Integrated amp or streamer+amp combi for philharmonic BMRs

[Zuokun]

Hey guys, first time poster though have been going through this forum multiple times to check on reviews of audio components. I'm looking to get the Philharmonic BMR Monitors for my new home living for my home theater system.

However, i'm undecided for the audio chain before it, namely, to get a streamer + amp (to get a WiiM pro, and use my existing Loxjie A30 with it, or would an integrated amp (like the WiiM Amp, or even the pro when its out) be better? Please feel free to suggest other if that's better as well

I'm thinking of a budget up to maybe between 600-750 usd for the setup. But i can also consider up to 1k if this is too low to match the BMRs

Sound signature preferred - neutral sound, if required will add in eq to change

Any advice would be appreciated.. thanks!

 

[MarkS]

Welcome to the forum!

All modern solid-state amps have the exact same sound signature: none at all.

You say home theater but then talk 2-channel amps, so it's not clear what you want.

So we need more info. What size room, will there be a sub, is it a multichannel home theater or a two-channel music system, how loud do you want to play, what type of music, music only or movies also, etc etc.

The only thing that matters about the specific speakers is that they're lowish in sensitivity, 86.5db, and you will need enough power for your desired room and playback volume.

 

[Zuokun]

Thanks for the welcome

Ah right i'm looking just for a stereo setup, out of habit I called it a home theater when i just meant that the stereo setup is for me to watch shows and movies as well, so it's not just for music listening.

The room im putting it is a little odd shape (kind of like a T shape. But the listening area will be a square of about 11.5 ft by 11.5 ft. if you refer to the attachment, its the greem square on the left
Blue - proposed 2 speaker placements
Red - shows the room and the key dimensions
Green - listening area. the main focus of the listening will be the sofa on the left of the diagram. While the right side (dining area) is also shaded green it just needs to be "able to hear".

I understand that the Philharmonic BMRs reaches decently low, and being not a fan of bass, i think i'm not planning to add in a subwoofer.

With regards to song genre, the more common genres i listen to are instrumentals, pop (english, mandrin, japanese, korean), rock, metal and some classical.

With regards to loudness, if you meant in decibles.. not sure how i can measure it But from a very general way, i don't listen too loud, but at a comfortable volume for long listening. Though time to time i do push to play songs louder, where i would feel a little uncomfortable after maybe 30mins of listening.

So am i right to say that for solid-state amps does not improve (or at least not significantly) if i do opt for an amp with higher power? My understanding of the amp's purpose is to provide power to the speakers to drive it to produce sound sufficient for the room, which assuming i can power the BMRs to fill sound in my room with, for example, 4 ohms 50wpc, then i won't gain anything by getting something at 4 ohms 100wpc, assuming everything else is constant..or is that no easy way to say that and hence "its complicated"?

 

[MarkS]

For your room and music, your Loxjie A30 is very likely sufficient. It was well reviewed here by @amirm:

Loxjie A30 Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the multifunction Loxjie A30 power (speaker and headphone) amplifier with integrated USB DAC and Bluetooth input. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $159 plus $7 shipping on Amazon. The A30 sports a high resolution and high contrast...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Key quote: "I decided to test the A30 in a typical desktop setup. So I grabbed the PSB Alpha P5 (84 dB sensitivity) and connected it to the A30. I was most impressed with power ability and lack of distortion! There was incredible bass and ability to drive the P5 hard. And loud."

So if you don't need to connect sources other than streaming, I would get a Wiim mini and use the Loxjie. I would be very surprised if it's not sufficient. Alternative for more power would be the Wiim amp, well reviewed here:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/wiim-amp-streaming-amplifier-review.52372/

Note: many people here want to have absolutely no doubt that they have enough power, and so want to use much higher power amps. I am in the camp that this is not audible under almost all circumstances. But of course you can go that route if you have that FOMO (fear of missing out).

I've never had the pleasure of hearing any of Dennis Murphy's BMR speakers, but they appear to be very well designed and they measure well. Height is crucial: you want those ribbons at ear level.

 

[Chrispy]

Amps aside from feature set aren't likely to make a lot of difference,, but you have decent speakers. I'd just position them ideally and have an appropriate amp for them/your use and not worry about it.

 

[Zuokun]

Thanks both, i had read mixed observations where people observed identifiable difference using a better powered amp, and being relatively new in this hobby (in the whole audio chain setup choice), I'm rather scared that 'cheaping out' will limit the speakers potential. This definitely gives me some comfort and saves some cost for me, i might still have that itch to try getting different amp next time to play aroun, but that should be a long time later.

On a side note, i have the Aktimate minis (one mini and one pair of mini b+), does anyone know how they would compare in 2024 against other speakers? Thinking if i could reuse there somewhere, im still quite pleased with the sound in my current home.

 

[MarkS]

Thanks both, i had read mixed observations where people observed identifiable difference using a better powered amp

No, people claimed to observe identifiable differences. They did not verify it with blind listening tests. They never do.

and being relatively new in this hobby (in the whole audio chain setup choice), I'm rather scared that 'cheaping out' will limit the speakers potential.

No, definitely not in terms of "quality".

This definitely gives me some comfort and saves some cost for me, i might still have that itch to try getting different amp next time to play aroun, but that should be a long time later.

Good plan.

On a side note, i have the Aktimate minis (one mini and one pair of mini b+), does anyone know how they would compare in 2024 against other speakers? Thinking if i could reuse there somewhere, im still quite pleased with the sound in my current home.

They would likely compare just fine. A quick internet search turns up a number of very positive subjective reviews from 10 or so years ago. There has not been a significant advance in speaker tech at the low-cost end since then, and arguably not at the high end either. So if they sound good to you, by all means keep listening to them.

 

[Zuokun]

I see, thanks for the inputs