VMPS planar drivers

[cph2000]

I came across these speakers with a nice planar ribbon driver:
http://www.vmpseurope.com/e/p-rm-x.htm

The planar mids are crossed way lower (166 Hz) that I'm used to seeing - this is obviously not the B&G NEO8 although they look very semilar.

Any idears on the make of these drivers ?

 

[dwk123]

I'm still not 100% sure of all of the details, but from what i gather they are basically the same as the planar drivers used in the Monsoon multimedia and home speakers. These were made by Sonigistix/Level 9, and were based on technology licensed from Eminent Technology. VMPS does some modifications to the drivers, but details are sketchy - the only details I've seen are some reliability mods to the connectors etc. There may be some sound-quality related mods as well, but I'm not sure.

The Monsoon brand is gone, but Eminent Tech still sells some models, including a bare panel aimed at autosound applications:
www.eminent-tech.com

The Monsoons do show up on ebay from time to time.

The Monsoons are indeed very good drivers, although I don't see how they get down to 166Hz with a 6dB/octave xover. I'm experimenting with a setup using 2 or 3 Monsoon panels/side in a waveguide, and so far the results are great. I'm currently crossing at 350, although I suspect I can go lower particularly with the 3 panel/side arrangement.

 

[cph2000]

I think you might be right there.
The monsoon panels are now produced by Eastech Gropu in malyasia, under license from Eminent tech.

 

[dwk123]

Hmm, didn't realize they were still being made. Is there any end-user source for them?

 

[ultrachrome]

Following another thread I ran across the name David Graebener who appears to be credited as the source of the VMPS mid panel.
http://www.vmpseurope.com/e/d-HDf.htm

He was or is associated with Speakerlab, the name of a hi-fi store here in Seattle.
http://www.carveraudio.com/ribbontech.htm

 

[ultrachrome]

A little more googling and I see that, no suprise, Dave is THE Graebener of Bohlender-Graebener.

 

[dwk123]

Here is a relatively recent thread on AA that discusses the VMPS speakers/drivers a bit. The upshot seems to be that they used to use a big BG planar in some earlier models, but switched to the new Monsoon-style panels. In one post by Brian Cheney (Mr VMPS), he indicates that the VMPS drivers are both different (different magnetics and diaphragms) than the Monsoons, and also subsequently modified. How much this is significant and how much is a high-end manufacturer trying to distance himself from a perceived cheap relative is an open question.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=mug&n=73821&highlight=neo&r=&session=