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

[GranteedEV]

1.) How much for the Big Fat Gliders per Pair?

Dunno about those things, but a cheap and effective way to decouple your speakers from the floor is to get a custom cut of 1" LATEX foam from foamonline.com

Evlon or high resilience foam will work too if you wanna save some money.

 

[Swerd]

Dunno about those things, but a cheap and effective way to decouple your speakers from the floor is to get a custom cut of 1" LATEX foam from foamonline.com

Evlon or high resilience foam will work too if you wanna save some money.

I think the purpose of the Big Fat Gliders is to make it easy to move the rather heavy Philharmonics as he tries different locations.

Try the non-audiophile version Magic Sliders : Sizes and Styles available in hardware stores.

 

[DenPureSound]

Dunno about those things, but a cheap and effective way to decouple your speakers from the floor is to get a custom cut of 1" LATEX foam from foamonline.com

Evlon or high resilience foam will work too if you wanna save some money.

My RF-82II's and Classias all have Spikes that pierce through the carpet, and go right into the sub floor pressboard. Not much of a spring rate or shunted damper there - just like hard bolting it to the floor.

Why decouple them using foam which has spring/damping constant -- maybe only if your on tile or concrete or linoleum, but not carpet?

 

[ratso]

So an MT with those drivers would probably make more sense in a surround.

oooooohhhhhh me wanty

 

[cpp]

Gliders

they work great and protect $1000 of dollars in hardwood floors.

 

[smwick]

Nice writeup, and a First so far to my knowledge. If I may ask you a few questions:

1.) How much for the Big Fat Gliders per Pair?

2.) Is your A/V room carpeted or tile or ?

3.) How far off the wall from the Rear of the Speaker to Wall are they positioned?

4.) What is your source that your driving them with, including amp ?

5.) How big is your room (H x W x D) ?

6.) What reference volume level are you playing them at from (-80db to +18db) in STEREO Mode, and at your Sweet Spot for listening what is your SPL meter reading?

7.) Are you using One or Two subs with them?

8.) Are you using Audyssey MultEQ XT32, with 80Hz. Xover, and DynEQ = On, and DynVOL = OFF? or are you running them FULL BAND, with no sub(s)?

Thank you for your nice writeup, and when ADTG gets his III's there will a lot more to come for sure, as he is a Critical Listener comparing them to Salon 2's/KEF's/Linkwitz Orions.

Cheers,

Dennis

1) I think they were $22 per glider.

2) Carpeted.

3) It varies from one to two feet, as the rear wall is a bay window.

4) Rega Apollo cdp but is used as a transport only. Audio by Van Alstine (AVA) Dac/Pre with an AVA Fet Valve Ultra II 350 amp.

5) 15 w x 25 d x 8 h.

6) I don't have a meter yet, so I don't know. But have listened at low to high volumes. These speakers sound great at high volume. They don't lose any control or distort. They sound every bit as good, if not better, at higher levels.

7) No subs.

8) Full band, no subs.

 

[smwick]

Dunno about those things, but a cheap and effective way to decouple your speakers from the floor is to get a custom cut of 1" LATEX foam from foamonline.com

Evlon or high resilience foam will work too if you wanna save some money.

Ok, I would like to say a few words about these decoupling gliders. The floor I have is a wood floor with floor joists, so some vibration is inevitable. I first tried them under my Totem Sttaf speakers with tremendous results. Bass became tighter, fuller and more resolution through out the full band was noticeable. Previously they were spiked. I then tried them under my old Yamaha speakers which were a very bright speaker with almost no dynamics. With the Big Fat Gliders they gained a lot more bottom end with a faster response and the brittle highs smoothed out quite a bit. I could almost enjoy listening to them. Under the Phil 3's I noticed the bass was a little fuller and tighter, but not as much improvement as the other speakers had. But still noticeable and worth it. I am totally sold on these gliders. being able to move them easily is just a bonus.

I am going to make up a new decoupling system for the upper module, as per the advise from Herbies Audio Lab. Some Von Schweikert owners have replaced their decoupling system with Herbies system and found it to be far superior. Basically the pad is removed and four big fat dots go down in all corners. Then a 1" thick MDF or baltic birch board sits on top of that with four more big fat dots siting directly above the ones underneath the board. Then the upper module sits on these dots. So I will try this and let you know. Also, I find the pad between the upper and lower cabinet to be a little soft. It doesn't compress evenly and the upper cabinet leans slightly forward. So this new system will also address this as issue as well.

 

[cpp]

Rega Apollo cdp but is used as a transport only. Audio by Van Alstine (AVA) Dac/Pre with an AVA Fet Valve Ultra II 350 amp.

I picked up the Insight+ 260 amp per Dennis advice plus their Insight+ preamplifier. Now just about ready to order my Phil 2' from Dennis since I finally got the wife to get over her complaint that their cute little miniature churches as soon as the wifey picks out her veneer. Wife's.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Ok, I would like to say a few words about these decoupling gliders. The floor I have is a wood floor with floor joists, so some vibration is inevitable. I first tried them under my Totem Sttaf speakers with tremendous results. Bass became tighter, fuller and more resolution through out the full band was noticeable. Previously they were spiked. I then tried them under my old Yamaha speakers which were a very bright speaker with almost no dynamics. With the Big Fat Gliders they gained a lot more bottom end with a faster response and the brittle highs smoothed out quite a bit. I could almost enjoy listening to them. Under the Phil 3's I noticed the bass was a little fuller and tighter, but not as much improvement as the other speakers had. But still noticeable and worth it. I am totally sold on these gliders. being able to move them easily is just a bonus.

I am going to make up a new decoupling system for the upper module, as per the advise from Herbies Audio Lab. Some Von Schweikert owners have replaced their decoupling system with Herbies system and found it to be far superior. Basically the pad is removed and four big fat dots go down in all corners. Then a 1" thick MDF or baltic birch board sits on top of that with four more big fat dots siting directly above the ones underneath the board. Then the upper module sits on these dots. So I will try this and let you know. Also, I find the pad between the upper and lower cabinet to be a little soft. It doesn't compress evenly and the upper cabinet leans slightly forward. So this new system will also address this as issue as well.

Are you sure the back of the cabinet isn't hitting the midrange banana plug? If you're using the plugs, make sure the female terminals on the bottom are screwed tight against the terminal cup. The pad will not distort if the cabinet is sitting on it and not hitting any of the banana plugs.

 

[DenPureSound]

Phil 2 and 3's?

DM,

Does this make sense to you, and does the Phil 2 or 3's incorporate something like this, or have you found this to be Overkill?

With my minimal experience I would assume this makes sense, along with properly designed driver gasketing.

Having a custom sandwich layered non-resonant 2" thick front baffle with a solid hardwood layer for driver de-coupling. The drivers are flush mounted level to the front baffle to eliminate edge diffraction, and the driver openings have chamfered flares at the backside of the opening to eliminate early reflections inside the box.

 

[smwick]

Are you sure the back of the cabinet isn't hitting the midrange banana plug? If you're using the plugs, make sure the female terminals on the bottom are screwed tight against the terminal cup. The pad will not distort if the cabinet is sitting on it and not hitting any of the banana plugs.

Thanks Dennis, I think they may have been touching the plugs. They were screwed in all the way, but there may not have been enough room. I removed the banana plugs and terminated with bare wire. There is a noticeable increase in resolution now . But the cabinets still don't sit perfectly flat and lean slightly forward, as the front of the cabinets are heavier.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Thanks Dennis, I think they may have been touching the plugs. They were screwed in all the way, but there may not have been enough room. I removed the banana plugs and terminated with bare wire. There is a noticeable increase in resolution now . But the cabinets still don't sit perfectly flat and lean slightly forward, as the front of the cabinets are heavier.

Hmmmm. Mine don't. That still doesn't seem right. In any event, I'm switching to a slightly thicker pad.

 

[frsimms]

Kewl Thread

A thread on the Philharmonics! Kewl!

A friend has ordered a pair. I am looking forward to hearing his when he gets them. Great info so far.

Bob

 

[DenPureSound]

A thread on the Philharmonics! Kewl!

A friend has ordered a pair. I am looking forward to hearing his when he gets them. Great info so far.

Bob

Bob, we would sure love to hear your friends and your experience with the Philharmonic Audio speakers.

What model did he/she order?

After you get them setup there, many here would love to read a critical review from U2?

Cheers,
Dennis

 

[frsimms]

Philly 1s

My friend loves my SoundScapes but doesn’t have any money. He ordered the Philharmonic 1s. I will post something. I am not sure if Dennis would like to me to say much as it might get him in trouble if they are as good as I expect.

Bob

 

[Dennis Murphy]

My friend loves my SoundScapes but doesn’t have any money. He ordered the Philharmonic 1s. I will post something. I am not sure if Dennis would like to me to say much as it might get him in trouble if they are as good as I expect.

Bob

I think you mean NOT as good as I expect. You should certainly post your candid opinion. I'm not claiming the Phil 1 is the equal of the Soundscape. That would be a hard trick to pull off with a woofer and tweeter that together cost over $400 less than the drivers used in the Phil3. But hopefully they will beat any $1600 speakers out there. I'm getting a little nervous about this thead. I think we must be violating Audioholics rules. This has developed into an owners' forum (without many owners). I think I better set up a dedicated forum someplace. What is Audioholics policy on this issue?

 

[GranteedEV]

My friend loves my SoundScapes but doesn’t have any money. He ordered the Philharmonic 1s. I will post something. I am not sure if Dennis would like to me to say much as it might get him in trouble if they are as good as I expect.

Even if you said they sound 10x worse than soundscapes, none of us would be concerned.

They cost 10x less, after all!

 

[woodsart]

Well, Dennis, there are few owner-to-bes here.....that should count for something!!!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

A lot people say cost doesn't guarantee performance.

But do we wholeheartedly believe this?

Do the Salon2 sound better than the KEF 201/2 and do the Orion sound better than KEF 201/2?

I've asked a few guys this weekend to compare these speakers in 2.1 mode. All of them said they sounded exactly the same.

Is it because their ears are "untrained"?

Perhaps they are just not intimately familiar with the song selection.

I've listened to my speakers a lot more than anyone else, of course. I think I could tell the difference. But the differences are ever so slight.

My point is even if there are differences, the differences may be extremely insignificant if all these speakers are extremely accurate speakers regardless of drivers and technologies.

 

[GranteedEV]

Perhaps they are just not intimately familiar with the song selection.

..or maybe it was the song selection itself