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vp150 vs vp 180
#306802 05/16/10 11:02 PM
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bdpf Offline OP
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HI,

I was just wondering if anybody had the opportunity to compare the VP150 and the VP180.
I've had the VP150 for a couple of weeks now. Even though I am quite satisfied for movie, I feel that something is missing in 5.1 concerts. For example, in "Santana presents Blues at Montreux", the bass guitar is mostly present on the center channel and when I enable the center channel, I feel that I am losing some of the bass guitar vs when I just have the M80s on.

Has anybody compared the VP180 and VP150? Is it worth the $300 upgrade? Being a center channel, in most cases they would be crossed over at around 90-100Hz, so what would be the advantage of having the extra 2 x 6.5" drivers if most of the lower frequencies will not be directed to it anyways?


Bruno
M80s/VP180/QS8s/EP600/AVR-890
------------------------------------
"The problem is choice..."
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
bdpf #306827 05/17/10 02:27 AM
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SRoode is the only one capable of answering that for you. I believe the answer would be yes, the VP180 is worth the upgrade.

Re: vp150 vs vp 180
#306835 05/17/10 03:48 AM
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I wanted the VP180 to have a speaker that matched the M80s as much as possible. I listen to music more than I watch movies, and noticed a timbre difference in the center with the VP150. I had it crossed over at 90 Hz. With the VP180, I have all 3 front speakers now crossed over at 40 Hz and there is a much, much better blending of the soundstage (almost seamless).

So yes, in my opinion it is definitely worth the upgrade.


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Re: vp150 vs vp 180
SRoode #306848 05/17/10 08:03 AM
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I found that an M80 laying on it’s side sounded better to me than the VP150 so I imagine one designed to lay on it’s side would work even better so I also vote yes though my experience is only indirect. ;\)

Also as Steve points out, with a speaker that has lower extension you can cross it over lower.


3M80 2M22 6QS8 2M2 1EP500 Sony BDP-S590 Panny-7000 Onkyo-3007 Carada-134 Xbox Buttkicker AS-EQ1
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
grunt #306895 05/17/10 05:08 PM
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bdpf Offline OP
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My room is fairly small (20ft x 11ft) my main listening position is about 8ft from the center speaker and my M80s are only 7/8 ft apart. Do you think I would still benefit from the upgrade or that my towers being so close together and me being close to the center, I wouldn't probably gain much. It seems to me that the bigger the room, the bigger would be the difference.


Bruno
M80s/VP180/QS8s/EP600/AVR-890
------------------------------------
"The problem is choice..."
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
bdpf #306903 05/17/10 05:38 PM
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The listening area in my apartment was 12x20. My M80s were about 6-7 feet apart and I sat 6-7 feet from the screen. I noticed a huge improvement in sound quality when I upgraded from a VP150 to an M80 as a center speaker. For that matter prior to the upgrade I had turned my center channel off and ran a phantom center with my M80 mains.

It sounds from your first post that you are also turning your center channel off at least sometimes because you also find the M80 sound better especially for music. If that’s the case then IMO it is worth the upgrade. I’m not sure how close Steve said he sits to his speakers but if it isn’t close then you might want to wait on someone posting comments on how it sounds close up or placed fairly close to the mains, but from a sound quality standpoint it should be as much an improvement as I got with my M80 center.


3M80 2M22 6QS8 2M2 1EP500 Sony BDP-S590 Panny-7000 Onkyo-3007 Carada-134 Xbox Buttkicker AS-EQ1
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
grunt #306910 05/17/10 06:20 PM
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bdpf Offline OP
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Hi Grunt, thanks for the info. When you replaced the VP150 with the M80, did you noticed a big improvement for movies as well or was it mostly noticeable in music?


Bruno
M80s/VP180/QS8s/EP600/AVR-890
------------------------------------
"The problem is choice..."
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
bdpf #306944 05/17/10 09:55 PM
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IMO the improvement was across the board. I probably noticed it more for most music as I usually listen to it more critically.

The biggest improvement I noticed was better dynamic and timbre matching of the front 3 speakers. There just seemed to be a hole in the midbass with the VP150 which the M80 filled in. This made bass instruments and male voices sound noticeably more natural for both movies and music. This also created a more robust “wall-of-sound” seeming more “movie-like” and more realistic sounding for concert CD/DVDs.

One caveat is the difference in presentation between a horizontal and vertical speaker. The vertical M80 IMO makes well recorded music sound more precise with better placement of instruments and vocalists. However, if sitting close it can cause somewhat of a breakdown of the front soundstage where the center can be heard as distinct from the mains when watching movies. OTOH, a horizontal center blends across the front soundstage for movies more easily. However, it gives less precise audio queues for music since the drivers are spread out a couple to several feet. It can make a vocalist sound like their mouth is a couple feet wide if sitting to close. Note that the farther you sit and the closer together the speakers are minimizes all these effects causing both horizontal and vertical centers to sound more similar IMO.

I am actually toying with the idea of getting a VP180 myself. I would either mount it above my screen and run it in tandem with my current M80 center for movies and switch it off using only the regular M80 for well recorded multi-channel music. The other option I’m considering is making a swiveling speaker stand at work. So I can use just one VP180 under the screen where my M80 is and spin it between horizontal and vertical for movies and some music respectively.


3M80 2M22 6QS8 2M2 1EP500 Sony BDP-S590 Panny-7000 Onkyo-3007 Carada-134 Xbox Buttkicker AS-EQ1
Re: vp150 vs vp 180
grunt #306999 05/18/10 05:57 AM
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Woop... woop... woop... woop...

Sigh... I miss the old Leslie speakers.

Last edited by bridgman; 05/18/10 05:58 AM.

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Re: vp150 vs vp 180
bridgman #307000 05/18/10 05:58 AM
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Is that the sound of the Audyssey auto-calibration?

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