New Philharmonic BMR HT Towers

[JohnnyNG]

It would be nice to see this get Klippel-ized just for complete data being available.

Agreed. Few sites seem equipped for proper distortion measurements, for example, and can only give subjective impressions on dynamic range. I have no doubt these would impress.

I've been considering a floorstanding upgrade from my Revel M106. The Revel F208 has been my primary candidate but I think these could certainly compete and I do like the smaller footprint. I'd high-pass @80Hz so deep bass is not that important but maximizing that 40Hz-80Hz octave is. Plus, drop-dead gorgeous.

 

[chych7]

Problem with wide dispersion speakers is that in an untreated room, the excess reflections can degrade clarity. This is especially true for a center channel that needs to provide good dialogue clarity. With my BMRs there is a distinct tradeoff between soundstage and clarity when I add/remove my sidewall absorber panels. For HT use this needs to be carefully considered, and a few small absorber panels placed at the right locations would be wise with a wide dispersion speaker.

 

[MaxBuck]

If I didn't already have a kickass pair of speakers, I'd be salivating over these.

Check that. I'm salivating anyway.

 

[ryanosaur]

Check that. I'm salivating anyway

This.

 

[MarkS]

Yeah, me too! Good thing I can't decide between these and the Ascend ELX towers!

 

[alexis]

Yeah, me too! Good thing I can't decide between these and the Ascend ELX towers!

There will be an Audioholics' Live Stream on the HT Tower Review at Tuesday 11pm EST:

There should be a Q&A last last time with BMR Towers.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Good thing no one else thought to use them in a 3-way.

Fantastic speaker design, as usual, @Dennis Murphy !

There should be a Q&A last last time with BMR Towers

@alexis Do you know if, ever, there would be some plans for exporting Philharmonic speakers to EU? I think I speak for quite a few people, but it feels somewhat frustrating to know that we could never buy one (without paying the pair twice as much with shipping/custom fees).

 

[Sokel]

Fantastic speaker design, as usual, @Dennis Murphy !


@alexis Do you know if, ever, there would be some plans for exporting Philharmonic speakers to EU? I think I speak for quite a few people, but it feels somewhat frustrating to know that we could never buy one (without paying the pair twice as much with shipping/custom fees).

100% agree,there's a gap in Europe for this kind of speakers,specially capable 3-way quality ones at such prices.

 

[Ricardojoa]

100% agree,there's a gap in Europe for this kind of speakers,specially capable 3-way quality ones at such prices.

Maybe those who are interested can set up dealers across europe and have some type of deal with philharmonic audio.

 

[Sokel]

Maybe those who are interested can set up dealers across europe and have some type of deal with philharmonic audio.

Dealers will double the price.
Only some kind of assembly and sell kind of place would make it so that prices stay low.

 

[Ricardojoa]

Dealers will double the price.
Only some kind of assembly and sell kind of place would make it so that prices stay low.

I hope you got my sarcasm.
I decided to pay the shipping and tax duties. Everyone will need to weight there extra cost.
For me, the up charges still makes the philharmonic worth it.

 

[alexis]

Fantastic speaker design, as usual, @Dennis Murphy !


@alexis Do you know if, ever, there would be some plans for exporting Philharmonic speakers to EU? I think I speak for quite a few people, but it feels somewhat frustrating to know that we could never buy one (without paying the pair twice as much with shipping/custom fees).

We are helping the EU customers with a "sponsored" air shipping. The new plan is to offer one pair of HT Tower for $400 air ship to EU, or anywhere in the world.

The new HT Tower can be air-shipped anywhere in the world for just $400/pair.​

Macau? Australia? Austria? India? Sweden? Canada?​

We've been there.​

I'm sure this language is not easy to pick up with all the new speaker models we just released on the website...

 

[samysound]

@alexis @Dennis Murphy wow these speakers look and measure amazing, congrats!

Any plans to do a run in lighter wood finish in the near future?

 

[Dennis Murphy]

@alexis @Dennis Murphy wow these speakers look and measure amazing, congrats!

Any plans to do a run in lighter wood finish in the near future?

Our next batch, due in early August, will include a satin natural walnut finish.

 

[Doodski]

Our next batch, due in early August, will include a satin natural walnut finish.

That is very very nice! I love the organic woodgrain, the matching sides, the way you let the grain show and not be some perfect grain with no character. Very good stuff.

 

[lewdish]

Is there a reason why its rear ported instead of front ported? I typically assume Front ported is more desirable since the air isnt pumping into a wall.

 

[alexis]

Is there a reason why its rear ported instead of front ported? I typically assume Front ported is more desirable since the air isnt pumping into a wall.

Rear port usually make port noises (if any) less audible. With the transmission line alignment in the HT Tower (different from the bass reflex) it can be much closer to the walls.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Is there a reason why its rear ported instead of front ported? I typically assume Front ported is more desirable since the air isnt pumping into a wall.

Also, any upper harmonics generated by the port will be less audible if the port is in the rear. There's no place to put a port in the rear of the big tower. Fortunately, it any harmonic spikes are very far down in volume.

 

[jcarys]

I've been using (front) ported speakers for both music and home theater for over 25 years, with and without a sub. Personally, I've never had any issues with port noise or speaker integration. Everyone can decide on speakers based on their own criteria, but I'd suggest that using ports has been solved with smart engineering design for a very long time.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I've been using (front) ported speakers for both music and home theater for over 25 years, with and without a sub. Personally, I've never had any issues with port noise or speaker integration. Everyone can decide on speakers based on their own criteria, but I'd suggest that using ports has been solved with smart engineering design for a very long time.

Smart engineering may have solved the problems, but there are still a lot of speakers that don't have smart port engineering. Port resonances have been a continuing issue in
Amir's reviews.