I have had the VMPS RM40's for just under 4 years and they stll thrill me on a daily basis. To call these speakers big and imposing is an understatement. They weigh about 275lb a side with all the goodies in place. At 66" tall, they are just about shoulder height on me, and I'm a big guy. These speakers aren't big just to be big, there is a reason. The cabinet walls are double layer MDF with a 1/4" wood veneer that wraps around the sides and the front. The newer cabinets are quite impressive in their wood working detail. All this heft helps to virtually eliminate cabinet vibrations. I can set a glass of water on top of the speakers when I'm cranking Scott Henderson's "Tribal Tech" or the latest Dream Theater cd and the water hardly moves.

As for the sound, it is heavenly when paired with the correct equipment. While the speakers are efficient enough to work off a single amp, they are really intended to be biamped for best performance. I'm both an audiophile and a practicalist. So for the midrage and high end ribbons I have a pair of AES (Cary Audio) Sixpac tube monoblocks and for the 2x 10" woofers I use a couple channels from my B&K 7200 solid state amp. Since the 10" drivers are only for fequencies below 200hz, there is no real need to throw a $5000 amplifier at it when a 200wpc B&K is more than sufficient. This combination is absolute perfection as far as I am concerned. I also have a PC based music server (home built) that feeds into a heavily modified tube DAC with NOS tubes.

This all adds up to a most heavenly sounding system. The tubes make the VMPS RM40's sing. The soundstage is unbelievably wide and deep. I have heard systems that had wide soundstages, only to have a very flat sound depth. Not the RMO 40's, the depth of field is nearly as deep as the sound stage is wide. I have yet to hear another speaker that is able to match them in this respect. I have listened to Legacy Focus and Whispers, JM Lab's, Von Schweikert's, Theil's, and several other $5k to $10k speakers with my setup, and nothing comes close. The mid-range and high end are incredibly accurate both in speed and delicacy. Listening a gifted drummer like Tony Williams, you can hear all the nuances of his extraordinary cymbal work. Each hit of the cymbal decays without ending prematurely.

When listening to acoustic or vocal music, the midrange ribbon panels really separate the RM40's from the competition. Listening to Mark Knopfler's acoustic guitar playing is a real treat. He's one of the finest finger picking players around and you can hear every nuance in his playing. I heard details I never heard before in music I've listened to hundreds of times in the past. Vocals just float in space. I really have a hard time believing they aren't coming from a center channel speaker! When I listen to Anneke Van Giersbergen's latest album, I just close my eyes and I can easily envision sitting center table in some smokey night club. For me, you can't put a price on that.

However, where the RM40's really distance themselves is in the bass frequencies. Many speaker brands can give you great midrange and high end, but virtually none of them can give you equally good bass without an outboard sub. VMPS has made a reputation over the last 30 years of having some of the best bass reproduction in the industry, and the RM40's are the epitome of that. Here is where you realize why these speakers are as they are. VMPS claims bass at +/- 3db down to 24hz. I haven't verified their claims, but I can say that the RM40's can fill my large, 15' x 31' x 7.5' theater room with enough bass to rattle windows, doors, and furniture! For music, they have all the deep, accurate, tight bass you could ever want. The RM40's are litterally one stop speakers for stereo listening.

I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Even 4 years after buying them, I am still amazed by their sound. I can sit in my chair for hours and it still feels like I'm listening to my music for the first time. Every recording is a new revelation, something I haven't heard before. I should mention that I have 2530+ losslessly digitized albums on my music server to choose. The RM40's have ended my quest for the best speakers, something I thought I never would say. After 20 years of searching, I have found my musical nirvana. And as I stated before, that's not something you can put a price on. Let's face it, being an audiophile is more expensive than being a crack addict.