Philharmonic BMR Towers, Follow Up Review, frequency sweeps and Room Treatments

[jmdesignz2]

Been pretty happy with the Philharmonic BMR Towers since getting them almost 2 months ago August 24th, 2025

Stack:

WiiM ultra-usb-topping dx5II-DAC MODE hi gain-xlr-topping a70 pro max reamp-high gain-xlr-buckeye NCX500 Mono blocks med gain

WBC 7 awg speaker cables

Without room treatment at 44” speaker face distance from the front wall it sounds very balanced


I pushed them back to 24” and a huge suck out appeared at 100hz which climbed back to normal around 50hz

I immediately noticed the lack of kick drum impact and ran REW which revealed the suck out.

I added a DIY corner bass trap about 4’ tall using 3 layers of 2” thick Ecose (finely shredded denim/cotton)

Immediately noticed massive improvement in bass impact and resolution

I’m about to construct and install more DIY panels

Will post more soon

Room is 8 ft tall ceilings, open L

14x22. Speakers are on the long wall

 

[jmdesignz2]

 

[jmdesignz2]

My Aerial 10t home theater setup on the right

 

[jmdesignz2]

Actually have these angled outwards a bit and the imaging is still very good

 

[jmdesignz2]

Currently they’re setup on the optional outrigger spikes with the slides and sitting on 40lb marble slabs. I think I’ll add neoprene o rings under the spike slide “coins”

 

[Everett T]

Been pretty happy with the Philharmonic BMR Towers since getting them almost 2 months ago August 24th, 2025

Stack:

WiiM ultra-usb-topping dx5II-DAC MODE hi gain-xlr-topping a70 pro max reamp-high gain-xlr-buckeye NCX500 Mono blocks med gain

WBC 7 awg speaker cables

Without room treatment at 44” speaker face distance from the front wall it sounds very balanced


I pushed them back to 24” and a huge suck out appeared at 100hz which climbed back to normal around 50hz

I immediately noticed the lack of kick drum impact and ran REW which revealed the suck out.

I added a DIY corner bass trap about 4’ tall using 3 layers of 2” thick Ecose (finely shredded denim/cotton)

Immediately noticed massive improvement in bass impact and resolution

I’m about to construct and install more DIY panels

Will post more soon

Room is 8 ft tall ceilings, open L

14x22. Speakers are on the long wall

7 gauge wire? That's gotta be an interesting termination.

 

[jmdesignz2]

7 gauge wire? That's gotta be an interesting termination.

WBC cables. Sold on Amazon. Decent non snake oil price too. Normal banana plugs

 

[Mort]

Gorgeous speakers at a very reasonable price since one generally won't need a subwoofer. They are large!

Enjoy those, I enjoyed mine but did sell them off. I kept their other model, the HT towers which I prefer for a few minor reasons. I could have been completely satisfied with the BMR Towers.

 

[Juhazi]

SBIR boundary reflections...
It sounds a bit strange to me to use traps and panels... Can't you just locate the speakers so that reflections don't make such bad cancellations? Usually just more close to the wall!
Also listener location might be problematic, there are many good room simulations where you can move speakers and listener and see response changing. These calculate both first reflections and room modes, eg. REW has a sim. Measurements should be done individually for both speakers. You will be surprised of the difference.

 

[jmdesignz2]

SBIR boundary reflections...
It sounds a bit strange to me to use traps and panels... Can't you just locate the speakers so that reflections don't make such bad cancellations? Usually just more close to the wall!
Also listener location might be problematic, there are many good room simulations where you can move speakers and listener and see response changing. These calculate both first reflections and room modes, eg. REW has a sim. Measurements should be done individually for both speakers. You will be surprised of the difference.

Actually moving closer to the wall for higher WAF caused the cancellation suck outs to appear.

The 44” position is the best but a bit far into the room which blocks the HT setup and also triggers poor WAF

I’ll try the sim mode. I do have the room and speakers plotted in REW

 

[Everett T]

Actually moving closer to the wall for higher WAF caused the cancellation suck outs to appear.

The 44” position is the best but a bit far into the room which blocks the HT setup and also triggers poor WAF

I’ll try the sim mode. I do have the room and speakers plotted in REW

Interesting, looking forward to your results.

 

[jmdesignz2]

Interesting, looking forward to your results.

I’ll be building two 6 inch thick panels to go behind each speaker to reduce the specific SBIR suck out

 

[Chanur]

Gorgeous speakers at a very reasonable price since one generally won't need a subwoofer. They are large!

Enjoy those, I enjoyed mine but did sell them off. I kept their other model, the HT towers which I prefer for a few minor reasons. I could have been completely satisfied with the BMR Towers.

Would you mind giving some details on why? I'm currently waffling between the two models. I think the BMR Towers are more attractive and love how deep they get but I like the higher output of the HT Towers . I worry the BMR Towers can't be "cranked" now and then.

 

[Juhazi]

You must lure your wife to the panel thing then...
I meant that you should move the speakers even closer to the wall. Distance less than 20" or more than 40" should work, measured from front baffle.

Bass region below 300Hz radiates as monopole, and placement recommendation for a fullrange speaker is same as for a subwoofer. First cancellation dips are easily audible, but typical strong room modes as peaks in response are also strong in range 30-200Hz.

Monitor Placement - Genelec.com

To create the ideal listening experience, several aspects need to be taken into account when placing the monitors within the listening space. First, you need to identify the listening area within the space and consider where the listener will be placed in relation to the space as well as the...

www.genelec.com

 

[jmdesignz2]

You must lure your wife to the panel thing then...
I meant that you should move the speakers even closer to the wall. Distance less than 20" or more than 40" should work, measured from front baffle.

Bass region below 300Hz radiates as monopole, and placement recommendation for a fullrange speaker is same as for a subwoofer. First cancellation dips are easily audible, but typical strong room modes as peaks in response are also strong in range 30-200Hz.

Monitor Placement - Genelec.com

To create the ideal listening experience, several aspects need to be taken into account when placing the monitors within the listening space. First, you need to identify the listening area within the space and consider where the listener will be placed in relation to the space as well as the...

www.genelec.com

View attachment 492743

View attachment 492745

The BNR towers have protruding rear profile, deep cabinet and long lugs. Not sure I can get the cabinet face less than 20” from the wall

 

[Mort]

Would you mind giving some details on why? I'm currently waffling between the two models. I think the BMR Towers are more attractive and love how deep they get but I like the higher output of the HT Towers . I worry the BMR Towers can't be "cranked" now and then.

Of course. Three minor reasons. I was using it in a home theater setup with a subwoofer and wasting a great deal of the bmr bass capacity there. The size was a factor, they are in a spot that gets some traffic and the HTs are smallish for towers. Lastly and leastly, the HTs crank out a few more db.

I think the bmr towers are gorgeously shaped and are a perfect self contained (no sub) 2ch system as long as you have the space, don't need the bottom octave or very high db.

 

[Chanur]

How loud do the BMR Towers go? That's my one concern about them. I prefer the look of the BMR by a lot. I have a sub but it's a pretty cheap meh sub so was hoping to not have to use it really. How ever everyone mentions the limited volume on the BMR Tower and it has me concerned. Not that I listen exceptionally loud or anything but every now and then you want to crank it a bit.

I plan to use which ever for my living room home theater and 5.1/2 channel music system.

Would you have kept them if the space was not an issue?

 

[Mort]

Hard to say. Depends on the audio content, distance, amp etc. Do you know what DB you need/want and the distance?

 

[Chanur]

Hard to say. Depends on the audio content, distance, amp etc. Do you know what DB you need/want and the distance?

Not really. I sit about 11-12 feet from the speakers and am currently listening at about 50DB at the listening position which I would say is about my usual level. This is according to an app so no idea how accurate it is. Just would like to pump it every now and then and not worry about blowing it out.

 

[Mort]

That's pretty modest if it's a C weighting. I think the bmr towers will be fine with adequate amplification.