My new speaker cabinets

Chuckdog2005 · « **Reply #20 on:** 5 Oct 2011, 10:58 am »

Beautiful Speakers! If they sound anywhere near as well as they look, you'll be floored!
Congratulations, Chuck.

poseidonsvoice · « **Reply #21 on:** 5 Oct 2011, 11:58 am »

Prices are great. It's a breath of fresh air to see the designer freely showing *all* the measurements. Really gives people an idea of quality to those who are not aware of his previous work.

Anand.

smwick · « **Reply #22 on:** 5 Oct 2011, 05:12 pm »

Quote from: poseidonsvoice on 5 Oct 2011, 11:58 am

Prices are great. It's a breath of fresh air to see the designer freely showing *all* the measurements. Really gives people an idea of quality to those who are not aware of his previous work.

Anand.

Absolutely.

Quote from: Chuckdog2005 on 5 Oct 2011, 10:58 am

Beautiful Speakers! If they sound anywhere near as well as they look, you'll be floored!
Congratulations, Chuck.

Thanks Chuck. Dennis said they look very striking. I can't wait to see and have a listen to them.

jackman · « **Reply #23 on:** 5 Oct 2011, 07:14 pm »

Wow, cool stuff! I have owned some of Dennis' designs (Ellis 1801's, some custom DIY speakers) and have heard his other designs (various Salk speakers) and have no doubt I would like these. He has a good ear and knows how to design great sounding speakers. The prices are amazing value and I'm certain they sound great. Looking forward to hearing them someday!

cheers,

J

DMurphy · « **Reply #24 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 10:09 pm »

Quote from: smwick on 5 Oct 2011, 05:55 am

Here is a quick photo Dennis took today. It's not the best lighting to show the true color, but you get the idea. Beautiful work by Dennis and his cabinet maker.

Just caught up with this thread. I liked how the cabinets turned out very much, but I think the various photos exaggerate the grain and red color. The actual speakers are more subtle and really only start to take on that striking grain struture in bright or natural lighting. Here's hoping Fed Ex doesn't screw them up.

gregg.irwin · « **Reply #25 on:** 15 Oct 2011, 04:02 am »

Those look very nice. I am not familiar with Philharmonic, and their site seems to be down right now. Or is there a link other than the top Google result?

srb · « **Reply #26 on:** 15 Oct 2011, 04:46 pm »

Quote from: gregg.irwin on 15 Oct 2011, 04:02 am

Those look very nice. I am not familiar with Philharmonic, and their site seems to be down right now. Or is there a link other than the top Google result?

Works for me.

http://philharmonicaudio.com/

Steve

gregg.irwin · « **Reply #27 on:** 15 Oct 2011, 05:18 pm »

Works for me now, too.

eclein · « **Reply #28 on:** 15 Oct 2011, 05:57 pm »

They tell the speakers price right in the first few paragraphs- thats a first!!!! Most places make you call or hunt endlessly for that info.

The price is right...wow...I'm bookmarking this website, thanks guys for all the info.

smwick · « **Reply #29 on:** 15 Oct 2011, 09:30 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 13 Oct 2011, 10:09 pm

Just caught up with this thread. I liked how the cabinets turned out very much, but I think the various photos exaggerate the grain and red color. The actual speakers are more subtle and really only start to take on that striking grain struture in bright or natural lighting. Here's hoping Fed Ex doesn't screw them up.

Hi Dennis, thats exactly how my Totem mahogany speakers acted. Very subtle in regular light with the grain showing up nicely in sunlight. You probably noticed that from the pics I sent you. And yes, lets hope Fed Ex does not destroy them.

I would also like to say that it has been an absolute pleasure doing business with Dennis. Thanks once again for everything Dennis. cheers.

Rocket · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Oct 2011, 02:58 am »

Hi,

Great looking pair of speakers and I can only imagine how good they sound. I have a pair of salk sound ht2's and I have first hand knowledge of Dennis' designs.

Dennis, did you end up building a pair of your philharmonics from the customer in Australia?

Regards

Rod

smwick · « **Reply #31 on:** 27 Oct 2011, 07:56 am »

I would like to give my initial thoughts on these speakers. I have been listening to them for about four days now and I think they are starting to settle in a bit. Lets start with the bottom end, and who doesn't love a great bottom end, sorry back to the speakers. Bass out of these speakers is very tight with quick transient response and good presence. I really can't believe how quick they are for an 8" driver, they are actually faster than my Totem Sttaf speakers with a 5" driver. They also reach down very deep. I don't know how deep in my room, maybe I should get a radio shack spl meter and see what my room is doing. Anyway, the bottom end is deep, tuneful and tight. The neo 8 mid driver is also very quick and accurate. I've never heard a planar before, but I really like it. Voices are clear and open with no boxiness what so ever. These are also dipole mids so you can adjust how much fill goes into the back of the cabinet to control the reverse wave. I have about 1/3 of the module filled, which ads a nice open and deep sound stage. The highs are very smooth and accurate. I didn't really know what to expect with a ribbon tweeter, as I have never heard one of these before either, but it is very nice. One thing I would like to note with regards to the ribbon tweeter compared to my previous silk dome tweeter is hard to explain, but I will try. With the silk dome's, highs would bounce around the room a lot, catching your attention. With the ribbon tweeters this doesn't happen. It's very even response is smooth but very detailed as well. Now this could also have a lot to do with the Xovers and not so much with the tweeters, I will let Dennis comment on that. The sound stage is large and deep. On some material I heard instruments exceed beyond speakers by a few feet with no sound appearing to come from the speakers at all. These speakers have a big sound with lots of presence, and depending on how much fill is added in the top module, can be more forward or laid back. They don't seem to be all that picky with room placement either. I am really enjoying these speakers, and they seem to be improving all the time.

On a side note, I have placed "Big Fat Gliders" from Herbies Audio Lab under these speakers which made moving them a lot easier to move as well as an improvement in tighter bass and detail. Also, I will be replacing the decoupling pad they come with, with some of Herbies decoupling pads underneath and on top of a MDF board with the top module set on top of that. I am told this should yield some improvement, but will report back after some time with this change.

woodsart · « **Reply #32 on:** 27 Oct 2011, 05:37 pm »

Excellent, the first official review, just read it at audioholics as well. Congratulations!!!!!!

I am a proud owner of Dennis designs and ordered Phi IIs, since I have a sub aleady.

At CAF, I decided I would be happy with either of the three designs as I am with the CAOW1s he designed for me.

Best of luck, enjoy!

smwick · « **Reply #33 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 07:56 am »

Quote from: woodsart on 27 Oct 2011, 05:37 pm

Excellent, the first official review, just read it at audioholics as well. Congratulations!!!!!!

I am a proud owner of Dennis designs and ordered Phi IIs, since I have a sub aleady.

At CAF, I decided I would be happy with either of the three designs as I am with the CAOW1s he designed for me.

Best of luck, enjoy!

Let us know how you like the Phil 2. I have a feeling you will love them.

woodsart · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 12:14 pm »

smwick, well, I think the I and II cabinets are out there in cyberwater, dunno. I am sure they will get here when they get here.

In the meantime I will wait and look forward to them and I will definitely give a review.

Happy you are enjoying yours.

Rob

Rocket · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 12:26 pm »

Hi,

Whilst I personally do not know Dennis but I have corresponded with him a few times, read many of his post on designing speakers for salk sound and I have a pair of salk sound ht2's.

I remember being very nervous about buying these speakers without hearing them first and bearing in mind I had previously spent a bundle of money on nuforce s9 speakers (which left me a bit dissatisfied). I found Dennis to be really honest and upfront regarding the performance of the ht2's. I eventually had them shipped to Australia and I am very satisfied with them and it is one of the few purchases off the net I've been happy with.

I have a fairly good knowledge of the raal tweeter and scanspeak drivers that he uses in the design of the philharmonic III but I have absolutely no knowledge regarding the performance of the planar midrange that he uses.

Can anyone comment on the quality of these midranges and whether they compare with the seas midrange drivers that are used in my ht2's. I know that they are relatively inexpensive midranges but that doesn't really tell the full story. Any ideas how the philharmonic III's would they compare with the salk sound soundscapes? Can they be ordered with spikes similiar to the salk sound one's?

I have a feeling that these may be one of the best bargains in hifi at the moment.

Kind Regards

Rod

woodsart · « **Reply #36 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 03:00 pm »

Hello, Rod,

I feel sure Dennis will chime in here, and congrats on the ht2s, excellent Salk speakers.

I don't think you will be nervous with the Phillys as they are DMs signature speakers and a lot of listening/measuring/designing went into them, and they would not be on the market without his full approval behind them. And that says it all........

There are other threads that compare Salks/Philharmonics, do a search, or pm me. I have heard the Is, IIIs, Soundscapes and own the CAOW1s.

I believe now there is one review of the IIIs, (extremely positive), and there will be many more to come, including mine. (Philly IIs).

Rob

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #37 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 05:42 pm »

Very nice! I look forward to hearing many great things about this company...and I hope to hear his speakers soon! Great website too.

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #38 on:** 28 Oct 2011, 07:47 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 28 Oct 2011, 12:26 pm

Any ideas how the philharmonic III's would they compare with the salk sound soundscapes? Can they be ordered with spikes similiar to the salk sound one's?

I have a feeling that these may be one of the best bargains in hifi at the moment.

I have heard the Phil 3's next to the Soundscapes at CAF and it wasn't hard to distinguish them from each other. I commented on this earlier in the thread, but briefly the Salk Soundscapes are in another league, as well they should be at 4 times the price. However many of the attributes of each speaker are the same, as noted above: deep, tuneful and impactful bass; great soundstaging; an absence of boxiness with clear and open vocals and instruments; excellent timbre, etc. Both are musical, yet extremely visceral speakers. It's just that you get about $9,000 more of that with the Soundscapes, much silkier and more integrated, slightly more impactful.

For your second statement, it's true for both speakers. At $2,800 the Phil 3's are a stunning bargain, and at $11,500 to $14,000 depending, the Soundscapes are also a bargain in their price class. Also note that strictly musically speaking, the Phil 2's are prolly the best bargain at $2,000 in satin black, but for myself I would spend the extra $800 for the finish alone on the 3's.

smwick · « **Reply #39 on:** 4 Nov 2011, 05:48 am »

I received some Big Fat Dots from Herbies Audio Lab today, 16 of them actually. I made two 1 inch thick Baltic Birch boards, one for across the front width of the speaker and one for across the back width. These boards are about two inches wide by a little less than the width of the inset area of the bass module. I then placed two big fat dots under the board, one at each end, then another one at each end on top of the board directly above the one thats under the board. That was a little confusing, I hope you are still following me. This was done for the front and back boards. The speaker was then placed on top of that set up. So, big fat dots then the board then big fat dots then the speaker on top of that. I painted the boards flat black so they blend well, as they can be seen a little. The top module now sits perfectly flat and is raised about a 1/4 inch higher than before. Still looks really good imo.

So how do they sound you say? I find there is more inner detail with better imaging with this set up. This is just my early first impressions, more critical listening to follow. These decoupling devices seem to be a better choice over the foam pad which comes with the speakers. Is the foam bad? No, not at all. It is just a little better with the big fat dots. The speaker is just as stable with this set up as well. The cost for 16 dots was $164.97 shipped. I'll try and get some photos posted up.