New Philharmonic HT Centers are Here!

[lewdish]

Looks like a full Philharmonic home theater setup is now possible. Seems like Dennis quietly released it recently. And the first where the measurements are finally posted in CEA 2034 format measured using Klippel! Might be the center channel to beat @ $1200. Kinda hoping to see a BMR center hit the market, but this is really good looking too!

The HT Center Channel (philharmonicaudio.com)

 

[alex-z]

It is $1200 when purchased with other Philharmonic BMR/HT speakers (including past owners), the standalone price is $1400.

Still a good deal given the drivers alone are $600+ and the build quality they are known to offer. I guess the real question is how does the KEF R2 Meta compare.

 

[sweetchaos]

Cc @pierre

This looks excellent.

 

[LTig]

Looking at the directivity I knew it had to be a 3-way - and it is. Well done.

 

[sweetchaos]

Looks gorgeous...

 

[lewdish]

Is this new? Did he always put logos on his products? Kinda reminds me of the Paradigm logo~

 

[ryanosaur]

He’s said the logo on the AMT is happenstance. Not a branding decision.
Apparently the Mundorf AMT he started using in the HT Tower is no longer available. This is supposed to be very similar.
Other Drivers are ScanSpeak.

 

[mj30250]

As a 3-way center, that looks exceedingly difficult to best for the asking price, while also being very easy on the eyes! It may be a touch bright in some rooms, but should be pretty easy to EQ if necessary.

 

[staticV3]

Looking at the directivity I knew it had to be a 3-way

How though?
ERDI and Sound Power DI don't usually capture the directivity issues of 2-way center speakers.

Here are three centers with about as smooth or smoother ERDI and Sound Power DI than the Philharmonic center and they're all 2-way with terrible horizontal directivity:

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Is this new? Did he always put logos on his products? Kinda reminds me of the Paradigm logo~

View attachment 328958

Ooops. Not intentional. If you look at my website, you'll see this is taken directly from the font we use for banners. Fortunately, if I get a phone call from legal at Paradigm, we can order more faceplates without the insignia. Also, just in the name of accuracy, the Klippel plot you see was for a prototype that used a standard rectangular cabinet with no round over on the top or bottom. We switched to a rounded cabinet partly for aesthetics and partly to subdue diffraction effects (although I'm pretty sure you wouldn't hear the difference.)

 

[pierre]

Ooops. Not intentional. If you look at my website, you'll see this is taken directly from the font we use for banners. Fortunately, if I get a phone call from legal at Paradigm, we can order more faceplates without the insignia. Also, just in the name of accuracy, the Klippel plot you see was for a prototype that used a standard rectangular cabinet with no round over on the top or bottom. We switched to a rounded cabinet partly for aesthetics and partly to subdue diffraction effects (although I'm pretty sure you wouldn't hear the difference.)

Hi @Dennis Murphy would you send me the raw data? I would like to add it spinorama.org.
Thanks pierre

 

[tw 2022]

Is this new? Did he always put logos on his products? Kinda reminds me of the Paradigm logo~

View attachment 328958

Look closer.. That isn't the same logo...

 

[Timcognito]

No BMRs? There has been great success on other designs.

 

[tw 2022]

No BMRs? There has been great success on other designs.

There is that option as well...

 

[ryanosaur]

No BMRs? There has been great success on other designs.

He did a version with the vertical MTM array used on the HT Tower but it was too tall for widespread appeal, iirc.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Hi @Dennis Murphy would you send me the raw data? I would like to add it spinorama.org.
Thanks pierre

All I have are the graphs that Erin sent me, shown above.

 

[pierre]

All I have are the graphs that Erin sent me, shown above.

Thanks I will ask him.

 

[Haint]

Definitely need to see the dispersion graphs on a center, where I expect the widest possible image is going to be pretty much universally preferred--not just for side seats, but also to avoid a mono point source sound.

 

[3125b]

Alright, don't get me wrong, this isn't meant to be a criticism of this surely technically sound speaker.
But I see two issues when it comes to selling this, given that the reality is that most people buy a speaker as much for looks as they do for sound.
First would be the very dominant panhead screws, six for the tweeter, four for the midrange and five for the woofers. I get that you have to play the cards you are dealt here, but this look really clashes with the high gloss finish in my opinion.
Seconds probably bigger issue might be the hight of this, it simply won't fit in most peoples setups. The R2 Meta with similarly sized woofers is a whole 10cm lower in profile for example.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Alright, don't get me wrong, this isn't meant to be a criticism of this surely technically sound speaker.
But I see two issues when it comes to selling this, given that the reality is that most people buy a speaker as much for looks as they do for sound.
First would be the very dominant panhead screws, six for the tweeter, four for the midrange and five for the woofers. I get that you have to play the cards you are dealt here, but this look really clashes with the high gloss finish in my opinion.
Seconds probably bigger issue might be the hight of this, it simply won't fit in most peoples setups. The R2 Meta with similarly sized woofers is a whole 10cm lower in profile for example.

I'm not too worried about that. First, the screws are quite attractive hex units, not pan head. We use them on all of our speakers and no one has complained yet. Second, the height is slightly less than the Ascend Horizon, and that's a pretty popular center.