Philharmonic BMR Tower Review

[ryanosaur]

@D Murphy can we expect a Matching Center to the Towers or the Monitors in future. Because these may be lacking in dynamics but not by much is what I heard. And when paired with good subs they gonna be perfect for HT use as they are clear accurate and have Wide dispersion with more than decent imaging. So this checks almost all the boxes needed for HT. Wold be good if we can get a Center channel speaker to go along.

I’ve not found a lack of dynamics.
Generally Dennis recommends a BMR monitor for the center, either vertical if you have room, or if you need horintal the tweeter can be rotated 90° and the speaker laid on its side.
He does have a wtmw design that can be ordered custom with Jim Salk but is not otherwise in production.
I have used the BMR Monitors as Mains and Center. I still use the Monitor as Center between my 3s which were his previous flagship offering.
There is very little difference between the Towers and the 3s.

To me, the real question is how loud do you push your system? If you are the guy whose Living room is a concert venue every night… well, you may want a more sensitive Speaker.
Most of my listening is near to reference SPL and I’ve not had a single issue or complaint about their capabilities, including HT.

Hope this helps.

 

[KING DRANZER]

w-tm-w gonna be crazy setup and will go perfectly with the Towers. And the Monitors. Salk center. Hmmmm..... how much does it cost.

Yes they are really good for Movies and HT hence they should have a center as option. That will be perfect.

 

[D Murphy]

We're just not operating on a sufficiently large scale to provide a dedicated center. The minimum required order would be larger than we could sell in a reasonable amount of time. Most people buying the towers and monitors wouldn't order the center, and then we would have to start inventorying the centers in Ken Lin's bathrooms. Every other room is taken.

 

[KING DRANZER]

We're just not operating on a sufficiently large scale to provide a dedicated center. The minimum required order would be larger than we could sell in a reasonable amount of time. Most people buying the towers and monitors wouldn't order the center, and then we would have to start inventorying the centers in Ken Lin's bathrooms. Every other room is taken.

Well that may not be completely true. But if you do provide a center. We would be ordering the monitors and towers in higher volume as well for full HT setup.

So keeping up with the demand may end up being a problem. Because these speakers have really good potentiality for being a HT speaker and if a center is offered the demand will definitely go up.

 

[KING DRANZER]

We're just not operating on a sufficiently large scale to provide a dedicated center. The minimum required order would be larger than we could sell in a reasonable amount of time. Most people buying the towers and monitors wouldn't order the center, and then we would have to start inventorying the centers in Ken Lin's bathrooms. Every other room is taken.

Anyhow. Really good speakers for really good price.

 

[D Murphy]

Well that may not be completely true. But if you do provide a center. We would be ordering the monitors and towers in higher volume as well for full HT setup.

So keeping up with the demand may end up being a problem. Because these speakers have really good potentiality for being a HT speaker and if a center is offered the demand will definitely go up.

I'm not sure a dedicated center would gin up that many extra tower or bmr sales compared to just offering a single bmr. And, in any event, we wouldn't be able to operate on that large a scale. It's just Ken and me and an overweight Golden Retriever.

 

[KING DRANZER]

I'm not sure a dedicated center would gin up that many extra tower or bmr sales compared to just offering a single bmr. And, in any event, we wouldn't be able to operate on that large a scale. It's such Ken and me and an overweight Golden Retriever.

Yes, agreed.

 

[Gerry_]

I so fell in love with the BMR Towers I just got that I ordered a BMR monitor as a center channel. It is spectacular, just like the towers. The rectangular one was a perfect fit into my equipment credenza slot. Ken rotated the tweeter for wide horizontal dispersion. It's a perfect match to the towers' sound.

Let me also take this opportunity to thank James Larson, and Audioholics management that fund his projects, for providing the perfect mix of measurement and listening review to allow me to make an educated choice among the many speakers that are out there. Too bad he can't test them all, but he certainly steered me to a winner!

 

[Mr._Clark]

I so fell in love with the BMR Towers I just got that I ordered a BMR monitor as a center channel. It is spectacular, just like the towers. The rectangular one was a perfect fit into my equipment credenza slot. Ken rotated the tweeter for wide horizontal dispersion. It's a perfect match to the towers' sound.

Let me also take this opportunity to thank James Larson, and Audioholics management that fund his projects, for providing the perfect mix of measurement and listening review to allow me to make an educated choice among the many speakers that are out there. Too bad he can't test them all, but he certainly steered me to a winner!

I really like my BMR monitors.

I just noticed the following on the Philharmonic Audio website:

>>>The Arizona Audio and Video club recently hosted a speaker demonstration of 16 stand mount speakers priced at or below $3,000/pair. Most of our competitors sent entries, including Buchardt, KEF, ATC, Sonus Faber, Tekton, Monitor Audio, GoldenEar, GR Research, Polk, and Totem. Attendees listened to the speakers throughout the day and were asked to list their first, second, and third-place choices. The BMR monitors received more 1st place votes than all of the other speakers combined, and 5 times as many as the next-most-popular speaker. You can read about the speakerfest here.<<<

https://www.philharmonicaudio.com/

It looks like there was some pretty serious competition, so this is impressive.

 

[D Murphy]

I really like my BMR monitors.

I just noticed the following on the Philharmonic Audio website:

>>>The Arizona Audio and Video club recently hosted a speaker demonstration of 16 stand mount speakers priced at or below $3,000/pair. Most of our competitors sent entries, including Buchardt, KEF, ATC, Sonus Faber, Tekton, Monitor Audio, GoldenEar, GR Research, Polk, and Totem. Attendees listened to the speakers throughout the day and were asked to list their first, second, and third-place choices. The BMR monitors received more 1st place votes than all of the other speakers combined, and 5 times as many as the next-most-popular speaker. You can read about the speakerfest here.<<<

https://www.philharmonicaudio.com/

It looks like there was some pretty serious competition, so this is impressive.

 

[paulgyro]

I really like my BMR monitors.

I just noticed the following on the Philharmonic Audio website:

>>>The Arizona Audio and Video club recently hosted a speaker demonstration of 16 stand mount speakers priced at or below $3,000/pair. Most of our competitors sent entries, including Buchardt, KEF, ATC, Sonus Faber, Tekton, Monitor Audio, GoldenEar, GR Research, Polk, and Totem. Attendees listened to the speakers throughout the day and were asked to list their first, second, and third-place choices. The BMR monitors received more 1st place votes than all of the other speakers combined, and 5 times as many as the next-most-popular speaker. You can read about the speakerfest here.<<<

https://www.philharmonicaudio.com/

It looks like there was some pretty serious competition, so this is impressive.

I was present for this Arizona event. I was shocked by the BMR Monitors performance and voted it #1. Stiff competition was present indeed.

 

[D Murphy]

For some reason the Arizona Audio Club hasn't posted a final description of the SpeakerFest results. Here is a tally.

 

[Knucklehead90]

For some reason the Arizona Audio Club hasn't posted a final description of the SpeakerFest results. Here is a tally.

Wow, it wasn't even close. Love my BMR Towers! Such a natural sounding speaker. While my Song Towers come close, they cannot match the overall clarity, and the low low bass would make you think I have a subwoofer squirreled away in the room some where! Well I do, but it isn't even plugged in, that's where the TT resides.

 

[Paul DS]

I am interested in the BMR towers and was wondering what model of Tekton speakers they were compared to?

 

[ryanosaur]

I am interested in the BMR towers and was wondering what model of Tekton speakers they were compared to?

Confused by your question...
I would never compare the BMR Towers or Monitors in any way to Speakers by Tekton Design. They are about as completely different as you can get.

A different company, Tectonic Audio Labs make the BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) Driver which is used for the Mid Range Drivers in Dennis' designs. This particular driver is of course what the design of the Speaker is named after.

Is there something more specific you are wanting to know about Dennis' Speakers?

 

[Paul DS]

I am interested in the BMR towers and was wondering what model of Tekton speakers they were compared to?

Sorry, I thought I was asking Audioholics which Tekton speakers the BMR towers were compared to. Please disregard.

 

[ryanosaur]

Sorry, I thought I was asking Audioholics which Tekton speakers the BMR towers were compared to. Please disregard.

Just trying to engage with you about your question.
You are asking to compare two very different philosophies of Speaker Design. By definition, that becomes an exercise in contrast rather than comparison.
Which is why I asked you for more info.
If you don’t want to partake in conversation and polite discourse, that’s cool. You do you.
If you want to learn something about a different brand and approach to designing Speakers, there are a few of us here that will gladly answer your questions.

 

[MrBoat]

The BMR kit that is now offered at Meniscus and almost threw my buy and build without hesitation switch. If I had an extra grand laying around, I would go for it. Perhaps in the future, after I burn thru a couple of these other kits I have laying around.

 

[everettT]

The BMR kit that is now offered at Meniscus and almost threw my buy and build without hesitation switch. If I had an extra grand laying around, I would go for it. Perhaps in the future, after I burn thru a couple of these other kits I have laying around.

I'm sure you noticed but just in case, the Meniscus kit is with the V1 ScanSpeak Woofer 7" not the SB Acoustics 6". The cabinet, specifically the BMR enclosure, can be a little tricky with how you add the braces the cab with it.

 

[MrBoat]

I'm sure you noticed but just in case, the Meniscus kit is with the V1 ScanSpeak Woofer 7" not the SB Acoustics 6". The cabinet, specifically the BMR enclosure, can be a little tricky with how you add the braces the cab with it.

I'm not worried about the cabinet work. Pretty much anything around a speaker cabinet is basic carpentry. The finish work is where the challenges lie. You should see what I design and build as a day job.

I started knowing about the BMR with the old woofer. It was praised highly then. How much could it have changed? 6.5" is really my absolute minimum anymore. Have fallen for that "They sound much bigger than they actually are," two too many times. They won't catch me sucking eggs with that nonsense anymore.

ETA: Thank you for the heads up.