Philharmonic 3 Review:
Product:
Philharmonic 3
Manufacturer:
Philharmonic Audio
Performance Rating: 5/5
Value Rating: 5/5
Price: $3500 Standard with choice of veneer
$3700 with a slightly revised cabinet with a sloped front baffle and 1.25" chamfered edges
Wesbite:
www.philharmonicaudio.com
Drivers ScanSpeak 22W8851T00 “Revelator” 8-inch woofer, BG Neo8 planar midrange, RAAL 70-10D ribbon tweeter
Response 25Hz – 20kHz (+/- 2 dB)
Sensitivity 85 dB (db/2.83v/1M)
Box Alignment Mass-loaded transmission line
Dimensions 43” H x 12” W x 24” D
Pro's:
-Effortless Sound Quality that is non-fatiguing at ANY Volume
-Unsurpassed Vocal Clarity
-Near unrestricted Sound Stage size and Envelopment
-Can be Fine Tuned with included absorption materials/pads
-Undeniable Value for Given Performance
-Current Cabinets are Built by Salk Sound
Con's:
-'Form following function' aesthetics
-Makes it difficult to hear music played on anything else!
Genius is said to be 1% Inspiration, and 99% Perspiration. Philharmonic Audio's inception and duration within a demanding market place offers proof that a Teacher, turned award-winning DIY enthusiast, turned Consultant and Designer for brands like Salk Sound, all while being an active Assistant Principal Violinist, can also educate one's ears to 'see' what really comes through the other end of a microphone.
Dennis Murphy has accomplished this in multiples. Not just with his top-of-the-line Philharmonic 3, but also through a broader range of products including his Affordable Accuracy Monitor that introduces listeners to what quality design, free from over-ruling marketing departments, can produce!
Upper Cabinet Removed showing the high quality terminals. The 8"
Revelator Woofer sits proudly in its slanted transmission line cabinet:
Overview:
The Philharmonic 3 is a 3-way floor standing, full range tower speaker that utilizes a
RAAL 70-10D ribbon tweeter and BG Neo8 planar midrange mounted in an open-backed enclosure, isolated by sorbothane feet. A ScanSpeak 22W8851T00 8” woofer mounted in a separate Mass-Loaded Transmission Line handles the bass and extends useful output to below 25 Hz. It seems Dennis' innate comprehension of crossover design allowed him to hand pick each of these drivers to compliment one another better than any previous design.
The extremely flat and wide dispersion of both the ribbon tweeter and planar midrange allow for effortless set up for multiple seating locations. The 8” woofer in transmission line enclosure allows for subwoofer-free listening for all but the most demanding LFE movies. For strictly music listening, the Philharmonic 3 was preferred full-range without a subwoofer.
Rear of Upper Cabinet has a magnetic cloth covering wrapped over a wooden frame:
Setup:
Listening tests were conducted in a 4000+ cu/ft open floor plan living room with 16' peak gable ceiling. Mild acoustic treatment is used to attenuate room induced echoes resulting from the high ceiling and bass booms from odd corridors.
Speakers are placed about 7' apart with only minor toe-in, and heard at a distance of 12 feet. They are powered by a pair of Emotiva UPA-1 200W Mono-blocks fed by a Denon X4000 and Oppo BDP-93 using HDMI.
The cabinet is built as two separate sections. The high sensitivity ribbon tweeter and open back planar midrange need to be isolated from the thunderous vibrations of the Scanspeak 8” woofer. So they are placed in an asymetrical open-back cabinet with which a varying amount of 'absorption fluff' can be used. I chose to leave them completely open. The tweeter also includes small pads to attenuate the ribbon and control dispersion. I found the sound more open and revealing with out the pads.
Under-side of Upper Cabinet:
Wires are Tinned to Prevent Corrosion:
Hand-built Crossover by Dennis Murphy:
Experience:
Casual listening is rendered obsolete with speakers such as these. They beckon you to gather 'round as if to hear stories of fantastic, far-away places, only to realize you are simply hearing the
rest of the story lesser speakers never told.
Female crescendo's are beyond effortless, not a glimpse of strain could heard from the likes of Tori Amos, Adele, or Bernadette Peters. Piano hammer strokes are heard with the exact intensity with which they are played. Brass instruments and cymbals are only limited by the recording itself. Equal sound staging is applied to any quantity of singers or musicians, never battling for dominance of the listener's ear. And strings, oh the strings! Let's just say that these speakers prove that Live, is not
always better!
Movies are handled with similar ease. Sometimes the excitement of a beryllium tweeter, for example, is missed. But then you realize how non-fatiguing these speakers are when you turn up the volume a bit more only to find yourself completely enveloped with pitch-perfect sound that is truly only limited by the recording. This is where the value of the Philharmonic 3's is realized!
-This unique pair was veneered with Teak and Signed By the Artist himself!
Conclusion:
Speakers utilizing drivers of this quality typically approach five-figure price tags. Philharmonic Audio has almost single-handedly taken control of the market for full range towers simply by offering more for less. No other speaker comes to mind, for less than $4000/pr, that can even come close to the experience derived from a pair of Philharmonic 3's. And because Philharmonic Audio offers a full range of products, partnering the Philharmonic 3's with a center and surround speaker system is easy!
For the music lover in all of us, you owe it to yourself to hear a pair of these!
www.philharmonicaudio.com
