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Of course the headroom is low ! The speakers are 5'- 6" tall, leaving only 2'- 6" of headroom !

Posted by Bambi B (A) on January 16, 2010 at 21:00:33

In Reply to: ARC 210 headroom posted by rblnr on January 15, 2010 at 14:35:04:

rblnr,

This is a mystery. I use an Audio Research D115 which has 100W and a power supply reserve of 280 joules. Using Vandersteen 2C speakers with an 86dB efficiency, in 25 years I have never listened with a gain setting on the SP10 preamplifier past 12:00- it's simply too loud. While I do listen often to solo piano and chamber music, I also listen to a lot of organ music- (about 600 LP's and 100 CD's) and Mahler symphonies are a favourite as well. Never has the D115 shown any signs of running out of steam.

The REF210- which I've only heard 3 times- in my view is one of the best sounding ARC amplifiers I know- superb and it advertises a power reserve of "about 787 joules"- nearly 3 times as much as the D115:

http://www.arcdb.ws/REF210/REF210.html

The last time I heard the 210's were with Vandersteen 5 speakers and with symphonies blaring in a large room, there was no mis-behaviour I could hear- fantastic sound. It's true, the Vandersteen 5's have a powered subwoofer, but my long experience at home with an amplifier of less than half the power of the 210's and with 6dB lesser efficient speakers makes me curious about the VMPS RM40 speakers.

I had never heard of the RM40's, so I looked at their site and some reviews, one of which mentioned their needing solid power:

from: http://www.vmpsaudio.com/r-BfSRM40.htm

"Frequency response is 24 Hz to 25 kHz (-3 dB), maximum power rms 500 watts, and loudness capability of 115 dB at 1 meter. A 4-way. Set-up. It needs power. Forget the high rated efficiency of 90 dB (a spec I'm sure it meets), the RM 40 is a true 4 Ohm loudspeaker that comes to life only with an amplifier capable of a high-current 100 wpc - minimum. Tube amps? Don't go there. While I've had this loudspeaker it has consistently responded well to solid state power amps in the 100+ power range, and we are not talking your wimpy 100 watter generally coming out of the Far East. The amp must have current capabilities, which usually means expensive."

So, “It needs power.” But then explains that “power” means 100W. I find the statement, Tube amps> Don’t go there” - a bit odd after saying it only comes alive with an amplifers with a high-current 100W as of course, there are enough tube amps with more than that amount and tube amps are supposed to be the current champs,...

There was also mention that those speakers have a 90dB efficiency, which to me suggests they should make a lot of volume at relatively low gain settings. Despite the review, I would think you could almost drive 90dB speakers with an SET amp- not shaking the earth but with a reasonable volume level with 10W. I use a pair of Infinity Primus 360's for monitoring, rated at 93dB and I have to be careful not to overdrive them with an Audio Research D130 with 130W. Only last evening I got the woofers upset while using a 32' stop on my Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ. Of course, 3dB is a meaningful differnce in volume and then compare the Vandersteens at 86dB to the RM40's 93dB, keeping in mind thats every 6dB is a doubling.

Besides as good value for money, the reviews I read all praised the phase coherence of the RM40's, so the soundstage/imaging must be good.

I wonder is the hardness you're hearing is due to being over-driven rather than under-driven? That the tweeters and midrange drivers are ribbons make me curious too- could you be clipping these ribbons? I unfortunately don't have any experience with ribbon drivers, but I know ribbon microphones are particularly fragile- high SPL's can fracture the ribbons. And, counter-intuitively, ribbon mics are actually less sensitive than condensers which have diaphragms that are a closer anodyne to cone drivers.

One review I read mentioned that the earlier version of the RM40's had a midrange crossover point at 10K and lowering that point to 7K removed some harshness at the upper end. From the reviews, my guess is that the cross-over modification happened in 2003 or 2004. Are your RM40's perhaps the earlier version?

Just a couple of thoughts- I'm not the technology maven by any means. You might rephrase this question and post on Speakers Asylum as there is a lot of expertise in amplifier/speaker relationships.

Let us know what you discover- interesting,..

Cheers,

Bambi B

[Audio Research: SP8, SP10, LS3, D115, D130 ]

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