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Philharmonic Audio - Dennis Murphy

3M views 27K replies 876 participants last post by  Overthinker 
#1 ·
I just wanted to post this in case anyone is looking for speakers they would have another option to look at.


Their prices range from $1,600 to $3,000 which seems to be a very nice price range especially considering who makes them.


James

http://philharmonicaudio.com/
 
#3 ·
Yeah Salks do look very nice.


It says on their site other veneers are available if desired.


For that price range though if I was in the market for speakers I would take a good look at them based on the drivers used and who makes them.


James
 
#5 ·
Cabinets being made by Salk?
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by exojam /forum/post/20722138


Their prices range from $1600 to $2800 which seems to be a very nice price range especially considering who makes them.

It is hard to imagine a better bargain than the "3", especially when you figure in the cost of RAAL's. The off axis measurements on the "1" are really impressive.
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by exojam /forum/post/20722828


Why do feel that is bad?


James

Mostly because with low sensitivity comes a greater chance for nonlinearity at SPL. I consider an 85dB average minimum SPL at the listening position, with 88db average preferable. Hundreds of watts are required for this speaker to put out dynamic SPLs over 100dB at the listening position. That's a pretty big ask. It's possible, even likely, that this speaker would be outperformed by other similarly priced speakers in HT and highly dynamic music like orchestra with regard to linearity and fidelity.
 
#12 ·
My mains are rated pretty much the same as these and they have no problem being run off of a little QSC GX5. Listening position is about 13-14 feet away from them. They have no issues with HT or music and I would believe anything from DM would perform nicely also.


James
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai /forum/post/20722560


Cabinets being made by Salk?

Cabinets are not made by Salk.


The Phil 1 and Phil 2 come with cabinets sourced from overseas, in black only. As someone else already said above, the Phil 3 cabinets are made to order domestically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmichaelf /forum/post/20722817


It all looks great until 85db a 2.83v.

I heard these speakers (both Phil 1 & 3) at the Capital Audiofest in a large room, 25 x 26 x 9 feet, with a concrete floor and walls of unknown construction, driven by a 200 watt/channel amp (Audio by van Alstine Fet Valve Ultra 350+). I sat at a distance of 15 feet or more. These speakers cannot be characterized as weak or not dynamic. I did play with the volume control and found that I could easily set them far too loud for comfortable listening.


For what its worth, other speakers designed by Dennis Murphy seem to have rather conservative sensitivity ratings. For example, the SongTower is said to have 88 dB/2.83 volt sensitivity. Yet when it was directly compared with other speakers (same room, same electronic gear, same volume knob setting), of greater advertised sensitivity (91 dB), the SongTower was found to be louder.


The Philharmonics are an outstanding value. I consider them the "poorman's" SoundScape.
 
#14 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by R Swerdlow /forum/post/20723441


For what its worth, other speakers designed by Dennis Murphy seem to have rather conservative sensitivity ratings. For example, the SongTower is said to have 88 dB/2.83 volt sensitivity. Yet when it was directly compared with other speakers (same room, same electronic gear, same volume knob setting), of greater advertised sensitivity (91 dB), the SongTower was found to be louder.

That could also mean that other speaker's rating is suspect.


From my listening/comparing, the SongTower rating is correct when comparing to Ascend Sierra-1 NrT's and a prototype pair Ascend Towers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by R Swerdlow /forum/post/20723441


The Philharmonics are an outstanding value. I consider them the "poorman's" SoundScape.

How would compare them to the SongTowers? What about the Philharmonic-1's to the SongTowers?
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cschang /forum/post/20723468


That could also mean that other speaker's rating is suspect.

Your words, my thoughts
.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cschang /forum/post/20723468


How would compare them to the SongTowers? What about the Philharmonic-1's to the SongTowers?

They share a strong family resemblance, especially in the midrange. The Phil 1's bass goes noticeably deeper than the SongTower, down to roughly 31 or 32 Hz. The Phil 3 goes even deeper.


I really like the sound of the planar midrange driver. But it goes beyond nice tonal balance. The mid is a dipole, and the rear of the upper cabinet is open and can be variably stuffed, allowing you to adjust the balance between the front and rear waves coming off this driver. It is hard to describe, but sounds wonderful. Other than the SoundScapes, I've never heard speakers that could do this.


Electrostats, such as some Martin Logan models, are dipoles but lack the option of varying the front/rear balance. So sometimes (depending on room placement) these speakers can sound to me as if their soundstage is too large.
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by R Swerdlow /forum/post/20723595


Your words, my thoughts
.


They share a strong family resemblance, especially in the midrange. The Phil 1's bass goes noticeably deeper than the SongTower, down to roughly 31 or 32 Hz. The Phil 3 goes even deeper.


I really like the sound of the planar midrange driver. But it goes beyond nice tonal balance. The mid is a dipole, and the rear of the upper cabinet is open and can be variably stuffed, allowing you to adjust the balance between the front and rear waves coming off this driver. It is hard to describe, but sounds wonderful. Other than the SoundScapes, I've never heard speakers that could do this.


Electrostats, such as some Martin Logan models, are dipoles but lack the option of varying the front/rear balance. So sometimes (depending on room placement) these speakers can sound to me as if their soundstage is too large.

Given the Phil 3 & Soundscape are in a totally different price class by a factor of four, I am more interested in a comparison to the Salk Veracity HT-3 which I think base at 6K/pair.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DS-21 /forum/post/20727667


Honestly, my first thought is "how is it possible that nobody used that name for an audio products company until 2011?"


It's a great name.

First time I can recall hearing that name used for a company. Any truth DM will be offering the Kardashian option for those who prefer a larger bottom end?
 
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