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I'm liking what I read about the Philharmonic brand of speakers. Especially the BMR Tower with it's gorgeous rose wood and eye pleasing dimensions. Wondering if anyone owns these and their thoughts of the mid and high end sectors.
I have one caution that Dennis himself points out to people.... he designed them to have very wide dispersion...almost 180 degrees so there will be a lot of room interaction resulting in a sound that is akin to a concert hall or a cathedral.
The wide soundstage and the openness is remarkable. It may very well be something others love; I know that is a cool effect I like to hear and it was really awesome on certain tracks which are panned hard to either side. However, this does seem to come at the cost of imaging focus. While I generally listened to these speakers on-axis, I did try towing them out (facing more into the room) and it didn’t help improve the focus (no surprise, but just addressing it for those who may wonder). With all that said, I dig the width but I’m not sure I’d trade it for the lack of focus it seems to present. I seem to be getting closer to finding that maybe 60° to 70° dispersion angle is my preference and a good sweet spot for trading off soundstage width for focus/imaging precision. This is a preference thing. There is no wrong answer here.Throughout my listening notes, I had written that there was a “glare” or “sharpness” in the 2-3kHz region. This was apparent on many of the tracks I listened to. Speaking for myself, the peak in the 2-3kHz region is a showstopper without EQ. Way too much “glare” in guitars and upper female vocals for me. With EQ, it’s much better. I tested the v1 of this speaker nearly two years ago and I back then I noted that the treble was a bit too bright. I don’t have that complaint in this version.The midrange is really quite nice, however, I noted in my listening sessions that I kept hearing a mild resonance in vocals. I thought it was closer to 250-300Hz but looking at the estimated in-room response, there is a slight elevation in the 300-500Hz region and I think this might have been what I was hearing.Due to the RAAL’s vertical directivity, the vertical listening window is pretty tight. Make sure to sit nearly dead on-axis with the tweeter vertically.
Thank you all for your input. Wondering how the mid range and highs are with the Raal tweeter. I am somewhat sensitive to a sharp cymbal etc...after 15 minutes.
There is absolutely no need to bash Dennis Murphy's speakers especially in the GR Research thread. Dennis is a gentleman and tries to bring value, to what has become, an insanely expensive hobby.
I’ve owned two RAAL speakers. The BMRs with the RAAL 64-10 and the Salk Veracity STs with RAAL 70XR. They both have tremendous openness and clarity. If you have any harshness in components ahead of them… especially the source…you will hear it… and if not you won’t. They are revealing but aren’t harsh in and of themselves. My son has Salks with the RAAL 140… not harsh. Count me as a huge RAAL fan because of its airiness. Go spend some time on this thread to learn more…or communicate with Dennis himself. https://www.avsforum.com/threads/philharmonic-audio-dennis-murphy.1348949/page-1252?nested_view=1PS… Dennis Murphy knows how to design great sounding speakers.
I think you have to have some background on Salk speakers. Most of them came to life because someone asked Jim to build them a speaker with particular drivers. Looking at the line up, it seems to me that people wanted high end drivers made into speakers. If it seemed feasible, often it would be Dennis and Paul Kittinger collaborating on the particulars.The Seas W18 on the Salk HT2TL is an expensive and very well regarded transducer...and to my ear, they sound great....both the speaker and the driver.I think Dennis makes a great point...for a more live type recording with naturally recorded ambience, the BMR will likely bring out the best of the spatiality we all look for....but with a studio recording with artificial ambience engineered in, it can sound overdone.So, depending on your music preferences, the BMR may be perfect...or it may not be your cup of tea...and lets not forget the contribution of the room which is almost always have a strong influence on the sound we hear unless we sit nearfield.
Dennis is a kind and generous person. He had me over to his house to listen to Salk speakers when I was considering buying them. I did buy them.I don't know where the idea developed that anyone here is personally criticizing Dennis. All speakers are designed for a purpose and price. There are trade-offs. If someone is looking to buy speakers they should consider the trade-offs made compared to the purpose they have in mind.
... cabinets made in China are noted...
