Philharmonic BMR Tower Review

[Swerd]

I'm sure you noticed but just in case, the Meniscus kit is with the V1 ScanSpeak Woofer 7" not the SB Acoustics 6".

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.

Do not worry about those woofers. Both are quite good as they are implemented in the BMR Monitor 3-way. They aren't identical in sound, but both meet Dennis's stringent sound quality requirements.

The reason for the switch came about when Dennis Murphy started manufacturing the BMR Monitors in Asia. The cabinets were made near Shanghai, shipped to Taiwan where the crossovers were built and installed, along with the drivers. The ScanSpeak woofers come from Europe and the SB Acoustics woofers come from Indonesia. It made more economic sense to use the less costly SB Acoustics woofer, and shipping to Taiwan cost less and took less time as well. Shipping the ScanSpeak woofers from Europe to Taiwan became very costly, slower, and once the pandemic began, shipping became erratic. Once assembled it all had to be shipped again to the USA.

The Meniscus Audio kit always used the original woofer, the ScanSpeak 7".

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.

The issues with the BMR Monitor cabinet have to do with the compartment for the mid-range. The driver's frame must have added compressible gasket material to form an air-tight seal with the cabinet baffle. There should be no air leaks. And, the compartment behind the mid-range driver must be stuffed with the blue Eco-Core fiber (made from recycled denim) supplied in the kit. The kit instructions spell out details of how much to stuff in.

Both the air-tight seal and the amount of stuffing are required for the mid-range driver to disperse sound so widely. Its critical for the uncanny sound image created by the BMR Monitor. Some of the early kit cabinets did not have a smooth enough mounting surfaces for the mid-range driver, and some of the early kit builders failed to get the gaskets and stuffing right.

 

[MrBoat]

Do not worry about those woofers. Both are quite good as they are implemented in the BMR Monitor 3-way. They aren't identical in sound, but both meet Dennis's stringent sound quality requirements.

The reason for the switch came about when Dennis Murphy started manufacturing the BMR Monitors in Asia. The cabinets were made near Shanghai, shipped to Taiwan where the crossovers were built and installed, along with the drivers. The ScanSpeak woofers come from Europe and the SB Acoustics woofers come from Indonesia. It made more economic sense to use the less costly SB Acoustics woofer, and shipping to Taiwan cost less and took less time as well. Shipping the ScanSpeak woofers from Europe to Taiwan became very costly, slower, and once the pandemic began, shipping became erratic. Once assembled it all had to be shipped again to the USA.

The Meniscus Audio kit always used the original woofer, the ScanSpeak 7".
The issues with the BMR Monitor cabinet have to do with the compartment for the mid-range. The driver's frame must have added compressible gasket material to form an air-tight seal with the cabinet baffle. There should be no air leaks. And, the compartment behind the mid-range driver must be stuffed with the blue Eco-Core fiber (made from recycled denim) supplied in the kit. The kit instructions spell out details of how much to stuff in.

Both the air-tight seal and the amount of stuffing are required for the mid-range driver to disperse sound so widely. Its critical for the uncanny sound image created by the BMR Monitor. Some of the early kit cabinets did not have a smooth enough mounting surfaces for the mid-range driver, and some of the early kit builders failed to get the gaskets and stuffing right.

Thank you for the detailed response.

Amazing the dance one has to do to set up logistics for outside manufacturing help. Anymore, I look elsewhere or pay the domestic price if I have to order anything from Asia or do without.

 

[everettT]

Do not worry about those woofers. Both are quite good as they are implemented in the BMR Monitor 3-way. They aren't identical in sound, but both meet Dennis's stringent sound quality requirements.

The reason for the switch came about when Dennis Murphy started manufacturing the BMR Monitors in Asia. The cabinets were made near Shanghai, shipped to Taiwan where the crossovers were built and installed, along with the drivers. The ScanSpeak woofers come from Europe and the SB Acoustics woofers come from Indonesia. It made more economic sense to use the less costly SB Acoustics woofer, and shipping to Taiwan cost less and took less time as well. Shipping the ScanSpeak woofers from Europe to Taiwan became very costly, slower, and once the pandemic began, shipping became erratic. Once assembled it all had to be shipped again to the USA.

The Meniscus Audio kit always used the original woofer, the ScanSpeak 7".
The issues with the BMR Monitor cabinet have to do with the compartment for the mid-range. The driver's frame must have added compressible gasket material to form an air-tight seal with the cabinet baffle. There should be no air leaks. And, the compartment behind the mid-range driver must be stuffed with the blue Eco-Core fiber (made from recycled denim) supplied in the kit. The kit instructions spell out details of how much to stuff in.

Both the air-tight seal and the amount of stuffing are required for the mid-range driver to disperse sound so widely. Its critical for the uncanny sound image created by the BMR Monitor. Some of the early kit cabinets did not have a smooth enough mounting surfaces for the mid-range driver, and some of the early kit builders failed to get the gaskets and stuffing right.

I glued and caulked the sh!t out if the BMR enclosure, did light test and nothing was coming through, so it is sealed very good. The thing about the router work on the early cabinet's BMR enclosure was a bit of an issue, had to sand the cutout with a drimmel to get the driver and the gasket material to fit properly. All well worth the effort!

 

[Swerd]

I glued and caulked the sh!t out if the BMR enclosure, did light test and nothing was coming through, so it is sealed very good. The thing about the router work on the early cabinet's BMR enclosure was a bit of an issue, had to sand the cutout with a drimmel to get the driver and the gasket material to fit properly. All well worth the effort!

The router work on those early kit cabinets looked as if a dull bit was used. People have sanded or used a Dremel tool to smooth out that recessed mid-range driver mounting surface. I remember someone saying he found it difficult to sand them smooth enough, so he brushed on several coats of 50/50 wood glue/water mix to make a smooth & flat mounting surface.

 

[MrBoat]

I glued and caulked the sh!t out if the BMR enclosure, did light test and nothing was coming through, so it is sealed very good. The thing about the router work on the early cabinet's BMR enclosure was a bit of an issue, had to sand the cutout with a drimmel to get the driver and the gasket material to fit properly. All well worth the effort!

You built the kit from Meniscus?

 

[everettT]

You built the kit from Meniscus?

Yes and bought the flat packs as I just can lift sheets of plywood or MDF anymore lol.

Edit: @Swerd notes wher the flat packs can be purchased below as the are *not* sold through Meniscus.

 

[cpp]

I do like the towers

 

[Swerd]

Yes and and bought the flat packs as I just can lift sheets of plywood or MDF anymore lol.

To be clear, the DIY BMR Monitor is two different kits, sold by two different vendors.

The BMR Monitor DIY kits, sold by Meniscus Audio, include all the drivers, crossover parts and cabinet hardware. The kits do include cabinet plans, but no wood cabinet parts.

The BMR Monitor cabinet kit is sold separately by Speaker Hardware. It comes as a ready to assemble flat-pack, made with Baltic birch. It includes flush mount recess cutouts for all the drivers. The flush mount recess for the mid-range driver is not circular – it requires a custom-made router template. The photo shows the recessed cut outs for tweeter (top), mid-range (middle), and woofer (bottom). Please note that this photo is from someone who made his own cabinets. It does not show what the kit cabinets look like:

Before anyone asks, only the BMR Monitor is available as a kit. No kit is available for the BMR Tower, and I doubt if any kit is being considered. The tower cabinet is quite a bit more complex than the monitor.

 

[everettT]

To be clear, the DIY BMR Monitor is two different kits, sold by two different vendors.

The BMR Monitor DIY kits, sold by Meniscus Audio, include all the drivers, crossover parts and cabinet hardware. The kits do include cabinet plans, but no wood cabinet parts.

The BMR Monitor cabinet kit is sold separately by Speaker Hardware. It comes as a ready to assemble flat-pack, made with Baltic birch. It includes flush mount recess cutouts for all the drivers. The flush mount recess for the mid-range driver is not circular – it requires a custom-made router template. The photo shows the recessed cut outs for tweeter (top), mid-range (middle), and woofer (bottom). Please note that this photo is from someone who made his own cabinets. It does not show what the kit cabinets look like:
View attachment 58989

Before anyone asks, only the BMR Monitor is available as a kit. No kit is available for the BMR Tower, and I doubt if any kit is being considered. The tower cabinet is quite a bit more complex than the monitor.

I probably should have mentioned where the cabinets from.

That cutout for the midrange looks choppy from the photo, is that after working on it?

 

[Swerd]

That cutout for the midrange looks choppy from the photo, is that after working on it?

I don't know.

I only wanted to illustrate what the recessed cut out looks like for the mid-range. It's why people are interested in the flat-pack cabinet, even if they have a router and can cut circular recessed cut outs.

Here's another photo I found online.

 

[ryanosaur]

That cutout for the midrange looks choppy from the photo, is that after working on it?

And, that's the only photo I found online.

That looks like the screw-down "wings' were drilled with a Forstner bit and their fillets chiselled out after the initial hole was cut with the router.

 

[Swerd]

That looks like the screw-down "wings' were drilled with a Forstner bit and their fillets chiselled out after the initial hole was cut with the router.

Possibly. See my edit in post #110. I just found another photo with less resolution, from the supplier of the flat pack kit, Speaker Hardware. It looks like it was done with a router template.

 

[ryanosaur]

Possibly. See my edit in post #110. I just found another photo with less resolution, from the supplier of the flat pack kit, Speaker Hardware. It looks like it was done with a router template.

I would absolutely expect that Leland is using a CNC… and if not that he is using a jig/template.
That first photo was definitely a rough job!

 

[Swerd]

I would absolutely expect that Leland is using a CNC… and if not that he is using a jig/template.
That first photo was definitely a rough job!

Alough a CNC is nice, this job doesn't require one of those very expensive tools. A router, a ¼" spiral upcut bit, and a ¾" template bushing collar can get the job done.

A number of years ago, I stumbled across a web site that explained how it's done. See the attached PDF. I've done it once, a number of years ago. It worked the first time I tried it, so it's fairly simple.

 

[ryanosaur]

Alough a CNC is nice, this job doesn't require one of those very expensive tools. A router, a ¼" spiral upcut bit, and a ¾" template bushing collar can get the job done.

A number of years ago, I stumbled across a web site that explained how it's done. See the attached PDF. I've done it once, a number of years ago. It worked the first time I tried it, so it's fairly simple.

Very cool. I saved that for later.

I think CNCs have their place, especially for somebody that is doing a lot of work. Definitely not for everybody, though. It would really come down to what volume of cabinet work they do their if it would make sense for them to have it. But I agree, once you have a template made, small volume work is a cinch.

 

[doug s.]

paul,

this might help - the bmr monitors, which retail for $1700/$1900/pair, depending on cabinet style, were compared with 15 other speakers. listed amongst the others are "tekton monitors"; tekton lists 3 different monitors; ranging from $1700-$2200/pair. not sure which of the tekton monitors were actually in the comparison; i reached out to the az club; maybe they will respond.

for all 16 speakers, there were a total of 52 1st place votes. (see the pdf dennis linked). the bmr monitor received 29 1st place votes; the 2nd place vote getter was the triangle comete, which received 6. the tekton received 3, tied for 3rd place w/the kef r3. it should give you a good idea of how the bmr tower might fare against a floorstanding tekton similar to the monitor used.

hth,

doug s.

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

 

[Paul DS]

paul,

this might help - the bmr monitors, which retail for $1700/$1900/pair, depending on cabinet style, were compared with 15 other speakers. listed amongst the others are "tekton monitors"; tekton lists 3 different monitors; ranging from $1700-$2200/pair. not sure which of the tekton monitors were actually in the comparison; i reached out to the az club; maybe they will respond.

for all 16 speakers, there were a total of 52 1st place votes. (see the pdf dennis linked). the bmr monitor received 29 1st place votes; the 2nd place vote getter was the triangle comete, which received 6. the tekton received 3, tied for 3rd place w/the kef r3. it should give you a good idea of how the bmr tower might fare against a floorstanding tekton similar to the monitor used.

hth,

doug s.

Many thanks for the info. I am using a pair of Tekton Double Impact speakrs which is a whole different thing than their monitors. I was interested in how well, or how poorly, the double impacts compared to the BMR tower speakers. The BMR Tower speakers are beautiful to say the least.

 

[Eppie]

Many thanks for the info. I am using a pair of Tekton Double Impact speakrs which is a whole different thing than their monitors. I was interested in how well, or how poorly, the double impacts compared to the BMR tower speakers. The BMR Tower speakers are beautiful to say the least.

Very different design principals between those two speakers so I would expect them to sound noticeably different. I found measurements for the Double Impact on Stereophile, compared to measurements for the BMR tower. As you can see, the BMR is very flat all the way down to 30 Hz. It's a very neutral speaker. I had a chance to listen to them last October and they do sound wonderful. Their wide dispersion also gives them a very wide sweet spot. I could move about the room and the tone remained consistent and imaging was consistent as well. The graphs for the Double Impact show that it has more pronounced bass, and while the on axis response is good, it has a fairly narrow listening window in the vertical plane.

 

[Paul DS]

Very different design principals between those two speakers so I would expect them to sound noticeably different. I found measurements for the Double Impact on Stereophile, compared to measurements for the BMR tower. As you can see, the BMR is very flat all the way down to 30 Hz. It's a very neutral speaker. I had a chance to listen to them last October and they do sound wonderful. Their wide dispersion also gives them a very wide sweet spot. I could move about the room and the tone remained consistent and imaging was consistent as well. The graphs for the Double Impact show that it has more pronounced bass, and while the on axis response is good, it has a fairly narrow listening window in the vertical plane.

The measurements you cited are for the Tekton Double Impact MONITOR, not the Double Impacts. Yes, I am aware of the narrow "sweet" spot on the Double Impacts. The bass however is much overrated. The DIs aren't bass heavy. In fact, I have to run mine with subwoofers to get anywhere near the bass that I want. They are, for the most part, pretty neutral over the entire audio hearing range. A good recording sounds truly excellent, however, a bad recording sounds terrible.

 

[Eppie]

The measurements you cited are for the Tekton Double Impact MONITOR, not the Double Impacts. Yes, I am aware of the narrow "sweet" spot on the Double Impacts. The bass however is much overrated. The DIs aren't bass heavy. In fact, I have to run mine with subwoofers to get anywhere near the bass that I want. They are, for the most part, pretty neutral over the entire audio hearing range. A good recording sounds truly excellent, however, a bad recording sounds terrible.

Ah, sorry, missed that. Yes, recordings can be like computer programs. As they say: "garbage in, garbage out".

There was a discussion on the Double Impact in 2018. Our resident reviewer, ShadyJ, liked them as well.