been a better idea. It's tougher when it dries than spackle and won't flake off very easily. It's kind of like Fix all if you've ever used that but hot mud is for sheetrock work. Covering a speaker cabinet with hot mud would dampen the cabinet considerably. Now that I think about it lining the inside of a cabinet with that stuff may be a good idea

[audiochef]

My 40s are 5 years old today. For it's birthday , I got it another Tube Audio Designs Tad-60 and am running two (horizontal-biamp). I'm now getting huge waves of music flowing effortlessly out of them.
This is truly world class sound that is made possible to me do in large part of the RM40s.

So, I too would like to thank Brian for making this possible.

Stan

[woodsyi]

Is there a picture of the red speakers anywhere? Thanks

Gee, sorry Warner.  Brian swore me to secrecy.  He said he was considering it to be a new even better finish than the MLS piano rosewood, possibly for use on the new RM60s.  Maybe that's why the hush hush.

I'll try to describe the look...

Take a pair of piano black Bud Bailey TM30Ms.  Take a baseball bat.  Play Mickey Mantle (or Pete Rose, your choice) for about 20 minutes or until the blisters start to pop.  Sand down any rough spots with 40 grit.  Spray with Krylon red high gloss.  Don't worry about drips.  Repeat until it's all pretty shiny.  Now, if you did the bat work properly there will be some rather large cracks or seams opened up in the cabs.  Grab a can of spackle (Big B said he used DAP to match my renovation job).  Smear liberally in the cracks and larger holes or dents.  It'll shrink a bit when it dries, so a second coat is probably necessary.  When dry, stuff with drivers.

For the waveguide, Brian seemed to just spray a pair Krylon red, then left them in the driveway and ran over 'em a few times while still wet.

Of course, the look is not for everyone.

Hope this helps!

Brilliant!  The distressed look!  Why didn't I think of that.  I am going to send Brian some 224 years old weathered barn planks to build me a new pair of RM60 with rotten burlap screen over the waveguide!!!!!  Perfect WAF. 

[Zheeeem]

Brilliant!  The distressed look!  Why didn't I think of that.  I am going to send Brian some 224 years old weathered barn planks to build me a new pair of RM60 with rotten burlap screen over the waveguide!!!!!  Perfect WAF. 

I found that just one phone call to Big B gave me the look I was after.  He was really happy to do a custom job, whether I wanted it or not.