Stereophile review of Philharmonic BMR Monitor

[alexis]

We worked with three editors from Stereophile. We really appreciated their genuine interest and effort to work with us. It started with Rogier met us in our showroom at the 2024 AXPONA:

Philharmonic Audio and Audio by Van Alstine

An old Dutch saying holds that "good wine needs no wreath," meaning that real quality sells itself. That probably applies to Philharmonic Audio, too. The Maryland-based speaker manufacturer, led by veteran designer and viola maestro Dennis Murphy, has never put much stock in advertising and...

www.stereophile.com

It was a nice and brief listening experience. The editor who wrote the article is Robert Schryer. John Atkinson did the measurement and auditioned the speaker in his room. So that Piano Ebony BMR Monitor went through three different editors and three different rooms. The final writing comes from Robert and John "independently" (and through the magic of the editor in chief). In between, one binding post was damaged during packaging and it came back to my shop to repair before continuing the review journey. I did not send a replacement speaker. It was the original reviewed speakers after repairs. It crossed USA and Canada borders a few times (I was glad that happened before new tariff rules). That whole process took one year.

This Piano Ebony pair reviewed and measured by Stereophile is physically located in Vienna VA. Anyone who wants to audition are welcome.

 

[Scrivs]

If that is JA authoring the article, and if said review contains cable-woo, then for me, the whole enterprise isn’t worth reading going forwards. Gross

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I never had an issue with my BMRs being a 'demanding load' with a middling AVR or a Cambridge CXA60 or an IcePower class D amp. I did notice slightly lower sensitivity than some of my other speakers, but that was easily remedied by bumping the volume up on the remote 2 or 3 clicks. Not even worth discussing in my opinion.

JA's measurement above 10K does not match my measurements nor Erin's measurements of my speakers.

View attachment 441998

vs.

View attachment 441999

Something is amiss.

If that is JA authoring the article, and if said review contains cable-woo, then for me, the whole enterprise isn’t worth reading going forwards. Gross

JA didn't author the article. He just performed the measurements, which he described as "superb."

 

[Scrivs]

JA didn't author the article. He just performed the measurements, which he described as "superb."

My sincere apologies to JA for my oversight. Thank's for the clarification
Edit: Bravo to you sir, Mr. Murphy for such an excellent design, and even more so for your humility as a designer. Respect.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I never had an issue with my BMRs being a 'demanding load' with a middling AVR or a Cambridge CXA60 or an IcePower class D amp. I did notice slightly lower sensitivity than some of my other speakers, but that was easily remedied by bumping the volume up on the remote 2 or 3 clicks. Not even worth discussing in my opinion.

JA's measurement above 10K does not match my measurements nor Erin's measurements of my speakers.

View attachment 441998

vs.

View attachment 441999

Something is amiss.

The two BMR's don't employ the same crossover. RAAL farmed out production of the 64-10 tweeter a couple of years ago. The new unit measured somewhat differently. I took the opportunity to iron out a long-standing dip at 3k, which was audible, and deal, with some wonky cabinet diffraction effects above 10kHz. There will be some sample-to-sample response differences in the highest frequencies because the response is vey sensitive to any differences in the tension of the ribbon element. My measurements of the current batch of BMR's generally show more output in the upper highs than appear in John's measurement, , but I doubt that there are any audible differences given the frequency range involved and the very broad dispersion of the RAAl. The two graphs are consistent in the bass region even though they don't look like it. John doesn't happen to own a $100,000 Klippel machine and is forced to capture a speaker's anechoic bass response by taking a nearfield response (with the mic about 1/4" from the woofer cone) and then splicing that measurement onto the anechoic response above 200 Hz. The bass region almost always looks boosted because the nearfield plot approximates the output of the woofer on an infinite baffle. According to John, the combined plot for the BMR is consistent with the bass response being "maximally flat" in actual use. Why doesn't John make an adjustment in his plot to compensate for the two measuring techniques? Dunno.

 

[MaxBuck]

Reiteration of just what excellent speakers these are. Bravo, Dennis and team!

 

[Sokel]

No objection at all for user experience.
But at the data-driven ASR the agreement of both reviews and measurements (Erin and SP) about speaker's impedance draws the same picture:
That according the plots the speaker will greatly benefit from an amp able to deliver the goods when asked for.

Now, anyone can use anything and be ok with it. No problem with it.

 

[Beave]

Congratulations to Dennis and Ken for a very positive review in an influential magazine.

And thanks to Stereophile for reviewing a speaker that looks great, sounds great, measures great - and doesn't cost more than a new car.

 

[John Atkinson]

For some reason Stereophile didn't publish my manufacturer's comment, although they did in the hard copy version.

Noting that we don't routinely publish the Manufacturer's Comment in the website reprint of a review, unless specifically requested to do so.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile
Part-time Web Monkey

 

[Laserjock]

Noting that we don't routinely publish the Manufacturer's Comment in the website reprint of a review, unless specifically requested to do so.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile
Part-time Web Monkey

I just looked on the Stereophile iOS app for my subscription and it is there. (On iPhone)

I have physical copy and app subscription

 

[John Atkinson]

I just looked on the Stereophile iOS app for my subscription and it is there. (On iPhone)

Yes, that is because that version is identical to the print edition. I was referring to the reprint of the review on the Stereophile website.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

 

[WillBrink]

I see he offers two cabinet shapes for the BMR Monitor. The more square of the two costs a little less $. Are there any sonic differences?

 

[jlx]

I see he offers two cabinet shapes for the BMR Monitor. The more square of the two costs a little less $. Are there any sonic differences?

none that the speaker's designer could detect

 

[ryanosaur]

I see he offers two cabinet shapes for the BMR Monitor. The more square of the two costs a little less $. Are there any sonic differences?

There shouldn’t be.

 

[WillBrink]

none that the speaker's designer could detect

Good to know!

 

[Doenerkunde]

"As Philharmonic Audio Chief of Operations Ken Lin explained during a Zoom chat, "The BMR driver is normally used full range in small desktop and surround applications, and occasionally in larger two-way designs, where it crosses to a conventional woofer. To the best of our knowledge, Philharmonic Audio is the only company using the BMR driver as a dedicated midrange in a three-way.""

Nubert from Germany also uses BMR drivers as midranges, although I suppose they use BMRs from Peerless and not Tectonic.

The somewhat comparable Nuvero 60 model has been reviewed here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nubert-nuvero-60-speaker-review.54390/

That being said the Philharmonic BMR Monitor ist one of the speakers I envy US residents for.

 

[elmoe420]

No objection at all for user experience.
But at the data-driven ASR the agreement of both reviews and measurements (Erin and SP) about speaker's impedance draws the same picture:
That according the plots the speaker will greatly benefit from an amp able to deliver the goods when asked for.

Now, anyone can use anything and be ok with it. No problem with it.

Since we're being data driven and all , how would you define "deliver the goods"?

 

[BlackTalon]

This Piano Ebony pair reviewed and measured by Stereophile is physically located in Vienna VA. Anyone who wants to audition are welcome.

Is this in a shop or a private residence? Vienna is close to being in my backyard.

 

[ryanosaur]

Is this in a shop or a private residence? Vienna is close to being in my backyard.

Welcome to Philharmonic Audio.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Is this in a shop or a private residence? Vienna is close to being in my backyard.

It's a private residence, but you can audition all of the Philharmonic there or at my home in Bethesda, MD.