Volume - I Issue - V October 15th, 1987 Network AAA U U DDDD IIIII OOO A A U U D D I O O AAAAA U U D D I O O A A U U D D I O O A A UUU DDDD IIIII OOO BBBB IIIII TTTTT SSS B B I T S BBBB I T SSS B B I T S BBBB IIIII T SSS & Audio Software Review (c) Copyright 1987 by Michael A. Murphy All original materials Copyright by the Author ======================================================================== CONTENTS Editorial Compact Disc Reviews 1) The Lonesome Jubilee - John Cougar Mellencamp 2) Aerial Boundaries - Michael Hedges * By Mike Dow * 3) Hold Your Fire - Rush * By Kanti Dinda * 4) After The Gold Rush - Neil Young Record Reviews 1) Cuba - The Silos 2) The Bear Walks - Hugh Marsh 3) Shaking The Pumpkin - Hugh Marsh Equipment Reviews * By Dave Holmes * 1) VMPS Original Subwoofer ======================================================================== EDITORIAL Welcome to the fifth issue of Network AUDIO BITS & Software Review! This issue contains reviews of some music and artists that are a bit off the beaten track. It also contains some reviews of new material by some mainstream rock artists. And it contains a Compact Disc review of one of Neil Young's earlier albums. I'd like to thank Mike Dow and Kanti Dinda for each providing a review for this issue. And Dave Holmes has provided us with another equipment review. A subwoofer this time. Now, on to the reviews! ======================================================================== The Lonesome Jubilee Paper in Fire John Cougar Mellencamp Down and Out in Paradise Producers: John Mellencamp & T Check it Out Don Gehman R The Real Life Engineer: David Leonard & A Cherry Bomb Don Gehman C We Are the People Mercury 832 465-2 Q-1 K Empty Hands Released: 1987 S Hard Times For an Honest Man Total Disc Time: 39:47 Hotdogs and Hamburgers Source - Compact Disc Rooty Toot Toot SPARS Code - AAD Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 9 "The Lonesome Jubilee", like 1985's "Scarecrow", is a poignant comment on life in the United States. Where "Scarecrow" was aimed more at the midwest, where John Cougar Mellencamp grew up, "Lonesome Jubilee" has expanded the horizons and covered problems that are more and more prevalent across the country. "Paper in Fire" comments on ideals that we seem to have lost, and should we get too close to them again, we just let them burn "like paper in fire." The ideals are still out there, but no one seems to want to work to again achieve/retrieve that level. "Down and Out in Paradise" tells 3 short tales of people who have problems that are all too common in today's society. The first is about a man who was working for a company that left town. Now he's out of a job and is unable to find another that will support his family. "My kids are hungry/ I've got four mouths to feed/I go out everyday lookin' for suitable employment/Do you think there's something you could do for me". The second is about a dancer turned secretary turned housewife. And after ten years of marriage her husband has run out on her. Now she's on the streets with no place to live. The last tale is of a fourth grader whose parents "been actin' funny", "Daddy's always drunk" and "Mom's a babysitter." All of these short tales are in the form of a letter addressed to "Dear Mr. President." "Check it Out" and "The Real Life" give us a couple of different looks at loneliness. But these looks are at a loneliness borne of people being too busy busting their tails to scratch out an existence to have a real life. "Check it Out" is a call to future generations to, essentially, learn from our mistakes and do a better job. "The Real Life" describes a couple of middle aged people who are, in essence, going through a mid-life crisis. They've decided that their current lives are not what they want and they're going out to find what it is they want. Both characters here are lonely and unsatisfied and probably have been for some time, but are finally taking the bull by the horns and doing something about it. In any era we will have poets/writers/singers/songwriters who will be a champion of the people. The '60s Bob Dylan is a perfect example. The '70s and '80s have given us Bruce Springsteen and now Mellencamp, with his second poignant political album, is here to stay. The sound on "Lonesome Jubilee" is superb. None of the instruments are at all 'heavy' here. The vocals and instruments complement each other extremely well. The imaging is rather good as well. Cougar and his guitar are right out in front. The drums subtle kick and drive is in the background where it belongs and other instruments 'appear' in their proper places on the 'stage'. Musically "Lonesome Jubilee" is a straight ahead acoustic/electric guitar recording with a superb supporting cast of instruments. There is no musical gimmickry here, nothing overly flamboyant. The music lives for the lyrics. And the lyrics speak for themselves. But they shout when they are combined. The mixing and production teams deserve an A+ for efforts and results! The final song on the album is the only song that doesn't at least take a brief lingering look at the down side of life in the U.S. And it's refreshing after the first nine songs have painted a gray, lonely picture. A picture that's not hopeless, but could use some help to brighten it up. "Rooty Toot Toot" is about a couple who spend a whole day picnicking by the side of the road and are just there, away from it all and enjoying the day and each other. Just before they get set to leave, an Illinois trooper "got in my face" and let them know that they were on private property. "But once he cooled down he was OK." Part of Mellencamp's message here says "if we're such a great nation, then why do these situations exist?" Why, indeed, do they exist. He implies that something positive needs to be done and it has to be done on a national level. But one man cannot do it. But if the proper example is set by someone in a leadership position, perhaps others will follow the example and a large portion of the population can benefit from these actions. "The Lonesome Jubilee" is a very appropriate title for this album. It captures the essence of what Mellencamp is saying within these tracks. I find the title to be very poetic. ======================================================================== Aerial Boundaries Michael Hedges Producers: William Ackerman, Aerial Boundaries Michael Hedges and T Bensusan Steven Miller R Rickover's Dream Engineers: A Ragamuffin WD-1032 C After the Gold Rush Released: 1984 K Hot Type Total Disc Time: 37:56 S Spare Change Source - Compact Disc Menage a Trois SPARS Code - DDD The Magic Farmer Performance: 10+ Sound Quality: 10+ Michael Hedges has provided a new look at instrumental guitar. With his unique hammer style and the clear, crisp tones of his instrument he is able to make possible music that was (previously) unheard of. Even his previous instrumental album, "Breakfast In the Field" falls short in comparison to the execution and raw musical force behind the selections on "Aerial Boundaries". Hedges has been introduced as the 'More violent side of Windham Hill'. This is probably true, but in a truly unique sense. Hedge's mastery of his instrument combined with his gentle but driving music put forth the emotions felt when he composes. 'Aerial Boundaries' is dedicated to the spirit of Galileo, the 'founder' of astronomy. Hedges has captured the same questing, curious spirit here. As Galileo dedicated himself to his science, so has Hedges dedicated himself to a new style of music. It would seem on the outside to be just another guitarist playing some mellow 'easy listening' music on first listen. However, to a real lover of instrumental guitar, this man is awe-inspiring. There are many places in the songs on this disc where it sounds like there are two guitars playing counterpoint to each other. However, when you realize that there is only one guitar being played, it takes on a new meaning. In "Rickover's Dream", there is a passage that would make a guitarist cry with envy over its eloquent smoothness, but utter impossibility in playability. Hedges executes it with seeming nonchalantness. Any Windham Hill fan will love this album. In the true Windham Hill style, the quality of the music and the performance is unsurpassed. The music on "Aerial Boundaries" is laid back and tantalizing, while still retaining the light-hearted drive that seems so prevalent in Hedge's recent instrumental music. Mike Dow ======================================================================== Hold Your Fire Force Ten Rush Time Stand Still Producers: Peter Collins and Rush T Open Secrets Engineer: James Barton R Second Nature Mercury/Anthem 4AN-1-1051 A Prime Released: 1987 C Mover Total Disc Time: 50:31 K Lock and Key Source - Compact Disc S Mission SPARS Code - DDD Turn the Page Tai Shan Performance: 9.5 High Water Well after an almost two year wait, we finally have a new album from Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, better known as Rush. Over the years, Rush Has made 11 studio albums. Hold your fire, their 12th, is definitely one of their best. Rush's music has what I call a 'Thought Rock' alternative mainstream sound. What I mean by 'Thought Rock' is rock with meaningful lyrics. Rush's albums, especially their last four or five, have been very progressive covering anything from Nuclear War to High Finance. This album is definitely a progression/continuation of their last album, Power Windows. The inside art-work even has a little reminder of Power Windows if you look closely at it. Hold Your Fire contains 10 songs which is 2 more than usual, a bonus to Rush fans. The album is also a little more mellow than the last one, and seems to contain more guitar sound and less synthesizers. The track Tai Shan is a song about China which was probably inspired Neil Peart's trip there a few years ago. Time Stand Still, the second track has female back up vocals, which is really out of the ordinary for a Rush album. If you like a rhythmic sound, Turn the Page has a very fast paced base sound as well as a really suburb Guitar solo. I think if you like U2 or YES, you will like Rush's Hold your Fire. I think it is a majestic piece of work, and if you aren't a fan of Rush, this album will make you one. Give it a listen. Reviewed by Kanti Dinda ======================================================================== After The Gold Rush Tell Me Why Neil Young After the Gold Rush Producers: Neil Young & T Only Love Can Break Your Heart David Briggs R Southern Man Engineer: Not Credited A Till the Morning Comes Reprise 2283-2 C Oh, Lonesome Me Released: (1970) 1986/7 K Don't Let it Bring You Down Total Disc Time: 35:15 S Birds Source - Compact Disc When You Dance You Can Really Love SPARS Code - AAD I Believe in You Cripple Creek Ferry Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 7.5 'After The Gold Rush' and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 'Deja Vu' were both released in 1970 and established Neil Young as a superstar singer/songwriter. 'After The Gold Rush' is Young's second album with Crazy Horse and also includes guitarist Nils Lofgren. Most of the music here is pretty well known and gets a new life on CD. There is a little background hiss, but it is all but unnoticable through most of the disc. The only place where it is at all annoying is near the end of the title cut. Overall, the transfer of this early 70's album to Compact Disc was done quite well. Young's unique vocals and the instrumentation are all captured quite well on CD. This album contains some classic Neil Young material. 'After The Gold Rush' is one of Young's more famous songs and 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' is another well known song. 'Southern Man' is the song which Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote and recorded 'Sweet Home Alabama' to answer. 'After The Gold Rush' on Compact Disc is definitely worthwhile. Especially if you've got a worn out copy of the LP. The CD adds a bit of brightness and though it does expose some flaws in the recording, those flaws are minor. ======================================================================== Cuba Tennessee Fire The Silos She Lives Up the Street Producers: The Silos T For Always Engineers: Don Sternecker, Tiboy R Margaret Schoen, Mikhail Liberman A Mary's Getting Married & David Pearlman C Memories Record Collect RC-22 K Just This Morning Released: 1987 S Going Round Total Disc Time: 38:04 It's Alright Source - LP All Falls Away Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 9 There isn't anything about this album I can point to and say "this is a great album because...". 'Cuba' combines elements of Rock, Folk and Country and results in a record which is all of the above and none of the above at the same time. The use of contrast and violin are worth mentioning, but on their own they aren't what makes this a great record. A good example of the contrasting violins and guitars is 'She Lives Up the Street', which is a song about generations of a family at holiday time. There are no songs here which stand out from the others. Each is strong on its own, but they fit extremely well together and even though there's a mixture of fast-paced rockers and slow, quiet ballads everything feels natural. Walter Salas-Humara's voice has a quality about it, that I can't quite pin down, but that makes one notice and holds one's attention. This is an album where all the parts put into it with care and emotion have yielded a final product where the whole is far greater than the sum of those same parts. I would really enjoy seeing this music performed live. These longs live to be played live. The Silos have been compared favorably with R.E.M. in the past. The first song on the LP 'Tennessee Fire' has some R.E.M. flavor to it and is about a long drive on the highway and some of the anxieties that accompany the drive. 'For Always' is a vow of complete love to/with Salas-Humara's wife - "Every day I see my wife/her words break through every defense". 'Margaret' describes what is becoming more typical in the 80's, a family that has both spouses working to make ends meet - "four days a week and you're a family". 'Mary's Getting Married' rocks out while 'Memories' has a country feel to it. 'Going Round' is folkish/acoustic with just a touch of electricity. For information/ordering write to: Record Collect Box 20845 Tompkins Square Station New York, New York 10009 'Cuba' is easily one of the best albums I have heard in 1987. There is little to find wrong with this album. My only complaint is that a lyric sheet was not included with the album. Some of the lyrics are very poetic and it would definitely be a plus to see them written as well as hearing them. ======================================================================== Shaking The Pumpkin Hugh Marsh Purple Haze Producers: Jonathan Goldsmith & T How the Violin Was Born Kerry Crawford R Little Miss Big Kiss Engineer: John Naslen A The Way of the Flesh Duke Street DSR 31043 C Mistreated Released: 1987 K Pizz Punk Total Disc Time: 42:53 S Rules Are Made to Be Broken Source - LP Sempre Nel Mio Cuore Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 9.5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Bear Walks Versace Hugh Marsh My Brother Producer: Peter Cardinali T At the Top of the Hill, Engineer: Gary Gray R (A Double Left) Duke Street DSR 31009 A San Calimero Released: 1984 C La Carezza Total Disc Time: 46:41 K Znefu For Y'All Source - LP S Big Fun The Bear Walks Performance: 10 Laura With the Laughing Eyes Sound Quality: 9.5 The Doctor is Out If you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary to chase away those doldrums created by too much formulaic music, STOP RIGHT HERE! Hugh Marsh has put together two fine records which are adventurous, pleasing and definitely not ordinary. Marsh is a longtime friend and former member of Bruce Cockburn's band. He played with Cockburn's band from late 1979 for 7 years. Touring with Cockburn exposed Marsh to many varied cultures which he draws from to create his music. Marsh is a violinist/composer and on these two records has given us some very interesting jazz/pop music. "The Bear Walks" features Marsh's music and his violin. "Bear" is almost entirely instrumental. The music is a mixture of Jazz and Rock with a little funk and some dance grooves added for flavor. 'Versace' is a stunning, surprising, unpredictable piece. It is perhaps the most well known track from "The Bear Walks" and still enjoys radio and video play in Canada. Bruce Cockburn lends a hand on one track on each album. On "Bear" he lends his acoustic guitar to "La Carezza" and gives a recitation on "How the Violin was Born" from "Shaking the Pumpkin." Marsh builds upon the foundation laid on "Bear" to bring us "Shaking the Pumpkin". Vocals by Robert Palmer, B.J. Nelson, and Marsh, along with recitations by Bruce Cockburn, Palmer and Dalbello add a bit of spice to Marsh's instrumental sojourns. Also on "Pumpkin" Marsh uses some material written by others, Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze", and also shares the songwriting efforts with other band members. He wrote 6 of the 10 songs on "Bear" himself and co-wrote the rest. Only one song, "Sempre Nel Mio Cuore", on "Shaking the Pumpkin" was written solely by Marsh. Taking diverse elements of literature, music, and poetry, Marsh combines them into a listening experience. Style here is completely Hugh Marsh. The only other possible appellation one could put on this music would be Rock/Funk/Pop/Jazz/Dance/Punk music. But that still wouldn't accurately describe it. 'Hugh Marsh' describes the music here perfectly. Marsh and his music are essentially a circular definition of each other. Other words which come to mind are 'eerie', 'striking', 'contrasting'... I'd be very interested in hearing the music if ever Hugh Marsh scored a Stephen King movie! The sound on each of these LPs is clean, crisp & clear. Even when there's a lot going on with the music, nothing is lost or muddied the way some recordings turn out. I'd very much like to hear the Compact Disc versions of these albums. For information/ordering write to: Duke Street Records 185 Frederick Street Suite 104 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5A 4L4 These albums should be readily available in Canada. They are not available in the U.S., but can be ordered by writing to Duke Street records. ======================================================================== Product Review: VMPS Original Subwoofer Manufacturer's Specifications: Frequency Range : 19-600 Hz, +/- 3 db Sensitivity : 94 db @ 1 watt @ 1 meter THD : 0.5% @ 1 watt input Drivers : 12" polypropylene woofer and 15" paper cone passive radiator Power requirements: 20 watts minimum, 250 watts maximum Dimensions : 27" H by 21 1/2" W by 17" D Weight : 90 lbs. each Finish : Oak or walnut Warranty : ? (My owner's manual didn't mention one) List Price : $299.00 each (kit), $379 each (assembled), price includes free shipping in USA This will be a combination of reviews, both of the VMPS as a stand- alone subwoofer and how well the Spica's interface with them for those of you dying of curiosity from the last review (anybody?). We'll start off with the differences between buying the kit versions and the pre-assembled units. Unless you just have the extra $80 bucks kicking around you'd be nuts to get the assembled version. How's that for blunt and right to the point. The only thing you need to supply is a soldering gun, a little solder (obviously), a phillips head screwdriver, wire strippers, and a couple hours of your time (if you're building a pair of them). A hammer and nail to start pilot holes for the screws is also quite handy to have. The kits come with drivers, fully assembled cabinets and grill frames, terminal cups, insulation, mounting screws, and the older style Monster Powerline speaker cable for connecting the terminal cup to the woofers. By fully assembling the cabinets VMPS has already done away with the worst of the assembly process. The cabinet also has the woofer cutout in them along with the cutout for the terminal cup. It took me approximately 2 hours to put my pair together, I was working without a wire stripper though which slowed things down considerably. The assembly instructions were adequate but not the best, but then it really doesn't require much intellectual prowess to assemble them either. 1.)Solder the positive speaker cable lead to the positive connection on the terminal cup. 2.) Solder the negative speaker cable lead to the negative connection on the terminal cup. 3.) Install the terminal cup in the cutout on the back of the enclosure, I used silicone to assure an airtight seal as opposed to the foam gasket material they supply. 4.) Stuff the cabinet with half of the insulation they supply (assuming you purchased a pair of subwoofers). Make sure you take the paper backing off first and make a point of keeping the insulation away from the passive radiator so as not to impair it's motion. 5.) Solder the positive cable lead to the positive connection on the back of the woofer. 6.) Solder the negative cable lead to the negative connection on the back of the woofer. 7.) Screw the woofer into place with the supplied wood screws (more silicone around the perimeter of the hole or the supplied foam gasket material). 8.)Put on the grill frame. So much for the assembly process, easy enough, right? Hardly worth the extra money for the assembled versions unless you're either lazy (this includes me), incredibly inept (me again), or just plain rich and you couldn't care less about the extra money (hardly the case). Now that you know how to put them together you need to do some experimentation with placement. The passive radiator slot goes closest to the floor for starters. If you are going to be using a small pair of satellites then they should be placed as close to the subwoofers as possible. VMPS recommends placing them either directly above or right on top of the subwoofers. This of course will depend on how high your speakers need to be off the floor. Some speakers are very critical of height, the DCM Time Windows spring instantly to mind. The VMPS are the perfect height for the Spicas, however you will want to put something between the bottoms of your satellites and the subwoofers, otherwise it's really going to screw up the tautness of the midbass on the satellites. I was originally going to use Tip Toes but didn't want to ruin the finish on the subwoofers so I wound up using Audioquest's Sorbothane feet. These do a very nice job of de-coupling the two enclosures and preserving the excellent midbass characteristics of the Spicas, the feet also ate up seventy-two of the bucks I saved by building them myself, oh well. The bass output of any subwoofer will vary a great deal depending upon where they are placed in the room. I have a room that is more resonant than I'd like at low frequencies so I have them pulled out about 3' from the back wall and about 1' away from the side walls. This helps to cut back on the interaction with the room by de-coupling the bass output from the walls somewhat. It is also recommended that you use Tip Toes between the bottoms of the subwoofers and the floor. This will make a dramatic improvement in the tightness of the bass. If you just leave them flat on the floor don't expect good tight bass because you won't get it. You should keep the subwoofer(s) as close to the satellites as possible! Depending on where the subwoofers end up they could really ruin the imaging of your system, placing them between the satellites for instance could be very detrimental to the overall sound of the system. This is also why I purchased a pair of subwoofers. Some people will argue that one is plenty, however I had the experience of using a single subwoofer before and it was detrimental to the imaging I had been accustomed to enjoying. A pair of subwoofers completely solved this problem for me but my results may not be typical. Let your own ears decide, you can always start off with one and pick up a second at a later date if you think it necessary. How you actually end up placing them will also widely vary according to your own personal tastes as well as room anomalies. Now that we've got all the preliminaries out of the way you're probably wondering how they sound. Well, they are a big improvement over the Dahlquist DQ-1W's I had before. The VMPS have MUCH better deep bass extension than the Dahlquist did. Not only is the very low bass there but it is very tight and well defined. The Dahlquist had good bass extension, but nothing like this. The VMPS are also much tighter and faster in the upper bass than the Dahlquist, making for a better match to the satellites I'm using. The whole time I had the Dahlquist it seemed that there was a slight matching problem between them and the Spicas. A section of the upper bass didn't seem to blend quite the way it should have. In all fairness it could well have been the crossover and not the subwoofers though. I've heard from a few people that Dahlquist's DQ-LP1 electronic crossover (the one I was using) was not as good as their DQ-MX1 passive crossover network. I've heard more deep bass content on quite a few of the cd's I've been using for testing than I had previously thought was present on the recording. The Flim and the B.B.'s cd's have a lot of low frequency fundamentals that I had not heard previously on any system, which came as a real surprise because the Dahlquist were certainly no slouch. While doing listening tests on a subwoofer an obvious choice is the piece "Also Sprach Zarathustra" from the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The opening note is a low C on a pipe organ which is ridiculously low (16 Hz) and starts off fairly quietly and then builds to earthquake like proportions as the music swells. It is a very good test as to how deep and how much output you're getting. The VMPS did very well on this one, once again supplying more bass than I was accustomed to hearing, actually more like feeling in this case. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the VMPS are reproducing the 16 Hz tone, but they are reproducing the upper fundamentals of it very well. The bass has very good extension without sounding heavy or over powering. My preamp has no tone controls or loudness switch, so the only means of changing the bass output is by adjusting the output level for the subwoofer amp on the back of the electronic crossover. I mention this just to let you know that anything I review is always tested with all the tone controls nulled, I have no choice but even if I did, all listening to review equipment would still be done this way. I have to admit that the overall sound quality of these subwoofers came as a great surprise. I had read some good reviews of them but the final proof is always in the listening. My primary reason for getting the VMPS was the very significant price difference, $600 a pair as opposed to $800 (without tax) for a pair of the Dahlquist. The VMPS were also more appealing because of the ability to vary the quality of the bass response by adding or subtracting mass (in the form of Mortite rope putty) to the passive radiator's cone. As I said earlier I have a fairly resonant listening room, due primarily to the floor, and was interested in something that at least gave me half a chance at being able to vary the way the subwoofers sounded. I have to say that I am quite pleased with the results. The VMPS are a superb match with the Spicas providing a seamless transition from the subwoofers to satellites. Something rather difficult to attain with the Spicas due to their speed and transparency in the midrange. The way the VMPS mate up with my satellites I really can't imagine anyone having any difficulty getting a good match with much of anything else. The obvious exception would probably be an electrostatic or ribbon design speaker. Whenever you're working with a thin diaphragm it's usually very easy to tell when a cone bass unit is being used. They just don't have the necessary speed to interface with it. VMPS claims that the subwoofers can be used all the way up to 600 Hz, I don't have a variable frequency crossover network anymore and so could not verify this. At the same time I would be hard pressed to believe that they would provide a good interface above about 150 Hz or so. Subwoofers almost always become glaringly obvious in a system when driven above the lower bass frequencies. To summarize, the VMPS Original Subwoofer comes highly recommended to anyone interested in adding a subwoofer to their existing system. Adding a subwoofer is always an added expense. In my case I'm bi-amping which obviously adds the cost of a second amplifier as well as the cost of the crossover network. VMPS sells their own passive crossover network for $40 each. You will need two if you're going to be using a pair of subwoofers. These also have a variable crossover frequency so you shouldn't have any difficulty achieving a good match with your satellites. They also sell an electronic crossover designed by John Curl which sells for $449 and allows variable crossover frequencies, amplifier level control, and the provision for using either one or two subwoofers as well as a single amplifier or a pair. This allows for a great deal of flexibility but at an obviously much higher cost. I am using neither one of these but rather the GSI Model X-1 electronic crossover which lists for $300. This one is designed for either bi- amping or by the looks of the back panel, tri-amping as well, there is a level control cutout marked midrange on the back. It includes variable output levels for the satellite and subwoofer amps but there is no provision for adjusting the crossover frequency. When I initially placed the order for the crossover the dealer needed to know what satellite speakers, what subwoofers I planned on using, and what frequency I would like to crossover at, so it's obviously a made to order item. I cannot fault it sonically, as I said earlier there is no obvious transition point between the Spicas and the VMPS. Anyone balking at the idea of spending this much money on a subwoofer might be more interested in the VMPS Smaller Subwoofer which retails for only $199 each for the kits. If it is anywhere near as good as the Original then it is truly a bargain. The 3db down point on the Smaller Subwoofer is 28 Hz, quite respectable considering the much smaller cabinet size. Anyone interested in the ultimate low bass could get the Larger Subwoofer (nice naming conventions huh?), this one has a low frequency 3 db down point of 17 Hz and has 12" and 15" polypropylene woofers as well as a 15" passive radiator. The list price for the Larger Subwoofer is $449 each for the kits. All of these prices include shipping and handling charges in the US and as long as you don't live in California you get to avoid the sales tax too. I ordered my pair from A&S Speakers in Denver, Colorado. They advertise in the classified section of Audio magazine, so do VMPS for that matter so you shouldn't have any difficulty finding ordering information. The price I got from A&S was $279 each just for the record. Up in the manufacturer's specs I have a question mark for the warranty. I have no idea what time period VMPS warrants for, A&S warrants anything they sell for 90 days against manufacturer's defects. This should be more than adequate time for any problems to crop up. In conclusion, I think you would be hard pressed to find anything that sounded nearly this good anywhere even close to this price range. Highly recommended! DMH ========================================================================