KQVKQ9

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
It's really surprising to me how this company goes about sales. Nobody seems to know they exist. It's like going into business and forgetting to hang a shingle out. Pretty blasted stupid if you ask me. Great product though. I picked up my pair of VMPS Tower IIse many years ago in trade. I gave up a pair of McIntosh MC30 and a pair of Quad ESL on hardwood Levinson (I'm told) stands. I had plenty of those overrated Mac amps and I got the Quads at a garage sale so I didn't have a lot invested anyway. What really sold me on the VMPS was the hardware value. So much HiFi is look and nameplate but little actual componentry. You know what I mean, like you're buying empty boxes at high prices. The VMPS was different. Big and heavy with lots of real stuff that cost money to make. Not an empty box. After having KLH 9's, big Accoustats and the Quads, the VMPS seemed small to me. Everybody writes about the big bass and they certainly can provide that but I see half wits blowing steam about how they take a ton of power. Man, I make tube amps. Lots of tube amps. The VMPS do very well in my big living room with the 25 ft. ceilings on 30 to 40 watts a side. The deal is that if the sound is good you don't need or want to blast the doors out. You do that to compensate if the sound isn't so hot. Say you're using a Krell or Levinson or some other super powered monster for instance. Why so much power? To make it loud. It's far more satisfying to make it sound good. The VMPS for all the hype about bass are responsive as can be. When I switch from one amp to another every week as the next handmade job gets finished I really need to know how the amp sounds. These speakers sure do a better job than the Quads or anything else I've had. No, the Accoustats were great but too dang big. Way too big. I've been playing with this stuff since 1970 and part of the deal is all the guys that I've known that get great components all the time. Expensive stuff, glittery stuff, stuff with great reviews, and it passes right through their hands because after the initial thrill of getting the piece the satisfaction just isn't there. I've kept these speakers and will continue to do so because they are just great. Yes, good value but more that that, they're great and that's not a price thing. Still, I can't help but wonder who runs their marketing. Whoever it is must be asleep at the switch.

Strengths:
Source differences jump out at you. Very transparent and dynamic. Pretty darn efficient too.

Weaknesses:
Heavy and hard to carry up stairs. Has silly bi-amp option-don't use that.

Similar Products Used:
Never had anything like them.

Ricky_NY

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3100.00 from ebay

Summary:
I have been hunting for some great speakers for the past 16 years and have tried speakers like Wilson watt/puppy 5.1,6,B&W 802,Silver Signature 30,genesis V,300,Silverline Audio Sonata,Living Voice,Maggie 3.6,JMLab Mezzo,Von Schweikert VR4 JR ,mk3 SE,Dynaudio 3.3,Avantgarde uno,ATC 100A...etc but I was quite disappointed with most of the above.They are either too rich and colored or too hifi,bright,no emotion or too slow,most of them can't seperate the vocal and the instruments or rather no layering.....etc.I've spent most of my fortune on all the above speakers that can't perform.in the year 2001 I went to the CES show with my wife,I was shocked when we past by the VMPS room.First thing I know this is the speaker for me and my wife agreed with me too.We actually stay in that room for more than 4 hours.The VMPS super tower 2 SE driven by a small int.amp which looks like 50 watts to me (don't know what brand but pretty small)That room really makes me and my wife jaws droped.It is so musical like a live band playing(very raw and real)The system sounded so seamless,bass was very deep and tight,the lower mid was so flash out so unboxy,tone was EXCELLENTTTT.Never heard any system sounded so real for the past 16 years.Highs are so silky smooth very liquid yet extended.Mid range very textured,cystal clear,very dark backgound.The details and dynamic are simply AWESOMEEEEEEE.Soft to loud very impresive.We were stunned when they play Diana Krall live in Paris the piano sounded so accurate like you can tell is a stairway & son & Patricia Barber companian.Bass was very well controlled.This is one hell of a speakers.I highly recommended this VMPS super tower SE.In the End of the CES show VMPS room was awarded best sound.Anyone who want to spend a pair of speaker that cost 15K,I suggest you audit the VMPS speaker first before you regret later.GOOD LUCK

Frank_P

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I was looking for speakers to replace my B&W 801's which I had for a few years. The B&W's were fine speakers but I was now due for a solid step up in performance. I had spent over a year listening to many speakers repeatedly before I was going to make any decision. I had listened to various Focus Audio, Hales , Logan SL3's , Requests & Arieus as well as Theil 3.6 & CS5, Sonus Faber's, Maggies 3.5R , various upper end Genisis, Quad's, Watt Puppy 5.1, and Avalons and probably some other I had forgotten about. Some were in my price range and others were not. I must say that I was strongly biased towards the Logans before I had started out and would have bought them if I had not heard the VMPS Tower Two Special Edition.The others had there various strong points and colourations that made music pleasing but none had the top to bottom rightness of the VMPS Tower 2 . I have never heard a speaker that was so neutral, delicate, light , fast, transparent, boxless and just plain disapeared if the recording and electronics allowed. These speakers are very evenly balanced with top to bottom speed that only an electrostatic or full ribbon(Apogee) can match. Their ability to retrieve detail surpassed even the SL 3's ( on the same electronics ) which I could not believe. Their ability to portray micro dynamics is incredible . What is fun is having musician friends over and just playing music in the background they get drawn in to how realistic the instruments sound and eventualy the focus ends up on which pieces of music they want to hear. They are not without fault,on extreme dynamics they can be out done as well as bass extension into the low 20 hz range. I feel they do require a decent sized room that is well balaned and were the long wall can be used for speaker placement. I tried them on the short wall and the results were good but not up to the speakers full potentail. My room is 25 by 15 ft and it works great. I am also incorporating them into a home theater set up and all of their qualities transport to this areana as well. Movies have taken an a realism that is fun. I would chose I good solid state amp to drive them. I have heard the Krell FPB 300 & 600 's and they sounded fine but they mate better with the Levinson gear such as the 23.5. The 23.5 had more and better bass. It was faster and more transparent as well . These were comments by a Krell dealer which we both had observed. I do not know how tubes would work but my guess is that the bass would suffer unless the amps were hugh. I would stay away from electronics that are bright edgy and or grainy as you will not be able to sit in the room for long. They demand the finest associated equipment that you can afford. I would highly recommend these speaker to a person who likes their recordings of any type of music to sound as the producer intended them to sound. They are designed to a solid set of measurements and credentals which most speakers can not claim much less match. Give them the room , recording and electronics and you to will be a believer.

JamesLA

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Auditioned at CES show in montreal. Thunderous tight bass. Doesn't sound like music, it sounds like that artist is right at your home! Not bright, or harsh sounding, very neutral sounding (in a good way) it sound's like everything blends together, its not one driver of the speaker is working harder than the other, (midrange, tweeter...)very seamless.Silky smooth highs,rich clear mid(not boxy at all)EXCELLENTTTTTTTT bass.I actually enjoy the speaker disppeared.AWESOME!!!! speaker.

RyanJ

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
For the last couple of years, I have been searching for an upper-end speaker system. I have auditioned the Wilson Watt Puppy, Legacy Whisper, Avalon Eidolon, Vandersteen V, Revel, Meridian DSP 6000 and some others I can't remember. On rare occasion when listening to a speaker for the first time, it is only necessary to listen for five seconds before realiazing that the speaker in question is something very special. This is one of those speakers. The longer I listened, the more I appreciated what I was hearing. The overall impression is that the sound is very clean and clear. The speakers develop a remarkable soundstage with rather precise imaging. The driver integration between woofers, midrange and tweeters is exceptionally seamless. Best of all, the speakers disappear as discrete sources of sound and the music smoothly fills the area around and between the speakers. The bass is exceptionally tighttttt,deepppp and clean and very powerful. Their midrange would be hard to beat and the highs are clear and very detailed. The ability of these speakers to reproduce the human voice is uncanny, especially on solos. Their sound is not as cold as the Watt Puppys, generally clearer and with better bass than the Whisper, not as dry as the Eidolon. These speakers are a (if not THE) top contender in their price range and compete very favorably with speakers twice their price. If you fail to personally audition the VMPS Tower Two Special Edition before you buy any speakers up to about $18K, you will probably be better off not listening to them at all after you have bought something else.