Interesting ebay auction...

randog · « **on:** 29 Dec 2003, 05:22 pm »

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3067857362&category=14993

Brian, any idea who this seller is? He has zero feedback.

Do you recognize these speakers? What is your take of these mods?

I'm not interested, just intrigued...

Randog

Ron D · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Dec 2003, 05:34 pm »

check out the author of the thread directly below this one. He's "ribbonspeakers.net and is also fro the same town in California that the E-Bay seller is from. Coincidence, doubtful...

rosconey · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Dec 2003, 05:45 pm »

that looks like jim alright- he's my vmps dealer and a decent guy also

ekovalsky · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Dec 2003, 07:01 pm »

Guess he's making room for a new pair with the PLC cabinets and FST, and/or the RM30.

lkosova · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Dec 2003, 08:02 pm »

If you read the whole thing you will see that it is Jim with his phone # and all .....I guess the RM-30's are that good!!!

larry

tdangelo · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 01:18 pm »

Erik: I noticed in this auction that the woofers were reversed - did you ever try that on your RM40's? Wonder how hard it would be - I imagine they are soldered?

Tony

ekovalsky · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 03:18 pm »

Never tried it. Instead I used Casler's tweak, i.e placing a MDF board on the top of the speaker so it overhang the midwoofer and directed its output downward away from the ceiling.

Reversing the woofers would certainly be a better cosmetic solution. But you would have to be careful the megawoofer's distance from the floor and ceiling were different than distances to the front and side walls, else you'll mess up the low bass response.

zybar · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 03:25 pm »

FWIW, I talked to Brian about switching the woofers and his answer was "Don't Do It".

GW

tdangelo · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 03:32 pm »

guess I'll leave it alone

thanks

ekovalsky · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 11:42 pm »

Tony, you set up in the new digs yet? What happened with the eAR amp?

tdangelo · « **Reply #10 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 12:11 am »

Hey Eric, nope - they are just drywalling the house today ;( gonna be atleast another 6 weeks or so.... Peter from AR just got in touch with me yesterday - guess they are on vacation. Not sure what I'm gonna do with the amp - hate to spend $300+ just on shipping - may try to get it fixed in the USA - approvedaudioservice.com said they can try to fix it.... If they can I may keep it - it really worked well with the RM40's - much better than my Muse 160 II or I may sell it - the Speakon connectors are a pain if you want to try different speaker cables - the amp ends need to be cut off etc... I'm looking at the Solar H1 (just a little concerned because its such a small company), the AVA 550exr(dont like the looks) or maybe a pair of Aragon Palladiums - the JR 201 are just a little too much $$ for me;( Wish I had a local friend to bounce stuff off of

Only 1 hifi shop around here and I dont care for them....

Tony

ekovalsky · « **Reply #11 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 02:07 am »

Wow, if you make it in six weeks after drywall your builder is flying. We were in four months after drywall, with work ongoing for months more. A spontaneous combustion fire at the cabinet company didn't help, delayed us for six extra weeks.

The Solar amps sound very promising but I'd have the same concerns about the manufacturer, having owned Apogee and Sonic Frontiers equipment. Ric Schultz is working on ICEpower amps which I bet will be killer for the money.

If you don't mind the heat they generate, the Aragon amps are excellent. I used to biamp with a pair of 8008BB and they are a true audio bargain used. I know Audio Advisor was selling the Palladiums, which are even better, at 50% off...

Quote from: tdangelo

Hey Eric, nope - they are just drywalling the house today ;( gonna be atleast another 6 weeks or so.... Peter from AR just got in touch with me yesterday - guess they are on vacation. Not sure what I'm gonna do with the amp - hate to spend $300+ just on shipping - may try to get it fixed in the USA - approvedaudioservice.com said they can try to fix it.... If they can I may keep it - it really worked well with the RM40's - much better than my Muse 160 II or I may sell it - the Speakon connectors are a p ...

meilankev · « **Reply #12 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 02:50 pm »

Hello Tony,

My name is Kevin - I don't think you and I have communicated up to this point. I live in Tampa, and have owned RM40s (w/ TRT) for almost two years now. If there's anything I can do to assist you, just let me know.

You are more than welcome to drop by for an extended listening session. Bring all the gear you want - amps, sources, cables, music. I have tube gear (both preamp and monoblocks) that are driving my speakers full-range. But of the dozens of folks who have come by, three have brought over SS amps to try out in my system. It's always a blast.

Kevin

alana106 · « **Reply #13 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 03:16 pm »

Eric,
You mentioned using 2 Aragons to biamp your rm40s. I am currenty breaking in a new set of rm40s using a single Bryston 4bst. I am fairly certain more power is needed in my 27X19 room. Considering picking up another used 4bst as an economical biamp upgrade approach. Have you (or anyone else) used or heard the rm40s with Bryston amps? My other thought is to pick up a pair of the 7bsts used on Audiogon at >$2000 and just sell my 4bst. Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on what they think is the better direction.

Thanks,
Alan

zybar · « **Reply #14 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 03:19 pm »

Alan,

My room is 25x17x7 and I am bi-amping with Kora Cosmos reference Mono Blocs on the mids/highs and for right now an Adcom GFA 555 Mk II on the bass. The Adcom puts out 350 a channel into 4 ohms and is doing suprisingly well

If you have the space and don't mind the extra ic's/cable, bi-amping does shave some very nice benefits and will allow you to really tune and shape your system more.

YMMV

GW

ekovalsky · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 04:49 pm »

The few times I've heard Bryston I didn't love the sound, but I've never heard them matched with VMPS. John Casler sells Bryston, he may be a good one to ask.

Marsh may be another good choice for high power at reasonable cost. Julian has experience with them.

Quote from: alana106

Eric,
You mentioned using 2 Aragons to biamp your rm40s. I am currenty breaking in a new set of rm40s using a single Bryston 4bst. I am fairly certain more power is needed in my 27X19 room. Considering picking up another used 4bst as an economical biamp upgrade approach. Have you (or anyone else) used or heard the rm40s with Bryston amps? My other thought is to pick up a pair of the 7bsts used on Audiogon at >$2000 and just sell my 4bst. Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on what they think is the better direction.

Thanks,
Alan

tdangelo · « **Reply #16 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 05:05 pm »

Kevin, thanks very much for the offer - I live about 200 miles from you near Jacksonville. I went ahead and ordered the Aragon Palladium II's for 2499 shipped from Audio Advisor - great deal I think - hopefully they will sound as good as my AR eAR2 did. Guess I'm gonna sell the eAR2 after it gets repaired - its probably the surface mount fuses - its sounded very nice with my RM40's but trying different speaker cables was a bit of a pain because of the speakon connectors.

Thanks again

Tony D.

azryan · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 06:33 pm »

Just wanted to say agian that I'm sorry that your amp died on you.
I certainly never thought that would happen and would like to know what caused it if you ever find out.

I don't think you should have anyone but Peter fix it so you don't void the warr. and since he does have that latest mod for it I'd think you'd be fixed and set with an even better sounding amp that you already found it to be (at least according to Peter who designed the great sounding amp in the first place).

I'm glad you got a hold of him too during this time of the year. I know I've never had a problem getting a hold of him before or afterI owned that eARTwo.

I might suggest again that you connect binding posts to the speakon connectors as I suggested before so you could use any kind of wire you like if that's an issue for you.

Peter sells his own too but they aren't real cheap $.

Anyway... just wanted to say I'm sorry that it died. I know I loved it and it worked flawlessly for the time I owned it, and I'm at least glad you got to hear it for that short time (for whatever that's worth).

Good luck with whatever amps you decide to use though.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #18 on:** 1 Jan 2004, 07:37 am »

Brian said reversing the woofers would minimize bass output. In my room, no such problem. I will post excruciatingly detailed instructions if requested. I think it is an immensely good tweek with no downside except the effort. Upon careful listening, I noticed the stage/image tilted slightly upward when the music emphasazied the output in the range covered by the upper standard woofer, which goes higher than the MW at the bottom. It became extremely obvious over time, especially to the wife. The 40s were picked up yesterday.

alana106 · « **Reply #19 on:** 1 Jan 2004, 11:12 pm »

Tony,
Do you intend to use the Palladium II's alone, or as part of a biamp arrangement? I will be very anxious to hear how they work out for you. At the current $2500 price, I am also interested in them. Although you may have previously stated, what size room are you working with??
Alan A.

Quote

I went ahead and ordered the Aragon Palladium II's for 2499 shipped from Audio Advisor - great deal I think - hopefully they will sound as good as my AR eAR2 did.