drdave

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, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $4000.00 from Direct

Summary:
I have owned Brian Cheney's RM40's for nearly two years now, and it was one of the best purchases in audio that I have ever made. One reviewer who was foolish enough to actually purchase them sight unseen, describes them as overly harsh. I suggest that he is correct in that he must have some room problems, or did not set them up properly. I can't blame him, these speakers are not for the faint of heart who are not willing to put some effort into their system. Tweaking, is actually the great aspect of this speaker. Well, not the actual tweaking itself, but its the fact that with about a year of practice, I can get my 40's to sound like many different types of speakers. People always ask me what the characteristic sound of the VMPS is, and I honestly don't know how to answer. For awhile, I was into horns and own both the Klipsch La Scalas and the new RF-7's. I can make the 40's sound bright and hornlike. I was into the more relaxed liquid sound for awhile and owned a pair of Vienna Accoustics Mahlers and the Coincident Total Victories. But, I can make the 40's sound just like them with some putty adjustments and a lowered high end. For awhile, I sought neutrality and owned both the Nautilus 802 and a pair of Spendor SP100. No problem there either in obtaining a very similar sound with the VMPS product. They just take some work. Also, they don't seem to like tube power, even though I ran them with both a pair of ASL Hurricanes as well as with the Cary V12R monoblocks. I sold that $12k worth of amplification and went with two cheap little Sunfire 250's and bi-amped them, which gives me 1kw per side into the 4 ohm load. They couldn't be happier. They can play delicately at low volumes, or fill my 24 x 28 foot loft effortlessly. (I would, howver, like to someday run these with a pair of Ampzillas, but I just can never find them anywhere).

Strengths:
Wonderful ability to tweak to anyones liking and tastes. A lot of speaker for the money. Very dynamic with a wide prsentation. Brian supports what he sells, very nice guy. Like lots of current but don't seem to require pricey amplification.

Weaknesses:
They do take some work to set up. Very big and not particularly attractive. Fit and finish could be better. Narrow listening on vertical axis.

Jesse111

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Everything has been said about this speaker technically. I'm not a reviewer but I'll just express what I heard with mine. I had every upgrade VMPS offered. Bought them based solely on word of mouth and reviews. Big mistake for me. This is just my opinion. I found the VMPS design very specific to the kind of music it can reproduce well. Acoustic guitar would be about it for me. Some vocals perhaps as well. But these speakers were harsh, way too bright and so overly detailed I could not listen to them for more than 15 minutes or so without getting a splitting headache. Trasnparency, and detail are one thing but to me this went beyond that and in to coloring the music with harshness and extreme over the top midrange. No doubt VMPS enthusiasts will be all about how I didn't have this or that right, dozens of tweaks that could have been done but in fact I did some tweaking but could not even begin to get close to what I considered musical quality or enjoyable sound. The bass was so undefined and muddy that I've never heard bass have such a distorted influence on music as much as these did. They have enormous detail and at very low volume and at that very low volume they sound good. Add a little power and my ears start to bleed in sheer agony. I sold them. The only possible saving grace for these speakers in my opinion would be if you had an extremely large room, say around 4,000 square feet and had enough space between you and them to let that harshness dissapate some.

Strengths:
For the money I would have to say none other than they do sound good at very, very low volume.

Weaknesses:
In my opinion. I feel they are weak in almost every aspect of a musical loudspeaker

Q-surf

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.17 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2800.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
This review is actually for the RM40 towers but they aren't listed. They are big, they're sound is big and wide and effortless. They are catered towards the audio tweaker who enjoys playing, listening and adjusting. Mine are not yet modified but I will be vitrifying the PR and the lamb's wool replacements under the neos. Wife was skeptical but immediately realized why I made the purchase. These replaced Martin Logan CLS and a Legacy Dual 12 sub. The mid/high palpability and soundstaging are in the same league between the two speakers - maybe the soundstaging giving a nod to the CLS (so far, but I'm still tweaking). But the RM40's do every kind of music so well and the CLS only shone on accoustic stuff. I can hear why VMPS won the CES best of show award and unprecedented accolades for these. Friends are immediately awestruck by the sound and power. They will play at concert levels without sounding congested or strained. Even better amplification is due to arrive next week. Happy happy joy joy!

Strengths:
Effortless dynamics across low to hi spectrum, very lifelike sound (esp voices), lots of adjustability for room and components, decent sized sweet spot, non-resonating cabinets, finally a speaker you won't ever want to change from.

Weaknesses:
Size and weight are non-waf winning aspects.

Similar Products Used:
Martin Logan CLS, Vandersteen 2C