[ted_b]

Well, my Krell finally returned home from it's little transistor-replacing hospital stay back at Krell Corp.  It was now time for my new RM/X's to start shining (I was driving them with my back-up, a Rotel RB-991, for their first four days.....made Brian laugh out loud).  

This is not an RM/X review, just a simple observation after an evening of listening to them  (only a couple hours) with a good amplifier (albeit not burned in) and my wonderful Ray Samuels Stealth II preamp.:  The RM/X's are so good, so revealing, so transparent, so responsive, so articulate, so damn accurate that they are going to be unflinchingly honest with my source material.

I've always thought that my Sony SCD-XA777ES SACD player does a great job on hi-rez material, but may not be the greatest redbook source around.  Well, the RM/X's easily pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of the 777.  Additonally, poor redbook software is now much more fatiguing.....oh but great redbook software (Cassandra Wilson, New Moon Daughter, for example) is very very good.   I can't wait until it's released on SACD.....wow.  I suspect the same for vinyl, but never got around to firing up my SOTA tonight.  I suspect that cable evaluations and DAC evaluations and additonal room tweaking and additional RM/X tweaking will become less "subjective" or require less "guesstimation".  I mean, these things are brutally honest...and on great material they bring me MUCH closer to live than I ever expected.   Pretty amazing......

So the real cost of these speakers is a) the speakers themselves, plus b) replacing the weak links in your system, plus C) buying lots more software and vinyl  to feed them!  I need a loan officer badly.

Ted_B

[jonbee]

Congratulations to you. The vmps line are "keepers"; I consider mine to be the anchor of my system. I own more modest 626Rs, and have changed amps 3 times, CDPs twice, and cables twice in the 18 months I've had them (and I started out with pretty good gear!). The sound just gets better; the speakers were clearly never the limiting factor. I can say that I've finally got the sound "recipe" I like, so am standing pat on major upgrades, after a long period of trial and error.  Good luck, and have fun!

[audiochef]

Jonbee,  

your xa777 can be awsome with a little mod like blackgate caps and super clock. I had it done to my scd777 and is much better than stock.

Contact kyle  in LA at Reference audio mods.com

One of the best kept secrets in highend tweaking.

Probably the friendliest and knowledgeable in  the buisiness.

As a matter of fact, he just helped me tweak my Aragon8008 with oil caps, very nice,still breacking in.

You'll never complain about your Sony player again.

1-909-780-2869

[John Casler]

Hi Ted,

Glad to see that you like "brutal" honesty  

But, you are going to be taking a long and enjoyable journey, of which new "power" and "signal" links may be on the path.

I have been continuosly walking this path for many years, and while the mocasins get thin, there is always another little step to take, that satisfies the yearn for musical and sonic gratification.

I have just spent a couple hours in front of my "modest" 626Rs (and system) doing some additional tweaking, (more SilClear) and while these are at the opposite end of the VMPS model spectrum, they are remarkable.

The great thing is, that as good as they are, it is amazing to think just where you are, in relationship to to this.

Years ago, Nicholson made a great film called "As Good As It Gets".

Well the interesting thing is, we can ask that question at each stage.  "Is this as good as it gets?", since we can't imagine it getting too much better.

The good news is "IT CAN".  

I know that going from your Super Towers was a big step, and I know how good they were.  And now there you are sitting in front of a set of speakers that can take you "even further" into the music than many can imagine.

Lucky guy you are,     Keep us posted as to your progress.  

I think you're just "tapping" on the full potential of the Sonic Sorcerer of El Sobrante's, Black, Magical, Musical Monoliths.

[audiochef]

Ted B,

sorry Ted, post on mod of electronics is meant for you,- or anyone else whom wants best bang for the buck which obviously are VMPSs.

Come on guys, it takes group team of genious to make it happen!

           Stan

[ted_b]

Stan,
Thanks for the opinion on the mods.  I am lined up for Matthew Anker's (Sacdmods) mod magic once he gets his normal inventory of modifications done.  However, I am open to other alternatives, as well, as Matthew seems to be forever inundated.  Net/net, my XA777ES will get modified, and I appreciate the lead.

John,
Yes, thanks.  I look forward to a long and strange trip.   You'll be along for a lot of it....

Ted_B

[RGordonpf]

Modifying your CD player is a great way to upgrade your system.

I have a Sony SCD-1 (similar to the Sony XA777ES) which I had heavily modified by Dan Wright (www.modwright.com).  I had the "Absolute Truth"  mod done which includes a tube output stage being added.  I also had the SuperClock II and SuperClock power supply added as well as Richard Kern's transport mod.  See the back issues of Positive-Feedback Online (www.positive-feedback.com) for a step by step analysis of the change in sound by making the various mods.

The cost of the mods and the long break-in time (Black Gate caps take hundreds of hours to break-in) are worth it.  I have always preferred analog to digital.  However, with the modded SCD-1, I can now listen for hours to Redbook CD and enjoy it as much as I do vinyl.  With the modded unit, Redbook CD is very close to SACD in sound quality (partly because the SCD-1 upsamples the Redbook data and runs it through the SACD circuitry).  With the modded SCD-1 both Redbook and SACD are approaching the sound quality of the best vinyl.

With VMPS ribbon speakers you hear everything upstream.  Thus, you need good source material and the best player/turntable that you can afford.  Modding can be expensive, but you get tremendous bang for the buck.

[SWG255]

I completely agree with this. I've just had the Vacuum State Electronics mods done to my Sony SCD-1, and they are still breaking in, but everything RGordonpf says is true. It was the purchase of my VMPS RM40s that showed me the stock Sony SCD-1 wasn't as good as i thought it was with my 17 year-old Synthesis LM300s and Sunfire sub. My wife who isn't an audiophile and rarely listens to my system when I'm playing back music says she knows the mod is better because I sit in my listening chair for hours with a s**t-eating grin on my face!

Modifying your CD player is a great way to upgrade your system.

I have a Sony SCD-1 (similar to the Sony XA777ES) which I had heavily modified by Dan Wright (www.modwright.com).  I had the "Absolute Truth"  mod done which includes a tube output stage being added.  I also had the SuperClock II and SuperClock power supply added as well as Richard Kern's transport mod.  See the back issues of Positive-Feedback Online (www.positive-feedback.com) for a step by step analysis of the change in sound by making th ...