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

[Nuance AH]

That's a larger picture than the one at AVS! NICE! Oh wait...I looked at the AVS one on my phone. Seriously, though, those are so purrrrrrty! I'm jealous!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

..am I the only one who sees the irony

Dennis was against the idea from the very start.

Fancy, lavish cabinets is not what Dennis believes in.

I kind of went "behind his back" on this one.

And now you are making me feel guilty for doing it.

In case you are not familiar with the process, Delmond builds the Philharmonic 3 Cabinets. Thus I paid Del before he builds the cabinets. This is even before Dennis gets a hold of them. Once Del finishes the cabinets, then Dennis takes over.

Dennis does the rest - drivers, crossovers, wiring, etc.

I truly cannot remember how I talked Del into doing the high-gloss. I found out there are basically 2 kinds of gloss.

One is glossy, but doesn't look like "plastic" and not as shiny. It costs a lot less. My Orion's high-gloss looks like this. It still looks more like wood, instead of "plastic".

One is high-end gloss. It looks like "plastic" and extremely shiny. It looks like the high-gloss of the Revel Salon2, KEF Reference, B&W 800 Diamond black high-gloss. It is a lot more time consuming. It costs a lot more.

Honestly, I truly cannot even remember how I talked (or I should say "suckered") Del into doing this.

But I think DenPureSound had something to do with it. Somehow.

Like Dennis said, this is the first Philharmonic speakers with this kind of "lavish" treatment. Del will think twice or thrice about doing something this time-consuming in the future.

But come on. They will be sitting next to the Revel Salon2, KEF Reference, & Linkwitz Orion. So these Philharmonic speakers deserve to be lavished.

 

[agarwalro]

But how is Uncle Dennis going to get the big hog shiny lower cabinets out of the shop, into the Wehawken Warehouse, through the assembly and testing process, and out to you without putting a scratch in all that shine? This wasn't my idea. I wonder if they sell High Gloss Insurance policies.

I recently moved and highly recommend Staples Stretch Wrap. Three to five layers are almost impregnable. An added bonus is the extra grip for big and bulky objects.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I recently moved and highly recommend Staples Stretch Wrap. Three to five layers are almost impregnable. An added bonus is the extra grip for big and bulky objects.

Thanks I ordered me up some.

 

[its phillip]

I can attest to the durability of that stuff. Every once in awhile I'll receive several hundred pounds of technical publications (in boxes of course) wrapped in that crap. Very hard to cut, even with a brand new blade on a box cutter or sharpened scissors. I hate it! But it's extremely durable

 

[woodsart]

Philharmonitor 2

The Review

"Defining A Natural High Definition Listening Experience?"

This is what I will attempt to do in this my critiquing of this amazing Monitors.

Not too long ago Dennis Murphy retired and had planned a group of "retirement speakers", the Philharmonic 1, 2 and 3 and viola....Philharmonicaudio.com was born!

The 1 & 3 were a big hit at CAF by many who attended, Capital Audio Festival. I was there and the listening room was busy the entire time I was there.

A "first" impression by John Atkinson from Stereophile realized what a bargain the Philharmonic 3s were.

Then, there was a request for a monitor, (not surprised), then the birth of the Philharmonitor 1, which was received quite well.....as mentioned below by the happy owner, don't think he would mind.......

"I finally had a chance to hook up the bookshelves. After a lengthy
break-in period and dialing in the sub and such, I must say I am very
impressed. I don't have the jargon to say explain what I am hearing. But
words such as: neutral; a very deep sound stage; fast and dynamic;
engrossing and just flat out musical is what keeps swirling around in
my head. Can only imagine what your floor standers must sound like....

The performance outweighs the cost"

I was very interested in these so, Dennis recommended a larger enclosure as I needed more bass and thus the Philharmonitor 2 was born!! The cabinet used was the Dayton 2 way curved gloss black from Parts Express .75' and will house the Seas Prestige ER18RNX Reed Paper Cone Woofer and the Fountek NeoCd3. Dennis will correct me if I am wrong. And, seems to me the most important ingredient is the meticulously created/designed crossover, which I believe is the basis for these Philharmonitor 2s outstanding audio performance.

Some music I listen to that impressed me, but first......what drives them..... My equipment is simple in the office area where the monitors are powered by.....a Musical Paradise MK2 Tube Amp...... HRT Music Streamer II+ DAC, Simplyphysics RCA cables and Asus Desktop CM6850, with Comcast as my provider. I stream Pandora, Grooveshark.com and onboard listening with the Jriver Media Player, which I highly recommend. I listen mostly to FLAC recordings.

"Somewhere Within" by Joe Bongiorno, starting with Piano, really nice with these monitors. The Founteks really shined, clean, precise and airy. Loved those ringing piano cords with no distortion that I could hear. Piano and violin is always an issue with me as most of the time, it just didn't sound clear and clean, but distorted. NOT with these, though.

"Ceremonial Fanfare" Trumpet and Trombones by Copeland. Very majestic, grand fanfare. The dissident, erie/airy notes produced by the trombones create great variation in this song and the forward trumpets bring on the chills. Both the Fountek and the Seas performed meticulous feats with this score. I love it.

"Bass Machine" by Techno Bass, very nice, clean solid low notes by hey these are not small monitors, they're huge and sound more like towers to me anyway, with the BIG sound/soundstage they produce.

"05 Basscadet" by Autechre, thump, thump....chicca Chang, plenty of every kind of squeaks, tings and tangs. The Fountek loved this and the Seas just deliver soothingly smooth and tight bass.

"Lowride", also Autechre, bold bass, nice, "where's the sub", one might say. But, not overpowering or earthshaking, but a good balance without the adjustments and quite enough without that "big bad bass" going on. Monitors being about 12" from the walls and 9' apart.

"Mechanism", by Lior Magal, Soundstage witht he Tube Amp and the MSII+ is just stunningly huge. Seems it's a good match for the monitors, thump, thump, such a "joy to enjoy", so much big, bold, clear sound even at the 9:00 volume position.

"Hallelujah" by Instrumental, Kind of like Kenny G's solo instrument that he uses, as it leads into this very laid back instrumental version, beautifully done and executed by these speakers.

Well, at this point maybe I should mention the room size which is approximately 11.5' X 11.5' 9' ceilings with carpet....(pic included).

Dennis has another winner....IMHO! Another pair of monitors....without flaws, dunno, but probably flawless to me would recommend with hesitation if you are looking for an incredible set of monitors for 2 channel listening with out a sub. They can handle just about anything and produce just about everything........beautifully.

There were issues with the 2 Genelax Gold Lion tubes, so they were removed and the stock tubes replaced them. At my surprise the Philharmonitor 2s didn't even notice....Ha Ha!!!! Instead they continued to astonish me with solid clean quality I know I will enjoy in the years to come, without a doubt.

I believe to me and my ears, the Philharmonitor 2s offer all the ingredients for the best audiophile, musical experience that other speakers lack in one form or another of all the ones I have heard, except a few.

The Philharmonic line of speakers have truly satisfied my audio needs. My journey was hard as there are other speakers that I could live with and almost did, but I am very happy I waited for Dennis' line and they "will" truly be classics some day. I also own the Philharmonic 2 floor standers too.

Just a thought, I believe I could have been very happy with the Philharmonic 1 too, as the Fountek really does a smooth job with the highs in the violins, piano notes and trumpets!

Congratulations Dennis Murphy for a job well done and thank you for my great speakers.

philharmonicaudio.com

 

[cpp]

Like Dennis said, this is the first Philharmonic speakers with this kind of "lavish" treatment. Del will think twice or thrice about doing something this time-consuming in the future.

The way I look at it, if Del is paid accordingly for his labor of this excellent finish then it's worth it to the customer that wishes to pay to "play".


Woodsart, nice review on the monitors.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Philharmonitor 2

My equipment is simple in the office area where the monitors are powered by.....a Musical Paradise MK2 Tube Amp....and Asus Desktop CM6850

Wait, so these are your Computer speakers?

Gotta be one of the best and most expensive computer speakers out there.

 

[woodsart]

Wait, so these are your Computer speakers?

Gotta be one of the best and most expensive computer speakers out there.

Ahhhh, yeah, but I consider them as my predominately high quality 2 channel listening area, since I am here a lot.

I also had the CAOW1s there and enjoyed them a lot!

However, at any time things could change, not DM creations, of course.

I would say they are the best......period!!! Just with this little 6.5wpc amp and my PC being HD. The sound card has been disconnected by way of the Music Streamer.

Anyway, I think I am pretty happy and if you don't believe me...................... check it out!!!

 

[GranteedEV]

Hey woods art, for my computer setup i'm running one of these amps;

http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.com/searchresults?cmd=SKW&kw=Smsl+sa-50&x=0&y=0

If you wanna see what the Phil Monitors will do with some more power, i recommend checking them out

 

[woodsart]

Great minds think alike. My friend and I have decided to try one of these. We needed a back up. In fact he has ordered his and waiting for delivery and said he would review it.

Very interesting!

Thanks, that helps me. And if you would like to pm, might be better for amp discussion. I am very interested with your impressions.

Thanks!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Del completed 1 cabinet. You can see a lot of dust reflected on the shiny high-gloss.

 

[Nuance AH]

^ Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice! Thumbs up buddy!

 

[agarwalro]

Hey woods art, for my computer setup i'm running one of these amps;

http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.com/searchresults?cmd=SKW&kw=Smsl+sa-50&x=0&y=0

If you wanna see what the Phil Monitors will do with some more power, i recommend checking them out

Here is a big list .

 

[ridikas]

OT: Mr. Murphy, may I kindly ask for the crossover to the Vifa D25AG-35 and Vifa P17WJ00 monitor that you've made? I would greatly appreciate it

 

[M S]

Ahhhh, yeah, but I consider them as my predominately high quality 2 channel listening area, since I am here a lot.

I also had the CAOW1s there and enjoyed them a lot!

Hey Woods, could you comment on how the Philharmonitor 2s compare to the CAOW1s?

Just curious how much difference there is if I want to consider something smaller than the Philharmonics.

Thanks,
Marv

 

[woodsart]

Hey Woods, could you comment on how the Philharmonitor 2s compare to the CAOW1s?

Just curious how much difference there is if I want to consider something smaller than the Philharmonics.

Thanks,
Marv

Marv, first of all I really liked the CAOW1s, they are great speakers. There wasn't enough bass, without a sub, which would mean adding one (less WAF). Painful as it was I had to make a hard decision. Then is when Dennis told me of the Philharmonitor 1 for a client, the first designed and he said it sounded pretty good (he he, his modesty showing again). He said with a larger enclosure would produce more bass. So, I commissioned him to do it and I am glad he did.

First of the the CAOW1s has the ow1 tweet, the monitor 2s, the fountek, I consider it smoother and more air reproducing highs which was an improvement over the ow1 or ow2, mine had the improved version of the Ow2. Dennis said, in comparison with the MBOW1, he could hear the "superior highs of the Fountek tweeter".

Second, the 7" Seas verses 5" Seas would definitely produce more bass and with the .75 guaranteed it..... bigger driver, bigger cabinet. He also told me the sound is very smooth and open. SOLD!!!

Having listened for awhile, I would completely agree with him. When I first hooked them up, I had the Genalex Gold Lion KT77 Tubes in my amp 6.5wpc, and the sound was so forward I had to lower the volume. The bass was strong, I had to get use to that, but the tubes were removed as I heard a loud buzz several times and was worried that it might damage the speakers at high volumes. One of the tubes was going bad. I then plugged the stock tubes back in and the sound was more laid back. Interesting the difference tubes make. But the monitors amazed me.... sounded fantastic even with cheaper tubes.

At this point I think I was hearing the CAOW1s multiplied, these Philharmonitor 2s sounded like towers, big bold sound, tight bass and the fountek really clear and airy. They are BIG monitors and they produce a BIG sound....seems to me they could be used in theater and create a great sound stage. However, I do not think the price will be a whole lot less than the Phil2s.

And, of course, Dennis' hard work in developing a unique crossover to make them shine. They are a worthy investment!

Oh, I also will be adding a small SS amp into the mix, sort of a backup!

Hope this helps!

 

[Dennis Murphy]

OT: Mr. Murphy, may I kindly ask for the crossover to the Vifa D25AG-35 and Vifa P17WJ00 monitor that you've made? I would greatly appreciate it

I'll see if I can dig it up. It didn't measure all that well the second time I built it. I think the specs may havechanged a little on the woofer.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Hey Woods, could you comment on how the Philharmonitor 2s compare to the CAOW1s?

Just curious how much difference there is if I want to consider something smaller than the Philharmonics.

Thanks,
Marv

I think Woodsart pretty much nailed the differences. Not everyone would prefer the Fountek tweeter to the 0W2. It's basically the difference between a good ribbon and a good dome. The dome has more energy in the ssssssssssssssssssssss region, which can sound more immediate and exciting on some kinds of music. The ribbon kind of stretches the sound upward, with more energy at the very top, but not as immediate a sound on bells and the like. The CA0W1 has a little more midrange presence, due to the superior dispersion of the smaller ER15 5" woofer. In the bass department, of course, there is no contest. I have Woodsart's mint CA0W1's (actually CA0W2's) at a good price if you or anyone else is interested.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Del just completed the cabinets of my Phil3. Still dusty, though.