Philharmonic Audio BMR Philharmonitor Bookshelf Speaker Review

[Alex2507]

But mine were Vintage. Yours were merely secondhand.

I read 'Vintage' the way they say 'Eleven' in Spinal Tap.

Bro ... cable pants sexiness to boot.

 

[KEW]

Thanks, I’ve no personal experience with either of the speakers unfortunately.

I’ve had my eyes fixed on the Songtowers for a little while now but again no personal experience with them. So that said if I had it in my budget, why would I choose the BMR over the Songtower if I had the space for either one?

I don't know which tweeter the SongTowers you are considering have, but my simple view is:
Songtower pros:
Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7 5" drivers),but the flip side is it is not truly full range and most of us would use a subwoofer. The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub. Understand that other aspects are well designed (by Dennis),but I think the BMR is probably better for mids and highs. The Songtowers are ideally suited as a high quality 2.0 system for music!

MBR Pros:
RAAL ribbon tweeter (assuming Songtower has any other tweeter).
Phenominal dispersion - 30 degrees off axis tracks within 2dB of on-axis and 80 degrees tracks within 5 dB of on-axis - that is insane (see link below for details)

http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html

 

[ryanosaur]

I don't know which tweeter the SongTowers you are considering have, but my simple view is:
Songtower pros:
Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7" driver),but the flip side is it is not truly full range and most of us would use a subwoofer. The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub. Understand that other aspects

MBR Pros:
RAAL ribbon tweeter (assuming Songtower has any other tweeter).
Phenominal dispersion - 30 degrees off axis tracks within 2dB of on-axis and 80 degrees tracks within 5 dB of on-axis - that is insane (see link below for details)

http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html

Just adding:
Song Tower: 2-way TL (dome tweet) 38Hz
Song Tower RT: 2-way TL (Raal tweet) 38Hz
Song 3: 3-way ported (Raal tweet) 33Hz
Supercharged Song Tower: 2-way TL (Raal tweet) 34Hz ( This would be my entry point... or the 3A with Accuton Mid!)

 

[Alex2507]

The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub.

This would explain a lot. My distant sub placement gives me deeper bass that's not integrated as well. Going straight 2 channel has less but obviously better integrated bass. Torn between two lovers ... feelin' like a fool ...

 

[ryanosaur]

This would explain a lot. My distant sub placement gives me deeper bass that's not integrated as well. Going straight 2 channel has less but obviously better integrated bass. Torn between two lovers ... feelin' like a fool ...

And this is why I want to build a TL Sub or 3 to go with my almost-but-not-quite Phil 3s!

 

[Alex2507]

And this is why I want to build a TL Sub or 3 to go with my almost-but-not-quite Phil 3s!

I don't think I've ever heard a TL sub.

Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7" driver),

I peaked over at Salk and it said 5". You've told this lie on other types of forums as well, I bet.

 

[snakeeyes]

I don't know which tweeter the SongTowers you are considering have, but my simple view is:
Songtower pros:
Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7" driver),but the flip side is it is not truly full range and most of us would use a subwoofer. The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub. Understand that other aspects are well designed (by Dennis),but I think the BMR is probably better for mids and highs. The Songtowers are ideally suited as a high quality 2.0 system for music!

MBR Pros:
RAAL ribbon tweeter (assuming Songtower has any other tweeter).
Phenominal dispersion - 30 degrees off axis tracks within 2dB of on-axis and 80 degrees tracks within 5 dB of on-axis - that is insane (see link below for details)

http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html

I’m going to always use a subwoofer no matter at what speaker price point. (ideally 2 subs). Accept no substitute. LOL

 

[KEW]

I don't think I've ever heard a TL sub.



I peaked over at Salk and it said 5". You've told this lie on other forums as well, I bet.

Yeah, I'm not too active on other forums. I edited my post - Thanks!!!

 

[lewdogg]

Not really a bad price increase when you take into account that,
1) you are going from a not for profit home builder, to a for profit manufacturer.
2) in house quality controlled custom US manufactured cabinets vs out sourced cabinets.
3) custom veneers done by the same premier cabinet maker.
4) a company that can stand firmly behind the product and warranty because they have built that buffer into the price.
Not saying Dennis didn’t or couldn’t stand behind his product, only that doing so came at a personal cost.

I’d love to see everyone who bought a set of speakers from Dennis kick in a couple $$ on a gofundme account to purchase him the first pair of BMR’s Salk Sound builds. That would be cool!

I setup a GFM campaign but can't post a link because I haven't posted enough. I'm in the process of ordering a pair of BMRs from Jim and came across this discussion. If someone wants to contact me I'll give them the link to post or I'll try to pad my post count to post it later tonight.

 

[lewdogg]

Giving this another try LOL!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/med-expensesfirst-salk-phil-bmr-for-dennis-murphy

 

[Alex2507]

I'm not too active on other forums.

-

I meant the looking for love forums. Saying it's 7 when it's really only 5 ... ???

I think someone might have highjacked his account.

 

[Gryph]

I don't know which tweeter the SongTowers you are considering have, but my simple view is:
Songtower pros:
Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7 5" drivers),but the flip side is it is not truly full range and most of us would use a subwoofer. The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub. Understand that other aspects are well designed (by Dennis),but I think the BMR is probably better for mids and highs. The Songtowers are ideally suited as a high quality 2.0 system for music!

MBR Pros:
RAAL ribbon tweeter (assuming Songtower has any other tweeter).
Phenominal dispersion - 30 degrees off axis tracks within 2dB of on-axis and 80 degrees tracks within 5 dB of on-axis - that is insane (see link below for details)

http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html

Thanks, the SongTowers would be used for 2.0 stereo with perhaps a 2.1 setup later if I found a sub that would match them well, they would see zero% HT use.
12x20 room post and beam construction with half ceiling at 8’ and the other half 16’ cathedral ceiling off the loft, bound area rug on 80% of floor.

 

[Gryph]

Giving this another try LOL!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/med-expensesfirst-salk-phil-bmr-for-dennis-murphy

Very cool,
Even though I didn’t get a pair of his BMR’s, figure since I proposed the fund just thought I should put up or shut up, so done and done $$

GB

 

[Kvn_Walker]

I read 'Vintage' the way they say 'Eleven' in Spinal Tap.

Bro ... cable pants sexiness to boot.

So is that bi-wiring, bi-amping, feedback canceling, or perpetual motion??

 

[Swerd]

I read 'Vintage' the way they say 'Eleven' in Spinal Tap.

Bro ... cable pants sexiness to boot.

I can see the flush mounted port. But that veneer is curly cherry, not maple.

 

[lewdogg]

Very cool,
Even though I didn’t get a pair of his BMR’s, figure since I proposed the fund just thought I should put up or shut up, so done and done $$

GB

Hoping some folks can spread the word. I'm new to the Philharmonic threads so nobody knows me from anyone else. Hoping it doesn't fizzle into nothing.

 

[Alex2507]

that veneer is curly cherry, not maple.

I keep making that mistake.

So is that bi-wiring, bi-amping, feedback canceling, or perpetual motion??

That's RF terminated speaker cable discussed in this article: http://sound.whsites.net/cable-z.htm

 

[Gryph]

Hoping some folks can spread the word. I'm new to the Philharmonic threads so nobody knows me from anyone else. Hoping it doesn't fizzle into nothing.

You and me both. I’m new here and only know Dennis from reading the threads on here and other forums as I was researching his BMR and Jim’s SongTower when all this went down. It just struck me as sad and unfortunate that with all that Dennis has given for the community, he didn’t even end up with a pair of BMR’s for himself.
What I have also seen is that he has a lot of friends and admirers in the audio community, hopefully those folks can carry this torch and with friendship and gratitude, see that he gets a pair of BMR’s for himself.

 

[KEW]

-

I meant the looking for love forums. Saying it's 7 11" when it's really only 5 8" ... ???

Duly busted, but I corrected the specifics!

 

[JerryLove]

Transmission Line (quarterwave) bass - very nice for what it is (7 5" drivers),but the flip side is it is not truly full range and most of us would use a subwoofer. The quality of the mid bass is still very good, but the true beauty of this bass is not used once you cross to a sub.

You've lost me.

What happens to the bass when you cross to a sub? Is this thing that happens irrespective of crossover point?