DIY Philharmonic Audio BMR

[ribosradagast]

Let's start a thread specifically for talking about the DIY options for the BMR from @Dennis Murphy

I've just sealed up my second cabinet and so my project is "done" for now. I used the kit from Meniscus Audio and the cabinets from Speaker Hardware. I'm not entirely happy with how the cabinets turned out, but I guess that is to be expected from your first woodworking project ever!

 

[jtwrace]

Now time to send one to @amirm for proper testing.

 

[ribosradagast]

I'm not sure that mine would be the ideal candidate for throwing in the Klippel ... being a first-time speaker builder, I'm not entirely convinced that I did everything perfectly. Maybe I did! But, maybe I didn't! I think it's impossible to know.

If someone has one of the Made-in-China "off the shelf" variants, that would prove to be a more representative model IMO

 

[jtwrace]

Just take some basic close mic'd REW measurements as you should anyway to make sure they match and I'm sure Dennis would be happy to tell you if they look as designed.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Just take some basic close mic'd REW measurements as you should anyway to make sure they match and I'm sure Dennis would be happy to tell you if they look as designed.

Let's start a thread specifically for talking about the DIY options for the BMR from @Dennis Murphy

I've just sealed up my second cabinet and so my project is "done" for now. I used the kit from Meniscus Audio and the cabinets from Speaker Hardware. I'm not entirely happy with how the cabinets turned out, but I guess that is to be expected from your first woodworking project ever!

View attachment 72673

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm sure it will be very helpful for people taking the DIY plunge. As for the suggestion to have your or anyone's BMR tested by Amir, it seems like his time might be better spent on the forthcoming Chinese version with the SB Acoustics Ceramic woofer. The Scan version has already been subjected to a full round of tests at the NRC anechoic chamber, and Audioholics has done a full Spinorama on them. I don't think there's much more to be learned. https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/bmr-philharmonitor-1
Also, Amir only listens to one speaker, and I don't think that would do justice to the BMR's, since they are designed specifically to achieve very wide and deep sound staging.

 

[xarkkon]

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm sure it will be very helpful for people taking the DIY plunge. As for the suggestion to have your or anyone's BMR tested by Amir, it seems like his time might be better spent on the forthcoming Chinese version with the SB Acoustics Ceramic woofer. The Scan version has already been subjected to a full round of tests at the NRC anechoic chamber, and Audioholics has done a full Spinorama on them. I don't think there's much more to be learned. https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/bmr-philharmonitor-1
Also, Amir only listens to one speaker, and I don't think that would do justice to the BMR's, since they are designed specifically to achieve very wide and deep sound staging.

A Chinese version of the BMR? Is that the Bennic BMR with your Taiwan partner that you'd previously mentioned in one of the other threads? I'm still interested in taking the dive on one of these!

Interesting to hear your thoughts on @amirm testing methodology. As with all tests, there's always scope for improvement (I like how Amir has taken to subjective testing as well which sometimes contradicts a little with the measurements). How would you tweak his testing methodology such that your BMRs would be shown for what they are?

 

[Dennis Murphy]

A Chinese version of the BMR? Is that the Bennic BMR with your Taiwan partner that you'd previously mentioned in one of the other threads? I'm still interested in taking the dive on one of these!

Interesting to hear your thoughts on @amirm testing methodology. As with all tests, there's always scope for improvement (I like how Amir has taken to subjective testing as well which sometimes contradicts a little with the measurements). How would you tweak his testing methodology such that your BMRs would be shown for what they are?

The BMR's have already undergone a complete spinorama test by two reviewers, one on this forum just days ago. So I'm more concerned with the subjective part of Amir's evaluations. I don't think you can judge the full potential of a very wide, even dispersion design like the BMR in mono. Mono is fine for basic tonality and frequency extension, but not for sound staging. The new BMR's will be built by Bennic and the same cabinet factory as before, but the woofer will be different and the cabinet will be real tinted walnut veneer.

 

[xarkkon]

The BMR's have already undergone a complete spinorama test by two reviewers, one on this forum just days ago. So I'm more concerned with the subjective part of Amir's evaluations. I don't think you can judge the full potential of a very wide, even dispersion design like the BMR in mono. Mono is fine for basic tonality and frequency extension, but not for sound staging. The new BMR's will be built by Bennic and the same cabinet factory as before, but the woofer will be different and the cabinet will be real tinted walnut veneer.

The Bennics sound very interesting. Looking forward to them!

 

[ribosradagast]

I was having some doubts about the effectiveness of my own DIY skills, so I took the speakers outside and blasted the neighbors with some super high SPLs away from any walls.

The mic was about 6 feet away, tweeter-height, and the speakers about 4.5 feet off the ground, so the bass has a couple of ground-bounce cancellations, but I think what's remarkable is how the two speakers nearly have exactly the same response. I think I can put my fears of level-matching to rest, ha!