I had these for months and used them as fronts in my home theater as I waited for their HT towers and center. I could easily have kept them as fronts but I was curious. When all speakers arrived I used monitors as Surrounds. I now have a modest living room theater (23 by 12.5 by 10) that sounds like an Imax theater. Gotta love those wide dispersion Philharmonics. My endgame speakers.
Speakers that utilize BMR drivers properly are hard to get over once you hear them. I'd love a 5-speaker setup of Philharmonics. Alas, not something I can realistically pay for right now.
Dennis does a wonderful job with any speaker he designs, i've got a pair of much more inexpensive (amt design tweeter) 2 way mini monitors by another internet only company .... he took this decent $300 speaker and turned it into a very transparent / neutral speaker that sounds better than my jbl studio 530s that were all the rage a few yrs ago... i've heard these (bmr) at the speaker "shootout" here in arizona... they are *way* above average at the price point.. thanks for the review
I have a version 2 pair, black woofer, great speakers. Stopped my search for bookshelves. I may get this version for another room, i have way too many speakers and these are my favs
I use BMR-driver speakers every day; a set of small Cambridge Audio Minx Min22s, backed up by subs of course. I've become a huge fan of BMR as a result. I'd absolutely love to be able to get a pair of the Philharmonic floor standers for my living room, in the ebony finish, but alas... it's probably too rich for my blood unless I win a lottery. They're worth the money they charge but it's just n ot an amount I'm comfortable laying down right now. Either way, seem like fantastic units, bookshelf or floor stander.
Joe, you're lookin' good in 1440p. This is the first speaker you've reviewed that i own.😉I'm good with the treble as is, would not want to boost it. My reaction back when i first set them up, clean sound, superb transient response, delineation of instruments, good tone on the low end. Hope this helps.
@@joentell All good, i don't get hung up on this or that as long as i'm ok with what i'm hearing. Sometimes newer isn't better, have bookshelves from another brand from 20 years ago that sound more musical than what that brand offers today.
@@joentell Those were the first gen design and still good but mine are the ones based on the Dayton Audio BR-1 and are much better overall, especially in the bass extension department. 👍🏼
I appreciate that! I took my time trying to get an idea of what I really think of this speaker along with some objective measurements. I had to live with the speaker a bit to get a good feel for it.
Man I wish this showed up on my feed earlier, glad that someone other than erin is finally covering philharmonics stuff. Id love to see more people review the BMR HT which is built for home theater high output / dynamic range Alexis is one of philharmonics distributor partners from overseas. They build Dennis's speakers for global distribution. They also do some of the more custom builds if you have special requests that Dennis doesn't have time to build.
I would love a set of BMR towers and matching center. Unfortunately the pockets aren’t that deep these days. I have a set of really excellent Jamo Concert 11 towers from the 90s that I restored using the same SB Acoustics 17cm drivers and I absolutely love the way they sound in the bass and vocals. I’m getting extension down to 27hz in a 2.5way design in room. I had to triple check that my subwoofer was turned off, those drive units dig low!
Check out the Chesky LC1 speakers for $998.00/pair. Haven't heard them but at very least they are built right. Kudos for that Chesky. 1st order crossovers. Very inert cabinets. Proper alignment of drivers. Kimber cable internal wiring. (We used Audio magic internal wiring and measured the time it took for the signal to pass from driver to driver and compensated for that in our design). Depending on how well they did the crossover, could be a real gem.
Did you really test the speakers with them being so close to the back wall ? Back ported speakers normally do their best at least 1 or 2 foot from the wall
Did I not mention that this is an untreated living room and not a dedicated listening area? I did. There's a window at the first reflection point and a stairway on the other. I don't even know that I would want to absorb the first reflections as I think it's part of the design intentions.
I run my BMRs in a tiny dedicated room and they are 2” from the back wall. Their port is MASSIVE and even over 100db there is barely any air moving. So that’s not an issue. My room doesn’t allow being far from the wall. I use EQ to handle bass mode.
Steps to becoming rich… 1, Buy company with a good reputation, cheap. 2. Immediately find ways to cut costs. 3. Roll out “new & improved “ products that are cost saving. 4. Promote said products. 5. Dump company when profits begin to fall. 6. Retire to the Bahamas.
@@Time-Travelling-Lesbian Funny you would say that as my impression was the same with my Philharmonic BMR towers when I received them. But some thorough measurements told me it's perfectly aligned. Instead, it's an optical illusion due to the design of the surrounding frame, combined with the diaphragm.
They sound pretty damn good, but the wide dispersion characteristics of the BMR cannot be replicated with EQ. Tonally, I can get them to sound very similar. th-cam.com/video/Z-XeBZnTyRc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=H-bZRpD2v0K6pf6E
A good designer will make consistently good speakers. It's possible for someone to just get lucky one time. I prefer if someone has a track record of making good speakers so if you are interested in future products, you have a better chance of them being good.
What are you even talking about? Someone sent me their personal speakers. I disclosed that openly. I left it up to you, the viewer, to decide whether to trust me or not. The real issue IMO, is when content creators do not disclose. I always have. Did you miss the part where I looked at over 1000 objective measurements of speakers and specifically sought this speaker out for review? There is bias, and it's because I looked for specific measurable qualities prior.
@@joentellJoe! You misunderstood my comment. I’m talking about TH-cam advertisements, NOT your video review. I clicked on your review with interest in what you had to say, and within less than a minute, TH-cam shot up their first advertisement. Then, within your 12 minute video, there must’ve been six commercial breaks! TH-cam advertising has gotten way out of hand. I have zero complaints about your presentation.
@@greenbeginner3353 ohhhhhh! My fault! I apologize! 😂 I'm just very anti-shill, or at least if someone is going to like I did with my products, I wish everyone would be explicit about it. I also pay for TH-cam Premium because the ads annoy me.
Correction: I said its more like a floorstanding speaker, but I meant to say stand-mount speaker.
I had these for months and used them as fronts in my home theater as I waited for their HT towers and center. I could easily have kept them as fronts but I was curious. When all speakers arrived I used monitors as Surrounds. I now have a modest living room theater (23 by 12.5 by 10) that sounds like an Imax theater. Gotta love those wide dispersion Philharmonics. My endgame speakers.
Did you get the HT center and mains, if so we have same setup and I know what you are loving :)
@@jasonc331 yes, all the way with Philharmonics
Speakers that utilize BMR drivers properly are hard to get over once you hear them. I'd love a 5-speaker setup of Philharmonics. Alas, not something I can realistically pay for right now.
Dennis does a wonderful job with any speaker he designs, i've got a pair of much more inexpensive (amt design tweeter) 2 way mini monitors by another internet only company .... he took this decent $300 speaker and turned it into a very transparent / neutral speaker that sounds better than my jbl studio 530s that were all the rage a few yrs ago... i've heard these (bmr) at the speaker "shootout" here in arizona... they are *way* above average at the price point.. thanks for the review
I have a version 2 pair, black woofer, great speakers. Stopped my search for bookshelves. I may get this version for another room, i have way too many speakers and these are my favs
What are some of your others?
I use BMR-driver speakers every day; a set of small Cambridge Audio Minx Min22s, backed up by subs of course. I've become a huge fan of BMR as a result. I'd absolutely love to be able to get a pair of the Philharmonic floor standers for my living room, in the ebony finish, but alas... it's probably too rich for my blood unless I win a lottery. They're worth the money they charge but it's just n ot an amount I'm comfortable laying down right now. Either way, seem like fantastic units, bookshelf or floor stander.
Joe, you're lookin' good in 1440p. This is the first speaker you've reviewed that i own.😉I'm good with the treble as is, would not want to boost it. My reaction back when i first set them up, clean sound, superb transient response, delineation of instruments, good tone on the low end. Hope this helps.
Which version do you have? The one with the RAAL 64-10X OEM ribbon or the previous version?
@@joentell The RAAL, a July 2024 purchase.
@@scruffy8861 that should probably be the X model. You could confirm with them or the guys on the AVS forum.
@@joentell All good, i don't get hung up on this or that as long as i'm ok with what i'm hearing. Sometimes newer isn't better, have bookshelves from another brand from 20 years ago that sound more musical than what that brand offers today.
I would love to see you review their HT Tower and Center they are top notch!
I have a pair of Phil's Affordable Accuracy monitors and they sound incredible even compared to my Chane towers which are also highly regarded.
Those are the modified Pioneer BS22LR's? I wanted to try those a while back.
@@joentell Those were the first gen design and still good but mine are the ones based on the Dayton Audio BR-1 and are much better overall, especially in the bass extension department. 👍🏼
Yep...I've heard a few rave about this speaker, but not much shared on YT. Your review was outstanding and I appreciate you sharing!
I appreciate that! I took my time trying to get an idea of what I really think of this speaker along with some objective measurements. I had to live with the speaker a bit to get a good feel for it.
Man I wish this showed up on my feed earlier, glad that someone other than erin is finally covering philharmonics stuff. Id love to see more people review the BMR HT which is built for home theater high output / dynamic range
Alexis is one of philharmonics distributor partners from overseas. They build Dennis's speakers for global distribution. They also do some of the more custom builds if you have special requests that Dennis doesn't have time to build.
I would love a set of BMR towers and matching center. Unfortunately the pockets aren’t that deep these days. I have a set of really excellent Jamo Concert 11 towers from the 90s that I restored using the same SB Acoustics 17cm drivers and I absolutely love the way they sound in the bass and vocals. I’m getting extension down to 27hz in a 2.5way design in room. I had to triple check that my subwoofer was turned off, those drive units dig low!
I knew in 25 seconds of listening that my BMRs were a KEEPERS!
I hope you get to try those new amps from OSG. THESE speakers are definitely beautiful. The white wooder is also available on the new kefs.
You mean OSD right? If so, they're beast!
@joentell Yes 😂🤣my bad.
Check out the Chesky LC1 speakers for $998.00/pair.
Haven't heard them but at very least they are built right. Kudos for that Chesky.
1st order crossovers.
Very inert cabinets.
Proper alignment of drivers.
Kimber cable internal wiring. (We used Audio magic internal wiring and measured the time it took for the signal to pass from driver to driver and compensated for that in our design).
Depending on how well they did the crossover, could be a real gem.
I would like to see measurements.
Sold out.
@@CC-xu2yz That's what happens when you build a speaker the right way.
It looks a bit like a Wharfedale EVO 4.2
Definitely
Hi, love your Videos! Can you Test the New Edifier MR3, Theo Sound very interesting on paper.
They really look good
I like snappy, but im wanting something with chocolately lows
Can you also review the Wharfedale AURA 2 and Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G?
I would like to check out the Aura 2.
@joentell Please do, we need more reviews on this speaker.
Did you really test the speakers with them being so close to the back wall ? Back ported speakers normally do their best at least 1 or 2 foot from the wall
With no front wall
acoustic panels 😮
I test them in various positions. I move them because if you notice our living room has turf because my 6 year old practices soccer moves here.
Did I not mention that this is an untreated living room and not a dedicated listening area? I did. There's a window at the first reflection point and a stairway on the other. I don't even know that I would want to absorb the first reflections as I think it's part of the design intentions.
I run my BMRs in a tiny dedicated room and they are 2” from the back wall.
Their port is MASSIVE and even over 100db there is barely any air moving. So that’s not an issue.
My room doesn’t allow being far from the wall.
I use EQ to handle bass mode.
How do they compare to other $2000.00 Speakers Kef R3,etc
I haven't reviewed the KEF but I mentioned them at the end. They measure well and have a more modern aesthetic
Steps to becoming rich…
1, Buy company with a good reputation, cheap.
2. Immediately find ways to cut costs.
3. Roll out “new & improved “ products that are cost saving.
4. Promote said products.
5. Dump company when profits begin to fall.
6. Retire to the Bahamas.
Seems pretty easy. Are you speaking from experience? 😉
is it just me or does that tweeter look a bit crooked
@@Time-Travelling-Lesbian
Funny you would say that as my impression was the same with my Philharmonic BMR towers when I received them. But some thorough measurements told me it's perfectly aligned. Instead, it's an optical illusion due to the design of the surrounding frame, combined with the diaphragm.
I noticed that too
Oh my, why so expensive for just a single speaker
$2200 is for the pair of curved enclosure ones. $1800/PR for the rectangular ones
They are sold as pairs. Also they are at the build quality level of the KEF R series
ok, now lets see u dsp that monoprice to sound as good as the philharmonic
They sound pretty damn good, but the wide dispersion characteristics of the BMR cannot be replicated with EQ. Tonally, I can get them to sound very similar. th-cam.com/video/Z-XeBZnTyRc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=H-bZRpD2v0K6pf6E
Why do you need a speaker celebrity to make speakers, ideally? I don't care what no-name makes them, only how good they are.
A good designer will make consistently good speakers. It's possible for someone to just get lucky one time. I prefer if someone has a track record of making good speakers so if you are interested in future products, you have a better chance of them being good.
TH-cam advertising has gotten way out of hand. Your video just barely started and the advertising began.
What are you even talking about? Someone sent me their personal speakers. I disclosed that openly. I left it up to you, the viewer, to decide whether to trust me or not. The real issue IMO, is when content creators do not disclose. I always have. Did you miss the part where I looked at over 1000 objective measurements of speakers and specifically sought this speaker out for review? There is bias, and it's because I looked for specific measurable qualities prior.
@@joentellJoe! You misunderstood my comment. I’m talking about TH-cam advertisements, NOT your video review. I clicked on your review with interest in what you had to say, and within less than a minute, TH-cam shot up their first advertisement. Then, within your 12 minute video, there must’ve been six commercial breaks! TH-cam advertising has gotten way out of hand. I have zero complaints about your presentation.
@@greenbeginner3353 ohhhhhh! My fault! I apologize! 😂 I'm just very anti-shill, or at least if someone is going to like I did with my products, I wish everyone would be explicit about it.
I also pay for TH-cam Premium because the ads annoy me.
Looks expensive lol
Show me a step response on this speaker.
You can look at the Spinorama data online.
@@joentell I seen all that on their website. I want to see an impulse step response.
@@daleboylen6427 The V2 version step response is on Erin's website.