ictwoody
I like vintage gear — my preamp is from 2007.
In an effort not to derail another thread I'm starting this thread now.
In a daydreaming state I was wondering what would be my next pair of speakers in the future to replace my much loved Salk Songtowers. I don't have any real complaints with the Salks... They do everything very well... One of the only reasons they aren't an endgame speakers for me is because they aren't true fullrange speakers.
Since the STs are designed by Dennis Murphy I found myself purusing his Philharmonic Audio site and reading about his offerings. The Phil 3's seemed like they could be something special from the reviews and the fact that Dennis publishes a ton of data to back up the design. I went as far as emailing back and forth with Dennis a few times to see if they would work in my room, which is a cozy 12'x16.5' with the system on a short wall (where the dedicated circuit is located.) Songtower owners are a loyal bunch and a lot of them have upgraded to the Supercharged Songtowers which use the RAAL ribbon tweeter and people rave about them. The Phil 3's have the RAAL as well as a Planar mid which intrigued me.
During my emails with Dennis, he mentioned he only had three more sets of the mid range planars due to the manufacturer discontinuing sales to outside producers. To me, this meant that I probably could kiss the idea of Phil 3's goodbye cause I wasn't planning on actually making a purchase in the immediate foreseeable future. Well fast forward a few months and as I puruse Audiogon, low and behold, a pair of Phil 3's pop up for sale at a possibly doable price... And in a veneer I like, rosewood. They are the newest models with the tilted rearward cabinets and chamfered fronts, which is an additional cost upgrade. I contacted the owner and after a lengthy conversation we came to an agreement and the deal was done. He was selling the 1.5yr old speakers cause of relocating to a smaller home and he wouldn't have the space for the system these were in.
They arrived yesterday and after unboxing, I'm very pleased. The cabinets and finishing isn't quite to the standard of the Salks... But very very respectable.
I haven't as of yet had time to listen. I'm hoping to get them hooked up this weekend. My custom rack for that room is 6' wide, and the only thing Dennis told me is that they should be 2ft or more from the sidewalls. That means they would have to be slammed right up to the rack... Im going to rig up a temporary solution until I work out what I want to do there.
Here's a couple of pics. I really need to finish the frames/covers for my front bass traps.
- Woody
In a daydreaming state I was wondering what would be my next pair of speakers in the future to replace my much loved Salk Songtowers. I don't have any real complaints with the Salks... They do everything very well... One of the only reasons they aren't an endgame speakers for me is because they aren't true fullrange speakers.
Since the STs are designed by Dennis Murphy I found myself purusing his Philharmonic Audio site and reading about his offerings. The Phil 3's seemed like they could be something special from the reviews and the fact that Dennis publishes a ton of data to back up the design. I went as far as emailing back and forth with Dennis a few times to see if they would work in my room, which is a cozy 12'x16.5' with the system on a short wall (where the dedicated circuit is located.) Songtower owners are a loyal bunch and a lot of them have upgraded to the Supercharged Songtowers which use the RAAL ribbon tweeter and people rave about them. The Phil 3's have the RAAL as well as a Planar mid which intrigued me.
During my emails with Dennis, he mentioned he only had three more sets of the mid range planars due to the manufacturer discontinuing sales to outside producers. To me, this meant that I probably could kiss the idea of Phil 3's goodbye cause I wasn't planning on actually making a purchase in the immediate foreseeable future. Well fast forward a few months and as I puruse Audiogon, low and behold, a pair of Phil 3's pop up for sale at a possibly doable price... And in a veneer I like, rosewood. They are the newest models with the tilted rearward cabinets and chamfered fronts, which is an additional cost upgrade. I contacted the owner and after a lengthy conversation we came to an agreement and the deal was done. He was selling the 1.5yr old speakers cause of relocating to a smaller home and he wouldn't have the space for the system these were in.
They arrived yesterday and after unboxing, I'm very pleased. The cabinets and finishing isn't quite to the standard of the Salks... But very very respectable.
I haven't as of yet had time to listen. I'm hoping to get them hooked up this weekend. My custom rack for that room is 6' wide, and the only thing Dennis told me is that they should be 2ft or more from the sidewalls. That means they would have to be slammed right up to the rack... Im going to rig up a temporary solution until I work out what I want to do there.
Here's a couple of pics. I really need to finish the frames/covers for my front bass traps.
- Woody
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