[DeruDog]

Hello all and thanks for the responses to my earlier introduction.  So here are my goals and details:

I am upgrading a media room and am now at the stage where I would like to build some good speakers for the Right Left and Center speakers. Currently I am leaning towards the Philharmonic BMRs, but am open to other ideas.

The room is treated on the side walls and ceiling, though bass traps have not yet been installed. It is 14x20 with 10' ceilings. Front stage is currently about 2.5 feet off of the 14' front wall. The back of the room has a closet on the right side that "intrudes" in to the room about 2 feet on the back of the right wall, so the back of the room is not symmetrical.  Also there are windows on the left wall.  I listen to classic rock and current alternative. I really enjoy acoustic music, such as Sting or Eric Clapton unplugged.
My current setup in front are Boston Acoustics A series bookshelves with 6 inch woofers (89dB sensitivity @8ohm). For the low end I have dual SVS PB2000 ported subwoofers which give me everything I desire for movies and TV. Amplification is through Denon AVR (5300H) at ~125 WPC into two channels. An Emotiva 2-channel A/B amplifier will be a future upgrade as well. The AVR provides plenty of volume for me and only gets up to about 70% amplification at the highest level I use.
I am looking to spend about $1500 to $2000 for all three speakers. I am quite happy to build and finish them myself, as my main hobby is furniture making and I have a good woodshop. I am not concerned about the difficulty of craftsmanship of the cabinets, such as making a quarter wave tapered tube or a labyrinth design if those are recommended. Floorstanders or stand-mounted speakers are fine. I have surfed around the Meniscus, Madisound, and Troels Graevsen, and TRR sites to figure out what is best for me. Contenders include the Philharmonitors, the X-Statik; also the Ekta MkII tower, the Poor Mans Strad, and the 3-way Classic MkII from Troels. Recently I have also looked more thoroughly at the GR Research open baffle and X-Statik. Again, the Philharmonitors have received such wide praise, I am leaning that way, though I would have to design a center for them.

To sum up, I would like a more musical front stage for my media room, to be tied in with existing subwoofers and run through a Denon AVR, and played at moderate to high volume.

[mlundy57]

Hello all and thanks for the responses to my earlier introduction.  So here are my goals and details:

I am upgrading a media room and am now at the stage where I would like to build some good speakers for the Right Left and Center speakers. Currently I am leaning towards the Philharmonic BMRs, but am open to other ideas.

The room is treated on the side walls and ceiling, though bass traps have not yet been installed. It is 14x20 with 10' ceilings. Front stage is currently about 2.5 feet off of the 14' front wall. The back of the room has a closet on the right side that "intrudes" in to the room about 2 feet on the back of the right wall, so the back of the room is not symmetrical.  Also there are windows on the left wall.  I listen to classic rock and current alternative. I really enjoy acoustic music, such as Sting or Eric Clapton unplugged.
My current setup in front are Boston Acoustics A series bookshelves with 6 inch woofers (89dB sensitivity @8ohm). For the low end I have dual SVS PB2000 ported subwoofers which give me everything I desire for movies and TV. Amplification is through Denon AVR (5300H) at ~125 WPC into two channels. An Emotiva 2-channel A/B amplifier will be a future upgrade as well. The AVR provides plenty of volume for me and only gets up to about 70% amplification at the highest level I use.
I am looking to spend about $1500 to $2000 for all three speakers. I am quite happy to build and finish them myself, as my main hobby is furniture making and I have a good woodshop. I am not concerned about the difficulty of craftsmanship of the cabinets, such as making a quarter wave tapered tube or a labyrinth design if those are recommended. Floorstanders or stand-mounted speakers are fine. I have surfed around the Meniscus, Madisound, and Troels Graevsen, and TRR sites to figure out what is best for me. Contenders include the Philharmonitors, the X-Statik; also the Ekta MkII tower, the Poor Mans Strad, and the 3-way Classic MkII from Troels. Recently I have also looked more thoroughly at the GR Research open baffle and X-Statik. Again, the Philharmonitors have received such wide praise, I am leaning that way, though I would have to design a center for them.

To sum up, I would like a more musical front stage for my media room, to be tied in with existing subwoofers and run through a Denon AVR, and played at moderate to high volume.

My first recommendation would be to eek out 6 more inches off the front wall and go with X-Statiks and an X-Voce center. 

The full open baffle models, NX-Otica MTM/NX-Otica/NX-Treme don't have a matching center channel. However, I find my NX-Otica MTM/dual sub combo (seen in my avatar) is so clean and images so well I don't need a center channel speaker. Even dialogue immediately after an explosion is easily understood.

A traditional box speaker setup would be three X-CS Encores in LCR configuration or build the two main speakers into the larger floor standing X-MTM Encore version.

MIke

[corndog71]

X-Statiks with X-Voce. 

[DeruDog]

X-Statiks with X-Voce. 

How do they sound with the panels behind them?  Also, are there speakers you would compare them to?  How are you amplifying them?  Thanks

[DeruDog]

My first recommendation would be to eek out 6 more inches off the front wall and go with X-Statiks and an X-Voce center. 

The full open baffle models, NX-Otica MTM/NX-Otica/NX-Treme don't have a matching center channel. However, I find my NX-Otica MTM/dual sub combo (seen in my avatar) is so clean and images so well I don't need a center channel speaker. Even dialogue immediately after an explosion is easily understood.

A traditional box speaker setup would be three X-CS Encores in LCR configuration or build the two main speakers into the larger floor standing X-MTM Encore version.

MIke

Thanks. This is helpful as I was considering using a phantom center. How are you amplifying?

[corndog71]

This was my living room system from 5 years ago.  I was using a Marantz receiver at the time.  I built the sealed servo sub on the left.  I also used X-Omnis for surround speakers.

[Jmitchell3]

Hello all and thanks for the responses to my earlier introduction.  So here are my goals and details:

I am upgrading a media room and am now at the stage where I would like to build some good speakers for the Right Left and Center speakers. Currently I am leaning towards the Philharmonic BMRs, but am open to other ideas.

The room is treated on the side walls and ceiling, though bass traps have not yet been installed. It is 14x20 with 10' ceilings. Front stage is currently about 2.5 feet off of the 14' front wall. The back of the room has a closet on the right side that "intrudes" in to the room about 2 feet on the back of the right wall, so the back of the room is not symmetrical.  Also there are windows on the left wall.  I listen to classic rock and current alternative. I really enjoy acoustic music, such as Sting or Eric Clapton unplugged.
My current setup in front are Boston Acoustics A series bookshelves with 6 inch woofers (89dB sensitivity @8ohm). For the low end I have dual SVS PB2000 ported subwoofers which give me everything I desire for movies and TV. Amplification is through Denon AVR (5300H) at ~125 WPC into two channels. An Emotiva 2-channel A/B amplifier will be a future upgrade as well. The AVR provides plenty of volume for me and only gets up to about 70% amplification at the highest level I use.
I am looking to spend about $1500 to $2000 for all three speakers. I am quite happy to build and finish them myself, as my main hobby is furniture making and I have a good woodshop. I am not concerned about the difficulty of craftsmanship of the cabinets, such as making a quarter wave tapered tube or a labyrinth design if those are recommended. Floorstanders or stand-mounted speakers are fine. I have surfed around the Meniscus, Madisound, and Troels Graevsen, and TRR sites to figure out what is best for me. Contenders include the Philharmonitors, the X-Statik; also the Ekta MkII tower, the Poor Mans Strad, and the 3-way Classic MkII from Troels. Recently I have also looked more thoroughly at the GR Research open baffle and X-Statik. Again, the Philharmonitors have received such wide praise, I am leaning that way, though I would have to design a center for them.

To sum up, I would like a more musical front stage for my media room, to be tied in with existing subwoofers and run through a Denon AVR, and played at moderate to high volume.

Welcome! Glad you found your way over form audiogon! Wealth of expertise here. Best of luck!

[mlundy57]

Thanks. This is helpful as I was considering using a phantom center. How are you amplifying?

In my current setup, amplification for the front speakers is being handled by separates, PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC/preamp (GCD) / PS Audio Stellar M1200 monoblocks / and Rythmik A370PEQ3 subwoofer amps. Amplification for the surround channels is with a Marantz SR7009 AVR and the LFE channel from the AVR is with a Rythmik A370PEQ subwoofer amp.

The Marantz's L&R preamp outputs are connected to the Gain Cell DAC via it's HT by-pass function. This allows my main speakers to be driven by my two channel equipment whether listening to music or watching movies. It also allows the volume to be controlled by the GCD when listening to music and by the Marantz AVR when watching movies without having to switch speaker cables around.

Mike