| Philharmonic 1 | Philharmonic 2 | Philharmonic 3 Old Style | Philharmonic 3 New Style |
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The Philharmonic 1 is the least expensive entry in our speaker line, but no corners have been cut in crossover design or driver selection. It is priced at $2700 a pair for the new cabinet style and $2500 for the old cabinet style. This price does not include shipping or options such as grills.
High frequencies are produced by the excellent Fountek Neo3 ribbon tweeter.
The midrange driver is the highly regarded BG Neo8 planar. Its dipole design is perfectly suited for the open-back configuration used in all of our speakers. Its narrow width provides superior horizontal dispersion for precise imaging and even frequency response in the listening room.
The SB Acoustics eight-inch woofer extends response to 32 Hz in a heavily braced transmission line cabinet.
The open-back upper cabinet may be tuned to suit the needs and tastes of the user by varying the amount of acoustic fill in the cabinet chamber. The two cabinets are isolated by a 1.25” pad of vibration-absorbent material.
The carefully optimized 18-element crossover achieves nearly perfect 4th order acoustic slopes and remarkably flat frequency response across the audio spectrum.
Like the other speakers in the Philharmonic line, the Philharmonic 1 has been designed to deliver as even a frequency response into the room as possible. The sound you hear is determined both by the on-axis response, which is the first arrival of sound to your ears, and by subsequent delayed arrivals from reflected sound. In order to provide a smooth and focused sound field across the sound stage, the combined on-axis and off-axis response of the speaker should form a flat “power response.” As the following frequency response measurements illustrate, the Philharmonic 1 demonstrates exceptionally flat response both on axis and off axis. This is due to careful crossover design, the very broad horizontal dispersion of the narrow Fountek ribbon element, and the shape of the upper cabinet module, which minimizes diffraction effects. The on-axis response is slightly depressed in the region between 1500 Hz and 2500 Hz. This contouring compensates for a small increase in the output in this region as the listening angle moves further and further off axis. The various curves sum to produce a virtually flat overall response that is free of the peaks and dips that characterize most speaker systems.
The Philharmonic 2 differs from the Philharmonic 1 only in the choice of tweeter and associated changes in the crossover network. It is priced at $2900 a pair for the old cabinet style with the roundover on the edges and $3100 for the new cabinet style with the chamfered edges. This price does not include shipping or options such as grills.
In our opinion (and that of many others), the finest tweeters available today are produced by RAAL of Serbia. The Philharmonic 2 features the RAAL 10D ribbon tweeter, with virtually flat frequency response to beyond 30 kHz, superb horizontal dispersion, and exceptionally low distortion. Performance at this level comes at a price, but you pay only for the difference in our acquisition cost. There are no additional margins.
Like the other speakers in the Philharmonic line, the Philharmonic 2 has been designed to deliver as even a frequency response into the room as possible. The sound you hear is determined both by the on-axis response, which is the first arrival of sound to your ears, and by subsequent delayed arrivals from reflected sound. In order to provide a smooth and focused sound field across the sound stage, the combined on-axis and off-axis response of the speaker should form a flat “power response.”
As the following frequency response measurements illustrate, the Philharmonic 2 demonstrates exceptionally flat response both on axis and off axis. This is due to careful crossover design, the very broad horizontal dispersion of the narrow RAAL ribbon element, and the shape of the upper cabinet module, which minimizes diffraction effects. The on-axis response is slightly depressed in the region between 1500 Hz and 3000 Hz. This contouring compensates for a small increase in the output in this region as the listening angle moves further and further off axis. The various curves sum to produce a virtually flat overall response that is free of the peaks and dips that characterize most speaker systems.
The cabinet has been redesigned with a slightly sloped front baffle and 1.5” chamfered edges to provide a more graceful appearance. There is also a price increase see below.
The Philharmonic 3 provides the deepest bass response of all our speakers. The state-of-the-art ScanSpeak Revelator 8-inch woofer extends useful bass response down to 20 Hz and power handling is increased across the bass spectrum. For two-channel music applications, there should be no need for a separate subwoofer to enjoy the full impact of a symphony orchestra.
The BG Neo8 planar midrange and RAAL 10D ribbon tweeter are carried over from the Philharmonic 2.
The open-back upper cabinet may be tuned to suit the needs and tastes of the user by varying the amount of acoustic fill in the cabinet chamber. The two cabinets are isolated by a 1.25” pad of vibration-absorbent material. The carefully optimized 19-element crossover achieves nearly perfect 4th order acoustic slopes and remarkably flat frequency response and impedance across the audio spectrum. Most of the capacitors are Clarity Cap polypropylene except for the largest capacitors in the midrange and woofer circuit, which are Solen Fast Cap polypropylene. Resistors are Mundorf noninductive. All inductors are air core except for the woofer circuit, where the mass loaded transmission line tuning requires the very low resistance provided by steel laminate inductors.
Cabinets for the Philharmonic 3 are made to order domestically with the customer’s choice of veneer. The Philharmonic 3 is priced at $3,000 a pair in standard veneers such as cherry or maple. More expensive veneers are available at additional cost. The base price of $3,000 will be honored for all orders placed before the Capital Audio Show, which begins on July 13, 2012. Starting July 13, the base price will increase to $3,500 a pair, and the the cabinet design will be altered slightly. Pictures will be available shortly. Although we do not encourage upgrading wiring or components in the crossover network, we will be happy to use whatever brand of capacitors, inductors, and resistors that the buyer wishes for the added cost that we pay for those components.
The Philharmonic 3 has been designed to deliver as even a frequency response into the room as possible. The sound you hear is determined both by the on-axis response, which is the first arrival of sound to your ears, and by subsequent delayed arrivals from reflected sound. In order to provide a smooth and focused sound field across the sound stage, the combined on-axis and off-axis response of the speaker should form a flat “power response.” As the following frequency response measurements illustrate, the Philharmonic 3 demonstrates exceptionally flat response both on axis and off axis. This is due to careful crossover design, the very broad horizontal dispersion of the RAAL tweeter, and the shape of the upper cabinet module, which minimizes diffraction effects. If you study the on-axis response carefully, you will see that it is slightly depressed in the region between 1500 Hz and 2500 Hz. This contouring compensates for a small increase in the output in this region beginning at 45 degrees off axis. The various curves sum to produce a virtually flat overall response that is free of the peaks and dips that characterize most speaker systems.
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