[sprink]

I'll  be finishing a part of my basement into a 21x15 room with another 7x5 area for a small bar. My ceiling will vary 7'-8'. I listen to mostly rock and alternative and was wondering what would be best suited for my room, RM40 or Rm30? Or even the RM2? The speakers will be on the long wall. Thanks for your time.

[Brian Cheney]

That's a good sized room for any of our models, so your choice would be more of a budgetary decision.  Right now we have Jr versions of all three models you're interested in.  Jr. models lack some features of the Sr. versions but are substantially cheaper.  For example, the RM40Jr has no CDWG and is available in cherry and satin black finishes only.  The RM30Jr has the CDWG but is available in piano and ebony only.  The RM2 Jr has the spiral tweeters, polycone woofers, no CDWG and is available in oak only.

[John Casler]

I'll  be finishing a part of my basement into a 21x15 room with another 7x5 area for a small bar. My ceiling will vary 7'-8'. I listen to mostly rock and alternative and was wondering what would be best suited for my room, RM40 or Rm30? Or even the RM2? The speakers will be on the long wall. Thanks for your time.

Hi Sprink,

Welcome to the VMPS Circle.

As B, stated virtually all the models will work in that environment.

I am a big fan of your slated "long wall" placement, as I have a 20 x 30 with RM40's on the Long Wall and the lack of "sidewalls" just adds another dimension of spaciouness of the soundstage.

You are in for a treat.

[sprink]

Thanks for the info, Brian & John. Those are some great specials you have running, unfortunately I wont be buying until after the first of the year. I'll be starting the room in Oct., so it will be after that when the audio gear will be purchased. That will give me plenty of time to look for corrospondeing gear to drive them. Or I may use my B&K stuff and buy new stuff for my wife.

                 Thanks again
                                      Jimmy

[Housteau]

I am also a fan of the long wall placement for the same reason that John mentioned.  With the right speakers and by keeping them as far away from the side walls as possible the soundstage can really open up if both the speakers and recording allow.  My current V60s fill the front of my room from side wall to side wall with the right recordings.  They also completely disappear as a source of the sound.  My old infinity RS1bs used to do the same, but my Martin Logan CLS system was never able to do this.  They could disappear, but the soundstage for them was limited to the speakers themselves and no wider.

There are many that belive any sound perceived as coming from beyond the speakers is an artifact of the room / speaker interaction and not part of the recording and should be avoided.  As an artifact, or not, I highly prefer the wider presentation.

Your room dimensions are very similar to mine, although mine has a greater ceiling height.  It should work well for you.  Before you start to think about populating it with gear, take the time and expense to first get your first and most important component right, the acoustics.  Without that not much else matters. 

[PLMONROE]

Hear! Hear!

Paul

[Long Ear]

Boy, you're a long distance. away from your speakers. I like to sit around 7 1/2 feet away, not as great for soundstage depth, but the impact seems better,at least to me. Using rm-40's with 2 larger subs.
Waiting to see how the omg's & dsp unit work out with you all.
Any ideas on how the omg 10'' would work to replace woof's in 40's. Just a thought.

[John Casler]

Boy, you're a long distance. away from your speakers. I like to sit around 7 1/2 feet away, not as great for soundstage depth, but the impact seems better,at least to me. Using rm-40's with 2 larger subs.

Long Ear,

Welcome to the VMPS Circle to you also.  7' + seems to work very well for the RM40's (actually any VMPS speaker, if you want immediacy.

By definition the "depth" of the stage will suffer a bit because you will almost be "on stage"  or in the front row(s), for many performances.

Waiting to see how the omg's & dsp unit work out with you all.

The first shipment should be in soon.

Any ideas on how the omg 10'' would work to replace woof's in 40's. Just a thought.

That is "on the drawing board" but first we want to get the subs and upgrades shipping.

The 10" OMG woofs will not likely be available until Christmas.  B, has to make sure the lower woofer will fit.  Remember we have a new Big Bump PR that is also occupying some of that space.

[Housteau]

The square footage of my room is 21.5' x 15.2'.  With those floor dimensions using the long wall placement and the need for dipoles to be out into the room away from the wall behind them, the largest equilateral triangle it can support is 8' to 8.5'.  Also factored in here is the need for the listener not to be right up against the rear wall.  However, no matter what with a set-up like this one will be closer to that wall than recommended.  So, it will need to be treated to deal with those reflections.  Generally I have found that with dipoles depth is determined more from their distance out into the room, the treatments between them and that wall than the listeners proximity to them.

[warnerwh]

Be sure to budget room treatments and be sure to get some bass traps. My room is 12x17 and my RM 40's are a very good fit. Be sure to budget in room treatments. Myself as well as others I know will not set up a listening room without considering acoustics first. There's a good reason why people are always amazed at how much better their systems sound.
Don't mess around unless you're really on a tight budget. Over the years I've learned that spending the extra money is never regretted. However the reverse you could regret not going for the better item.