[PhilharmonicDennis]

(how's the AA+ going, BTW? My money is ready!).

The AA+ kit is a little ahead of schedule. The crossovers shipped over a week ago. I shouldn't have any trouble unleashing the kit on the public by Feb. 1.

 

[jcr159]

Message sent to meniscus, I will update everyone when I get a status

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

Message sent to meniscus, I will update everyone when I get a status

Message sent to meniscus, I will update everyone when I get a status

I just got an email from Meniscus Mark double checking the schematics, so I think this will be a go.

 

[jcr159]

I just got an email from Meniscus Mark double checking the schematics, so I think this will be a go.

Thanks Denis,
I got the same message from Mark. I told him I needed three for my front stage. I have my contractor who also does cabinetry to build cabinets for me though I may get the flat packs. Are there any changes needed to the existing flat pack?

 

[Igmaty]

I just got an email from Meniscus Mark double checking the schematics, so I think this will be a go.

I'm going to pick one of these up for a center. Would there be any detriment to a horizontal TWM configuration rather than simply rotating the tweeter? For symmetry's sake.

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

Thanks Denis,
I got the same message from Mark. I told him I needed three for my front stage. I have my contractor who also does cabinetry to build cabinets for me though I may get the flat packs. Are there any changes needed to the existing flat pack?

The existing flat pack won't work for the new BMR unless you're willing to rout the front panels yourself, which is tricky.

 

[bobulator1]

The existing flat pack won't work for the new BMR unless you're willing to rout the front panels yourself, which is tricky.

Dennis, has there been any progress on generating a BOM, schematic, etc. for the new BMR tower for those of us DIYers who won't be able to swing $ for the completed tower speakers? Assuming of course you are still planning on releasing this.

 

[jcr159]

The existing flat pack won't work for the new BMR unless you're willing to rout the front panels yourself, which is tricky.

thanks for the clarification Denis.
So just to make sure I have things correct. The new kit that Mark is working on at meniscus will have the drivers and crossover parts but no front baffle, correct?
If that is correct, is there anywhere to purchase a baffle with the cut outs?

or is my cabi guy on his own, lol?

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

Dennis, has there been any progress on generating a BOM, schematic, etc. for the new BMR tower for those of us DIYers who won't be able to swing $ for the completed tower speakers? Assuming of course you are still planning on releasing this.

I'll have to discuss this with my business partner. It would be quite a project for anyone to undertake, and I don't know that we would want to have all of the component and wiring details in the public domain.

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

thanks for the clarification Denis.
So just to make sure I have things correct. The new kit that Mark is working on at meniscus will have the drivers and crossover parts but no front baffle, correct?
If that is correct, is there anywhere to purchase a baffle with the cut outs?

or is my cabi guy on his own, lol?

The only source for a routed baffle would be from the flat pack guy, and that wold require set up costs that I'm not sure he would recover. If there's going to be a full kit version of the new BMR, it makes more sense to me to order some extra unfinished cabinetsand crossover boards next time round. The main point of the kit would be to allow greater finish options for people willing to invest some time. There wouldn't be much cost saving.

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

I'm going to pick one of these up for a center. Would there be any detriment to a horizontal TWM configuration rather than simply rotating the tweeter? For symmetry's sake.

I may not be understanding your question. Are you saying a vertical tweeter wouldn't look right if the BMR were on its side, and it wold look better if the tweeter were horizontally arrayed? That doesn't compute with me. There is no unique symmetry when aligning a ribbon element with other circular drivers. In any event, the tweeter has to be vertical or the horizontal response will be completely screwed up. The best option is to keep the BMR vertical. But if there isn't space for that, then rotating the tweeter and placing the speaker on its side will give you better results than a conventional MTM center, and only slightly poorer dispersion than a full-out WMTW center.

 

[Igmaty]

I may not be understanding your question. Are you saying a vertical tweeter wouldn't look right if the BMR were on its side, and it wold look better if the tweeter were horizontally arrayed? That doesn't compute with me. There is no unique symmetry when aligning a ribbon element with other circular drivers. In any event, the tweeter has to be vertical or the horizontal response will be completely screwed up. The best option is to keep the BMR vertical. But if there isn't space for that, then rotating the tweeter and placing the speaker on its side will give you better results than a conventional MTM center, and only slightly poorer dispersion than a full-out WMTW center.

Imagine a horizontal BMR with the tweeter vertical on the left side like you usually do for the centers. What I mean is swapping the Scanspeak/SB woofer and the BMR mid so that the larger cone is in the center. From left to right you would have the RAAL - Scanspeak - BMR Mid. Hope that makes sense.

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

Imagine a horizontal BMR with the tweeter vertical on the left side like you usually do for the centers. What I mean is swapping the Scanspeak/SB woofer and the BMR mid so that the larger cone is in the center. From left to right you would have the RAAL - Scanspeak - BMR Mid. Hope that makes sense.

Well, at least I understand what you've got in mind now. But that would require a complete reworking of the crossover, and the transition from the midrange to the tweeter would never be as smooth because the two drivers would be too far apart. A much easier solution is to use the provided grill. You would probably want to use it in any event because the white woofer might be distracting.

 

[timothyha]

I'm looking to upgrade my Pioneer C22 with the vifa tweeter and the crossover on post #10440, but I'm not sure if the woofers are hooked up in parallel or in series. Wonder if anyone or Dennis can answer. Thanks!

 

[PhilharmonicDennis]

I'm looking to upgrade my Pioneer C22 with the vifa tweeter and the crossover on post #10440, but I'm not sure if the woofers are hooked up in parallel or in series. Wonder if anyone or Dennis can answer. Thanks!

We're talking parallel. If you take the right woofer out , you'll see two sets of wires connected to it. One pair comes from the woofer section of the stock crossover, and the other exits from the woofer terminals and connects to the terminals on the left woofer. So if you''re installing the new crossover, you would cut the first pair of wires close to the stock Xover board (which gets thrown out) and connect leads from the new woofer circuit to those wires. That would take care of the woofer section.

 

[homecinemaquest]

I'll have to discuss this with my business partner. It would be quite a project for anyone to undertake, and I don't know that we would want to have all of the component and wiring details in the public domain.

I am a big fan of this thread and my Philharmonic Audio BMR's. Dennis, you have gone above and beyond what any other manufacturer provides to customers and non customers too. And you have provided this forum where we are comfortable asking you for just about anything we can think of.

Please do what you have to do to keep Philharmonic Audio thriving. We want your company around years from now when it's time to upgrade our speakers. We can easily respect your decision not to put component and wiring details in the public domain; it's not like that is standard industry convention. And keep on investing in R&D for future products.

I suppose for loudspeaker designers the future is all about waiting for better performing drivers to appear, and then to integrate them into the design. Higher performing subwoofer drivers arrived relatively suddenly 10 or 20 years ago. The only "new" speaker technology I can think of now is active speakers utilizing DSP. Over the next decade will that overtake passive speaker design? Is there another new (breakthrough?) loudspeaker technology on the horizon? The future of other products on AVS Forum seem more evident. For TV's we have QD OLED coming for rich people in a couple years. For amplifiers we expect lower distortion, yet affordable class D amps to appear. For audio cables we expect no further improvements. Dennis, what speaker do you envision designing 5 years from now? Perhaps a line array? Rare earth magnets? I'm hoping your forte, passive crossover design does not go the way of the tube amplifier.

 

[Elihawk]

Well, in the last year or two, Dennis has redesigned the Philharmonic BMR speaker for overseas sales, managed to get orders shipped statewide, has made the AA plus a speaker in his lineup again and designed a more efficient BMR tower. Two completely new speakers and relaunch of an old speaker isn't bad...and return of the original AA while supplies last.

 

[charmerci]

Well, in the last year or two, Dennis has redesigned the Philharmonic BMR speaker for overseas sales, managed to get orders shipped statewide, has made the AA plus a speaker in his lineup again and designed a more efficient BMR tower. Two completely new speakers and relaunch of an old speaker isn't bad...and return of the original AA while supplies last.

All while, I hope, he's been keeping a good eye on his psychological and physical health!

 

[Ryanosaur]

All while, I hope, he's been keeping a good eye on his psychological and physical health!

I think he's stated on a couple occasions that he is not doing anymore late night soldering marathons.

 

[Elihawk]

It has been my life's motto to avoid all night soldering!