VMPS SUPER TOWER III SPEAKERS

maxward

They look like 5- or 6-way speakers, so yes, possibly complex crossovers.

treitz3

It looks like a Frankenstein speaker built for parties only. Kinda like a glorified Cerwin Vega on steroids.

I had the VMPS Larger subwoofer and I loved that when paired with a good, hefty amp along with the Velodyne SMS-1 but this speaker? I wouldn't touch it with Russ' peeker.

There are 7 different drivers in that speaker, so I am assuming that they are a 7 way speaker. KISS. Especially in the midrange, unless you want to completely butcher the signal sent to it.

Tom

Gardenstater

No need for any assumptions . I posted the pdf brochure. It's a 5 way speaker as far as the crossover is concerned. 4 crossover points: 200, 600, 5kHz, and 15kHz. No crossover point in the critical part of the midrange. It used IAR Wondercaps and Wonder solder. There is a 15" mass loaded passive radiator on the bottom. I believe they retailed for $13k and the later version with the ribbon midrange in addition to ribbon tweeter (SRE) was $16k. I think the SRE (Special Ribbon Edition) seems the most interesting.

treitz3

So, different drivers that handle different frequency ranges/Db rolloffs/slopes but are set at the same frequency? No thanks.

Tom

dcrandon

Yep...these are mine. Just bought them. They are on a truck to my home. VMPS is an interesting brand. I've owned their products for 40 yrs when I first built some from a kit. Although they look like what a teenager would dream up in a dream for a speaker....they sound awesome. Assuming they have NOT been modified. They have a complex design crossover which blends series and parallel connections between the woofers that results in a quasi-second order design. Brians speakers, and these specifically won quite a few Best In Show awards at the Consumer Electronics Show years past. Several "golden ears" of high end mags such as Stereophile and Absolute sound gave them glowing reviews that even they were surprised at. Anthony Cordsman owned a pair.

Gardenstater wrote: »

One just came up on eBay a few days ago on my saved search. I almost posted it here but decided against it. It was in GA and sold with one bidder for $500 https://www.ebay.com/itm/224632375417?mkpid=2&emsid=e90001.m43.l1123&mkcid=8&bu=43356009041&osub=19ddcef17d43d5b10be1128d1d6a60fe%7ETE80101_T_AGM&segname=TE80101_T_AGM&crd=20211004100500&ch=osgood&trkId=0AAF4EE7-0CF2FC6A980-017BF32EC448-000000000360C93A&mesgId=3024&plmtId=700001&recoId=224632375417&recoPos=1&sojTags=osub=osub,segname=segname,crd=crd,ch=ch,trkId=trkId,mesgId=mesgId,plmtId=plmtId,recoId=recoId,recoPos=recoPos,chnl=mkcid&nma=true&si=%2Fz9f7kJJp3oWOLHmUZZO17vQyis%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

dcrandon

VR3 wrote: »

I had the tower II SE with the yellow focal dome.

Easily one of the worst speakers that have made its way through here.

Terrible driver blending, awful bloated bass, terrible highs. Was not a fan and I loved the larger subwoofer they offered.

My experience is contrary to yours. May I ask if your crossovers had ever been modified. Also, did you adjust the bass damping. If not, they will sound as terrible as you mentioned.

dcrandon

It was actually far more complex than that. The different speakers did not handle the same frequencies. Mentioning the crossover points doesn't really do it justice. If you read some reviews by the old mags and golden ears, (all pretty damn good) they will explain the crossovers better. But, simply put, they are are quasi-second order for lowest distortion and phase issues. The woofers and midranges are wired in a combo of parallel and series so the crossovers are shifted as such. Also, the woofers contribute to the crossovers with their own resonance frequencies. Sounds strange, but sounds great as the reviews show.

treitz3 wrote: »

So, different drivers that handle different frequency ranges/Db rolloffs/slopes but are set at the same frequency? No thanks.

Tom

apetoskey

I've owned a few pair of VMPS', and still have my Supertower III's. Brian Cheney made numerous attempts...the Supertower III's easily being his absolute best contribution. Some of his other creations were pretty decent, but unfortunately fell way short of their hype and specs. That being said...the II R's were very affordable ($1500ish) compared to the III's, ($21k) and when paired with 15" powered subs, were an absolute blast to play with. To date, my only personal experiences that tops the Supertower III's were the Infinity IRS Beta set, and my friend's Apogees.

Gardenstater

I went to look at the Super Tower III Brochure again and the link was dead so here it is, both link and in full. @plastic_avatar I know you will be interested to read what they did to reduce panel resonances on these *terrible* speakers (in anticipation of any negativity)😉:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixvf72l261w5wwd/AACFEDE3y4G7P2_dIU4rhlf4a?preview=VMPS_Super_Tower_III_Brochure_B&W.pdf

plastic_avatar

WOW! Look at those!

[goes to read the thread and all about those speakers]

BlueBirdMusic

Gardenstater wrote: »

I went to look at the Super Tower III Brochure again and the link was dead so here it is, both link and in full. @plastic_avatar I know you will be interested to read what they did to reduce panel resonances on these *terrible* speakers (in anticipation of any negativity)😉:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ixvf72l261w5wwd/AACFEDE3y4G7P2_dIU4rhlf4a?preview=VMPS_Super_Tower_III_Brochure_B&W.pdf

George, I really like all the different things that you post. Learn something every single day.

Gardenstater

Thank you Harry. Made my day! These are one of the ones that made my eyes go wide with wonder while flipping through Stereo Review when I was young.