[gugi]

HELLO, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME ON THE VMPS CIRCLE.  I’VE READ THE CIRCLE FOR YEARS AND OWNED VMPS SPEAKERS SINCE 2006.  I AM SO AMAZED HOW MUCH THE ANTI-MODE 8033 HAS REFINED THE LISTENING ENVIRONMENT IN MY ROOM; I WANTED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS WITH FELLOW VMPS OWNERS.
 I FOLLOWED THE SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS UTILIZING BOTH THE 0 AND 180 OUTPUTS ON THE AM8033. THE TWO OUTPUTS FEED A QSC-2402 POWERAMP AND THAT DRIVES A PAIR OF LSWs. THE 0 OUT TO THE LEFT AMP IS NORMAL PHASE AND ON THE 180 OUT TO THE RIGHT AMP I REVERSED THE POLARITY ON THE LSW SPEAKER CABLES AT THE AMP OUTPUT TERMINALS. NEXT, I PLUGGED IN THE OMNI DIRECTIONAL MIC (THERE IS PLENTY OF CORD),   INTO THE FRONT PANEL OF THE AM 8033 AND PLACED THE MIC ON TOP OF A LARGE PILLOW ON THE BACK OF THE COUCH ABOUT THE SAME HEIGHT WHERE MY HEAD WOULD BE. THEN I LOWERED THE L AND R GAIN CONTROLS ON THE QSC TO 9 O’CLOCK SO I WOULD’T LOOSEN THE BRICK FIREPLACE WHEN I ACTIVATE THE AM’s TEST BUTTONS.

BEYOND THIS POINT THE SETUP OF THE AM 8033 TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF ‘SIMPLICITY’ THAT I STILL FIND AMAZING.  NO NEED FOR TEST CDs, SOUND PRESSURE METERS, POT ADJUSTMENTS OR LAPTOPS WITH SPECIAL ROOM ANALYZING PROGRAMS.  NO, ALL YOU DO IS PRESS AND HOLD 2 BUTTONS ON THE FRONT PANEL FOR APPROX 3 SECONDS SIT BACK AND BE QUIET.THE AM8033 PROCEEDS TO SWEEP YOUR SUBWOOFERS FROM BELOW 20HZ TO ABOUT 200HZ.. 4TIMES!... DURING EACH SWEEP YOU CAN HEAR THE AM8033 LOWER EACH PEAK OR ROOM MODE UNTIL ALL THE PEAKS ARE SMOOTH.  IN MY ROOM THIS WAS NOT SUBTLE.  NEXT I CONNECTED ONE LOWPASS OUTPUT OF MY NHT X-2 TO THE INPUT ON THE AM 8033 AND SELECTED ’MONO OUT’ ON THE X-2.

AFTER THE TEST I REMOVED THE MIC AND PRECEDED TO DIG OUT MY FAVORITE CDs. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM SOUNDED BETTER, NO MUCH BETTER.  DVDs ESPECIALLY ONES WITH ACTION LIKE SUPERMAN RETURNS, 2012, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW  ARE REPRODUCED WITH A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF REALISM, ALMOST FRIEGHTNING AT TIMES. THE BASS GOES LOWER WITH FAR MORE ARTCULATION, MUCH MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. EVEN THE RM-30Ms ARE FAR MORE REVEALING.

THE AM8033 HAS BROUGHT OUT THE BEST A PAIRING OF RM-30Ms AND LSWs HAVE TO OFFER BECAUSE IT REMOVES THE BLURRING ROOM MODES CREATED BY THE POWERFUL BASS PRODUCING LSWs.  BECAUSE OF THIS , I WAS ABLE TO INCREASE THE SUBWOOFER GAIN CONTROL ON THE X-2 AND NOT BE LIMITED BY THE ROOM MODES.
SO FAR, I HAVEN’T HEARD ANY NEGATIVES WITH THIS UNIT. THERE IS A SELECTABLE 25Hz BOOST AND A 35Hz BOOST ON THE FRONT PANEL.  ALSO, YOU CAN SET THE AM8033 TO MEASURE ANOTHER LISTENING AREA IN ADDITION TO THE FIRST TO ‘SMOOTH OUT’ A LARGER LISTENING AREA. THESE SETTINGS I HAVE NOT FULLY EXPLORED YET.  I ALSO HAVEN’T LISTENED TO VINYL. I’LL REPORT LATER.
SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN CASLER FOR EXPLORING THE AM-8033 AND HELPING ME TO ATTAIN ONE. 

 G.

[John Casler]

Thanks for the great review.

I have many clients who have taken the AntiMODE 8033 plunge who have said the same thing.

The level of improvement it makes is relative to how "bad" your room is, but most say it is well worth the small price.  In fact many claim overall it makes one of the most drastic "cost to result" improvements in their systems/rooms.

VMPS bass is all about accuracy and realism with low distortion and true harmonics.

With Brian's attention to drivers, tunability, accuracy, harmonics, and dynamics, this little device is "icing on the VMPS cake".

Where can you get this kind of improvement in a system for $350

THE BASS GOES LOWER WITH FAR MORE ARTCULATION, MUCH MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. EVEN THE RM-30Ms ARE FAR MORE REVEALING.

And as you mention above and Brian has often commented, fixing "ANY" particular frequency range can also have a very positive effect on the other frequencies.

This works via harmonic interaction.  All wave forms form harmonic interactions with other waveforms.  Fixing a frequency or range of frequencies to be more accurate "improve" their harmonic relationships.

Voila!  Better sonics from top to bottom.

Thanks again for your comments.

In case it is not clear from my posts and comments, this device is not exclusive to VMPS Subs.  I have filled several orders for non-VMPS subs and systems too with pretty much the same feedback.

[ricmon]

Please little posting etiquette.  All cap is consider SHOUTING.  Great review though.

Ric

[srb]

Please little posting etiquette.  All cap is consider SHOUTING.

And much harder to read than sentence case.
 
Steve