Philharmonic Audio

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by HitmanFluffy, Oct 23, 2015.

  1. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    wow your phil 3's look great, I like that choice of veneer
     
  2. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    From what I heard of the Vidar prototype, I don't think its better than a Rag, and I'd look elsewhere to upgrade on that.
     
  3. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    Rag is 60W into 8 ohm, isn't Vidar going to be 100W into 8 ohm? I think he is looking for Moar power, no? Those are big boy speakers.
     
  4. Dr. Higgs

    Dr. Higgs Boson - Member

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    They hover around the 4ohm range for most of the FR, it's more of a power concern than an SQ concern (but I'm sure there are improvements to be made there).

    I've got enough volume travel left on the Rag to make my ears bleed, but I would assume I'll need more power to get the best out of them.
     
  5. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I have Salk Silk Monitors that are roughly the same sensitivity but with higher nominal impedance (8 ohms). You're definitely right in that more power makes a big difference. I found that moving to a higher-current amp with significantly more wattage made a surprising difference. The improved control over the Illuminator woofer was especially noticeable, and lower mids seemed more filled out.

    Btw, those Phil 3s are just stunning. The bang-for-buck on those is amazing, especially since you really don't need a subwoofer whatsoever with how low they measure. I seriously considered getting a pair instead of the Salks, but decided they'd be overkill for my small listening room.
     
  6. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Alright. So @Marvey sent me these Philharmonic Audio speakers. The new Affordable Accuracy Monitor, which I think is their entry level offering.

    In a nutshell, @ $210 a pair these are an incredible value. They sound great and measure accordingly. Make no mistake. These are real monitors, not fun sounding stuffs. They muster quite a bit of usable bass as well. But they do benefit from a sub-woofer. I don't think these have a high-pass at all. I could also tell there is a well defined sweet spot with these. You will have to toe-in these in to get the best out of them.

    This is what Steve Guttemberg should be creaming his pants on with.

    I listened to Madonna, Gypsy Kings, Warrant, and many random stuff. They work with most every other music genre. The sound stage is awesome. Be advised these are not small speakers, and the cover/grill/whatever is somewhat flimsy. They are also heavy.

    Anyhow here are some measurements in room:

    Frequency Response (1/12 Smoothing)

    affordable_accurate_fr.png

    Distortion Right

    affordable_accurate_dist_r.png

    Distortion Left

    affordable_accurate_dist_l.png

    As can be seen, it seems there is usable bass all the way down to 20 Hz. The 200 Hz distortion on the left driver is real. It seems to be an enclosure resonance. A sub-woofer should complement the bass region nice for these monitors.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2017
  7. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Im curious about something, @ultrabike - that dip at ~120Hz and then the peak that follows towards 180-200 Hz is very similar to what I get as my speakers response in room (not the same speakers).. How would you normally deal with that, with either placement or treatment?
     
  8. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    I would do placement if possible. Avoid near by walls and hard floors if practical. It is difficult to fully avoid nulls in the bass region though. I think however that nulls are usually not as bad as peaks.
     
  9. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Those measure very similarly to my pair in my room, although I don't get that 200Hz distortion peak. Something is going on there but it's not normal. Anyways I'm in complete agreement these speakers are great for mixing and do little wrong especially for $210.
     
  10. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Yes. At 200 Hz I can hear (loudly) and feel the enclosure resonate. It is only that speaker, the other channel is fine.
     
  11. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    The BMRs are a much bigger, less aberrant, much wider stage version of these with much better low end extension. Even with the Moths coming, I am seriously considering keeping the BMRs anyways.
     
  12. landroni

    landroni Friend

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    Where do they stack compared to the LSR305 and Mackie MR5 MK3? I'm hesitating between these three as my first serious entry-level speakers...
     
  13. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    I'm happier with an integrated solution such as my MR5 or the JBLs from a practical perspective. One does not need a separate amp and in certain situations that means less clutter. On the other hand having a passive solution does allow for interesting combinations.

    The drivers of the LSR305 and MR5 are smaller and easier to place. But they probably are not as linear as the Accurate.

    From a performance perspective, they are some differences important enough to mention. The Accurate has a larger tweeter and it will not have the dispersion characteristics of the LSR305 or even the MR5. But it will probably cover the midrange better. The integrated amplifiers on the JBL and Mackie might be a little noisy when idle. I don't know which one is noisier (LSR or MR), but they are not fully quiet, and that may bother people if they sit too close to the monitors. IMO for best performance one should sit a bit away from the monitor, and at my listening position I can't hear the noise from the MR5. A passive solution such as the Accurate will have noise issues if the external amp has noise issues. A reasonable external amp should have none of that.

    Like I said, I'm happy with the MR5. It's perfect for my situation. But if you already have a great amp, and a little more space, I think the Accurate is a good deal. One may have to change the grills though.
     
  14. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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  15. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    I think maybe he just forgot to remove the curved ones from the page :D I remember he said it was too hard to make the crossover fit in the curved cabinet..
     
  16. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    hmm, I'm 100% sure those pictures werent there earlier. I used to drool over the BMR/Phil3 every couple days until a month ago when I finally accepted that there was no way I'd be able to get them in the EU
     
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    He's offering them in curved cabinets now
     
  18. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    It's been several years since this thread has been active, but in that time Philharmonic shut down and then semi re-opened. There is a small run of new BMRs and Mini Monitors. I hope they are able to fully open back up.
     
  19. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I thought I'd heard somewhere that he originally shut down due to health issues. I hope that means he's on the road to recovery.
     
  20. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    Apparently mental and fiscal health. From what I gathered skimming various threads, his passion for making the best possible speaker at the lowest possible margin ended up creating a backlog and no margin for error. Any returns or scrap basically put him into the red. Too much pressure, especially given the audience he was trying to help with the Affordable monitor. Some supply issues came up and he just couldn't do it anymore. Apparently he is coming back with a much simpler matrix (the BMR, mini, and a forthcoming tower) at higher prices (which will probably still be a good value). There was a mention that the rest of his stuff would be released for DIYers (there is already a kit for the BMR). I priced out a BMR build using a flat pack, and it would run $1500ish. He was really relying on Chinese manufactured cabinets and crossovers to make the $1350 price. Unreal that he was able to do it for as long as he did.

    Really happy that he is in a better place and giving it another go.
     

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