New Philharmonic BMR HT Towers

[Mort]

This is a great speaker. Love it more every day after having it for a year. It's so versatile and high performing.


Also technically these are not called BMR HT towers, but just HT towers.

 

[vinodk69]

I am debating weather to go for BMR monitor in satin walnut with RAAL tweeter or AMT in other finishes for my music only system. seating will be 10-11 ft away. My room is 18x13 ft. Wondering if RAAL will have more sidewall reflections & mess up imaging compared to AMT. I know that RAAL has wider horizontal dispersion compared to AMT but wondering between the two versions if AMT or RAAL will have better vertical dispersion.

 

[Mort]

I am debating weather to go for BMR monitor in satin walnut with RAAL tweeter or AMT in other finishes for my music only system. seating will be 10-11 ft away. My room is 18x13 ft. Wondering if RAAL will have more sidewall reflections & mess up imaging compared to AMT. I know that RAAL has wider horizontal dispersion compared to AMT but wondering between the two versions if AMT or RAAL will have better vertical dispersion.

Honestly, I would go with what looks better. I think the AMT would look better with the dark woofer - ask about that. I personally prefer the look of the RAAL and slightly prefer it to the HT Tower AMT.

I absolutely wouldn't worry about it messing up imaging. Both are going to give that classic wide directivity big soundstage image. MIght the RAAL be slightly more reverberant? Maybe but it's slight and frankly, I want more reverberance out of my Philharmonic Audio. I can find more timidly narrow stuff everywhere, but I love the effect of the dispersion, especially for home theater, acoustic content and larger rooms.

 

[PhilharmonicAudio]

Boxes to AXPONA are ready! I think I've packed everything needed for our showroom in AXPONA. or maybe not. The Purifi woofers arrived from Denmark but the crossovers have not arrived yet. Three pairs of speakers are more than enough. We probably won't show the Super BMR.

The search of a new speaker name took much longer than we thought. We finally settled on an Italian word that pays a nice homage to a very milestone speaker in Dennis' design career.

We'll unveil her next week. It signifies an important direction we are heading to. It won't have any technology or driver (a.k.a BMR) in it. It will be simply soul-touching musical enjoyment that would put a smile on your face.

Hope to see some of you in AXPONA - Room 705.

 

[bagwell359]

I am debating weather to go for BMR monitor in satin walnut with RAAL tweeter or AMT in other finishes for my music only system. seating will be 10-11 ft away. My room is 18x13 ft. Wondering if RAAL will have more sidewall reflections & mess up imaging compared to AMT. I know that RAAL has wider horizontal dispersion compared to AMT but wondering between the two versions if AMT or RAAL will have better vertical dispersion.

I have the Monitor v2 in a 18x14 room, and a little diffusion/absorption at the first reflection point and a moderately well damped room overall, and I would endorse them as easily the best choice in that price range.

I am a bit of a ribbon head having had a number of speakers made (or modded by me) to use them starting over 40 years ago. I have heard the HT, but not the newer Raal models with AMT. They are a bit more robust and play a bit louder (AMT in general) not just HT vs Monitor. But at least to me ribbons handle complex music at low volumes a bit better.

 

[PhilharmonicAudio]

Philharmonic Cantabile Released!

Cantabile

philharmonicaudio.com

 

[jetrep]

This past Friday I attended AXPONA for the first time. Hearing the BMR Monitors was high on my priority list.

My friends and I visited the room twice to hear these speakers. While we only visited a small number of the many rooms we all walked away very impressed with the BMR Monitors. The presentation was impressive particularly because there wasn't tens of thousands of dollars involved to create this great sound.

I was disappointed that they were not interested in also demonstrating the Cantabile for us. They realized we visited twice and that we were interested in their products. We were told we can come back tomorrow. Do these vendors assume everyone is spending all weekend at the show?

I'm considering a purchase of the BMR Monitors even though towers would be more appropriate for my application. I'm not going to order towers from Philharmonic since I wasn't allowed to hear them. The salesmanship was a bit weak...fortunately for them these speakers largely sell themselves!

 

[ryanosaur]

This past Friday I attended AXPONA for the first time. Hearing the BMR Monitors was high on my priority list.

My friends and I visited the room twice to hear these speakers. While we only visited a small number of the many rooms we all walked away very impressed with the BMR Monitors. The presentation was impressive particularly because there wasn't tens of thousands of dollars involved to create this great sound.

I was disappointed that they were not interested in also demonstrating the Cantabile for us. They realized we visited twice and that we were interested in their products. We were told we can come back tomorrow. Do these vendors assume everyone is spending all weekend at the show?

I'm considering a purchase of the BMR Monitors even though towers would be more appropriate for my application. I'm not going to order towers from Philharmonic since I wasn't allowed to hear them. The salesmanship was a bit weak...fortunately for them these speakers largely sell themselves!

As a long time Philharmonic owner, I can say quite comfortably that Dennis' designs do not vary noticeably in SQ. If you have heard one and like it, you are pretty much guaranteed to like them all. I only heard the Phil3 at the time I bought a total of 4 different designs from him, and I would buy the HTs without hesitation or audition and be completely comfortable doing so.

Having been to an audio show before, I get your comment about being frustrated, especially as a prospective customer. I'm not here to talk you back from your criticism: I wasn't there to experience what you did. Please know, though, that if you join the Philharmonic family you will not be disappointed in the service you receive. Philharmonic is largely a 2-person operation. Dennis and Ken are both very attentive to the needs of their customers and do their absolute best in making certain we are all kept satisfied.

Cheers!

 

[scrubb]

I was at Axpona on Saturday and was excited that Philharmonic was at the show. I listened to the Cantabile. Nice! I had not heard, yet, about the Super BMR monitor with Purifi drivers. If I'd had more time I would have come back to hear them too. the Canabile is attractive and sounds very smooth, but according to the rep, doesn't reach as low as the BMR Tower. As you can see (if you zoom in) Purifi drivers are expensive.

 

[scrubb]

Also I have to say that I appreciate vendors like this who don't go all in on ridiculous cables in their demo rooms.

 

[bagwell359]

Philharmonic Cantabile Released!

Cantabile

philharmonicaudio.com

Well no more bass than the Monitor but about 5 db more spl, so more dynamic - closer to the HT Tower I would expect w/o the 25-35 Hz. Sure have filled in the line pretty fast the past 2 years or so.

Super Monitor probably more interesting for me.

So far they haven't made anything I don't really like.

 

[bagwell359]

Also I have to say that I appreciate vendors like this who don't go all in on ridiculous cables in their demo rooms.

At their place in Virginia they use Class D amps - at least they used too.

 

[ryanosaur]

Purifi drivers are expensive.

I’m looking at them for my own design. The 6.5” version I want to use retails at Madisound for $531, each. I can import from the EU, pay current tariffs, and still come out ahead of Madisound’s price.

I know that Dennis is using the OEM version in his designs, but they are still not inexpensive, require ocean freight and tariffs.

 

[PhilharmonicAudio]

This past Friday I attended AXPONA for the first time. Hearing the BMR Monitors was high on my priority list.

My friends and I visited the room twice to hear these speakers. While we only visited a small number of the many rooms we all walked away very impressed with the BMR Monitors. The presentation was impressive particularly because there wasn't tens of thousands of dollars involved to create this great sound.

I was disappointed that they were not interested in also demonstrating the Cantabile for us. They realized we visited twice and that we were interested in their products. We were told we can come back tomorrow. Do these vendors assume everyone is spending all weekend at the show?

I'm considering a purchase of the BMR Monitors even though towers would be more appropriate for my application. I'm not going to order towers from Philharmonic since I wasn't allowed to hear them. The salesmanship was a bit weak...fortunately for them these speakers largely sell themselves!

Thanks for coming to our room and appreciated you came back twice. I'm sorry we couldn't demo Cantabile nor Super BMR on Friday. We are very interested in showcasing them. I just wasn't ready to demo Cantabile nor Super BMR on Friday. Cantabile were not hooked up and it would involve re-wiring / shut down amps and etc - something I don't feel comfortable doing on Friday. I need some runtime with the room and BMR Monitors is a perfect candidate for that.

On Saturday I put both Super BMR and Cantabile on. Before the show started, I spend an hour or so to listen and make sure they are positioned correctly. We did not do BMR Monitors on Saturday for the same reason. Once the positions are set, I don't want to move them in the middle of the room full of customers.

Super Mini was for display only. This is the first time we setup the demo not in the Capital area so there are much to learn. We are super lucky to have local customers came to help. Salesmanship has always been weak from us. Dennis and I will try to improve in the future.

Glad you liked the BMR Monitors.

 

[PhilharmonicAudio]

Well no more bass than the Monitor but about 5 db more spl, so more dynamic - closer to the HT Tower I would expect w/o the 25-35 Hz. Sure have filled in the line pretty fast the past 2 years or so.

Super Monitor probably more interesting for me.

So far they haven't made anything I don't really like.

I'd need to change how we provide the spec. Cantabile has more bass than BMR Monitors but our spec does not say so. Cantabile and Super BMR has similar bass profile and they both have slightly more bass output to BMR. Super BMR is 1.5-2 dB less sensitive to the BMR but the Purifi driver has almost double Xmax - this means you can push the driver with much more power. So the loss of sensitivity is a good trade off given today's amp power. Cantabile is 90 dB sensitive. She can play in high dynamic range.

Super BMR is Purifi with a different implementation. Most other Purifi implementation has a smaller box with low sensitivity (comparing to ours). We put Purifi in a tapered Transmission line box (larger box) and with higher sensitivity (comparing to other Purifi boxes). The MTM alignment provides a more composed and focused sound stage comparing to the BMR Monitors.

Purifi CEO came to the room twice. I showed him our implementation also asked him to sell the driver cheaper. He spent the next 10 mins explaining why they couldn't. Guess I tried.

Both Super BMR and Cantabile are closer to the HT Towers. They all shared similar bass profile - more bass than BMR Monitors with a more focused midrange presentation. Super BMR has lower sensitivity but in Monitor form. Cantabile has high sensitivity in a Tower form. If you can live with Towers - pick Cantabile. If you need a monitor, take Super BMR. If you limit your budget to 2.5K - take BMR Monitors. If you can spend 4.5K, choose from BMR Towers and HT Towers. It is a big year for Philharmonic Audio.

 

[PhilharmonicAudio]

At their place in Virginia they use Class D amps - at least they used too.

I still use Class D amps in my demo room in Virginia. We used Orchard Audio's Class D / GaN amps in the room too.

 

[Alannn]

I'd need to change how we provide the spec. Cantabile has more bass than BMR Monitors but our spec does not say so. Cantabile and Super BMR has similar bass profile and they both have slightly more bass output to BMR. Super BMR is 1.5-2 dB less sensitive to the BMR but the Purifi driver has almost double Xmax - this means you can push the driver with much more power. So the loss of sensitivity is a good trade off given today's amp power. Cantabile is 90 dB sensitive. She can play in high dynamic range.

Super BMR is Purifi with a different implementation. Most other Purifi implementation has a smaller box with low sensitivity (comparing to ours). We put Purifi in a tapered Transmission line box (larger box) and with higher sensitivity (comparing to other Purifi boxes). The MTM alignment provides a more composed and focused sound stage comparing to the BMR Monitors.

Purifi CEO came to the room twice. I showed him our implementation also asked him to sell the driver cheaper. He spent the next 10 mins explaining why they couldn't. Guess I tried.

Both Super BMR and Cantabile are closer to the HT Towers. They all shared similar bass profile - more bass than BMR Monitors with a more focused midrange presentation. Super BMR has lower sensitivity but in Monitor form. Cantabile has high sensitivity in a Tower form. If you can live with Towers - pick Cantabile. If you need a monitor, take Super BMR. If you limit your budget to 2.5K - take BMR Monitors. If you can spend 4.5K, choose from BMR Towers and HT Towers. It is a big year for Philharmonic Audio.

Nice. Two new models demo'ed together in the same room. You describe the main differences as efficiency and physical size. But what about the most important comparison, level matched and blind?

 

[Mort]

Nice. Two new models demo'ed together in the same room. You describe the main differences as efficiency and physical size. But what about the most important comparison, level matched and blind?

What would this show?

 

[Alannn]

What would this show?

Now's the time for the people who heard both at AXPONA to chime in about differences they heard, even though we know it wasn't level matched or blind.

 

[Mort]

Now's the time for the people who heard both at AXPONA to chime in about differences they heard, even though we know it wasn't level matched or blind.

That will definitely accomplish little, although the poetry is nice.