Philharmonic Audio - 3-way open back ML-TQWTs designed by Dennis Murphy

[woodsart]

The Pics, Philharmonitor 2, Philharmonic 2, grills, posts connecting the Fountek/Neo8 to the woofer and my wife's best new friend.....Big Big Ben!!

Pics of the grills that are really nicely done....

You can see the size of the monitors by my hand there....

 

[Irvrobinson]

On a side note, have you heard CLX's? They're spectacular as long as you can live with the limited low end response or augment with a low-crossover subwoofer. But the detail, size of stage, imaging.... awesome.

I haven't heard them recently. Agree on the limited low end, though if you stick to music the CLXs are good at (classical and acoustic jazz, to name two) I don't remember thinking the low-end was wanting. They do a reasonable 40Hz in-room, which is deeper than most people think it is. They even sound reasonable on rock and contemporary jazz, if you don't know what live instruments sound like.

By my memory the Sound Labs were much more impressive, and since the price is about equal now they would seem to trump the CLX, IMHO.

I'll say one thing for ML though, I never would have dreamed anyone could make 'stats nearly mass market. Quite an accomplishment.

 

[smwick]

First impressions of the Philhamonitors just took my breath away. I thought the CAOW1s were big for monitors, but these are enormous and the sound was too. I really.....really like the Fountek and bass, well while at Dennis' he took those babies down to 28hz successfully. The pictures on the wall rattled!

I said I wanted more bass to avoid a sub and he did it.

First of all, congrats on your new speakers. I know you will love them as much as I love my Phil 3's. Now, Are you serious about the 28Hz from the monitor? Is there a FR graph for the monitors? Looking forward to your impressions.

 

[cpp]

Regarding a graph, Dennis sent me a On-Axis measurement of the monitors Woodsart got. Per Dennis "Like the 2's, the midrange is very slightly depressed to compensate for an increase in that region off-axis. But it's still within +/- 1 dB "

 

[GranteedEV]

The Pics, Philharmonitor 2, Philharmonic 2, grills, posts connecting the Fountek/Neo8 to the woofer and my wife's best new friend.....Big Big Ben!!

Pics of the grills that are really nicely done....

You can see the size of the monitors by my hand there....

Are you still intent on suffocating them with tubes?

 

[smwick]

Regarding a graph, Dennis sent me a On-Axis measurement of the monitors Woodsart got. Per Dennis "Like the 2's, the midrange is very slightly depressed to compensate for an increase in that region off-axis. But it's still within +/- 1 dB "

I was more interested in the low end response. I'd be amazed if those monitors can reach below 35Hz let alone 28Hz. WOW!

 

[GranteedEV]

I was more interested in the low end response. I'd be amazed if those monitors can reach below 35Hz let alone 28Hz. WOW!

The ER18RNX in .75cu ft (which is an MTM sized cabinet I think) can dig very deep although i think you do start trading some max SPL near 80hz with the lower tuning. it's probably tuned around 35hz-36hz.

28hz is below tuning so it doubt it's flat down that deep. But i'm sure it's got output and coupled with the right room mode or even pressure vessel gain, I can see it giving subjectively perceived bass!

 

[Dennis Murphy]

The ER18RNX in .75cu ft (which is an MTM sized cabinet I think) can dig very deep although i think you do start trading some max SPL near 80hz with the lower tuning. it's probably tuned around 35hz-36hz.

28hz is below tuning so it doubt it's flat down that deep. But i'm sure it's got output and coupled with the right room mode or even pressure vessel gain, I can see it giving subjectively perceived bass!

That's pretty much spot on. I tuned Woodsart's monitors a little lower than normal--35-36 Hz, as you guessed--because he was interested in maximum extension at moderate listening levels in a smaller room. I demonstrated the lower limit with a tone generator, and I was using a good bit of gain, and it's definitely not flat down there. The Phil 2's give a signficiantly firmer foundation to deep bass material than the monitors, even though the phil's don't have much going below 31 Hz. Still, the ER18 is an excellent woofer, and very close to the W18 Excels in bass performance.

 

[smwick]

That's pretty much spot on. I tuned Woodsart's monitors a little lower than normal--35-36 Hz, as you guessed--because he was interested in maximum extension at moderate listening levels in a smaller room. I demonstrated the lower limit with a tone generator, and I was using a good bit of gain, and it's definitely not flat down there. The Phil 2's give a signficiantly firmer foundation to deep bass material than the monitors, even though the phil's don't have much going below 31 Hz. Still, the ER18 is an excellent woofer, and very close to the W18 Excels in bass performance.

That is impressive Dennis. I would love to hear those one day. Oh yeah, I forgot to say thanks for the Demo CD you sent me. The first 4-5 tracks don't play very well, but the rest do. Thanks. The Phil 3's are wonderful speakers, thank you so much.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

That is impressive Dennis. I would love to hear those one day. Oh yeah, I forgot to say thanks for the Demo CD you sent me. The first 4-5 tracks don't play very well, but the rest do. Thanks. The Phil 3's are wonderful speakers, thank you so much.

I'm glad you're enjoying them, Steve. Too bad about the demo CD--the first 5 tracks are the best.

 

[woodsart]

Are you still intent on suffocating them with tubes?

Stop it!!!

If you are not careful Dennis will be on your side too!!!

 

[woodsart]

First of all, congrats on your new speakers. I know you will love them as much as I love my Phil 3's. Now, Are you serious about the 28Hz from the monitor? Is there a FR graph for the monitors? Looking forward to your impressions.

Thanks, you need to hear these Philharmonitor 2s, they are great even used with a TUBE AMP....he he.

Someday maybe I will grow up and afford a really, really good SS amp!

I was just listening to Pure audio mode with the Phi2s (2 channel), and the bass on Bass Necter sounded like the direct servo, I had to check to see it was on!

I will be adjusting and adjusting until I get completely satisfied. Gotta email Dennis, have many questions about these defuser foam pads.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I'm waiting for ATDG to compare his Phil 3s to the Salon 2s.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm waiting for ATDG to compare his Phil 3s to the Salon 2s.

Should be interesting.

We already have one extremely favorable comparison of the $2K Phil2 vs the $12K Soundscape10.

We don't have a Phil3 comparison vs Soundscape or Salon2 yet.

Will soon.

This kind of reminds me of Siegfried Linkwitz when he parted ways with Audio Artistry. People kept asking him to compare his $8,000 Orion to his previous $25,000 Audio Artistry Beethoven speakers.

It didn't seem fair. But he pretty much said his Orion sounded at least as good, if not better in some ways. Bold statement. Possible?

Of course, after I compare the Phil3 to the Salon2, I'm going to need someone to give a second opinion and confirm/verify my assessment.

 

[Nuance AH]

Should be interesting.

We already have one extremely favorable comparison of the $2K Phil2 vs the $12K Soundscape10.

We don't have a Phil3 comparison vs Soundscape or Salon2 yet.

The SoundScape is better than the Salon2 and Orion's. There's your comparison.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The SoundScape is better than the Salon2 and Orion's. There's your comparison.

Must be in the same room playing the same exact songs/sources during the same time period. All bets are off when you compare in different rooms and different sources at different time periods for even a few hours.

 

[woodsart]

The SoundScape is better than the Salon2 and Orion's. There's your comparison.

Ha Ha!!! Brandon!!!!

 

[cpp]

Must be in the same room playing the same exact songs/sources during the same time period. All bets are off when you compare in different rooms and different sources at different time periods for even a few hours

your so right

 

[Nuance AH]

Must be in the same room playing the same exact songs/sources during the same time period. All bets are off when you compare in different rooms and different sources at different time periods for even a few hours.

Shoot - you got me there! I was hoping you wouldn't notice. LOL! They're still better, though.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Must be in the same room playing the same exact songs/sources during the same time period. All bets are off when you compare in different rooms and different sources at different time periods for even a few hours.

What do you mean by "sources"? I always compare speakers with the same CDs and modern solid state electronics. I know the rooms vary, but I do think you can tell a lot by the direct sound. But in the end I have to agree, if the differences are subtle they can be masked or blurred by room variations.