Loa Mini Ceramic của Philharmonic Audio | ĐÁNH GIÁ

I am a resident of Western Maryland, so it makes sense that Capital Audiofest has become my go-to audio show. I’ve attended for some years now, and it’s a great way for me to keep up with the goings-on in the industry and touch base with manufacturers from all over the country (and the world, for that matter). Like all regular show attendees, I have specific rooms I like to visit each year. Maybe it’s to catch up with old friends in the industry, or maybe because I simply like the sound certain manufacturers get year after year. I am also on the lookout for what I consider to be the best bargains in high-end audio, and that’s a factor as well. One room that consistently provides incredible sound at a price that most enthusiasts can still stomach is the one occupied by the good folks at Philharmonic Audio.

What, never heard of them? Well, that’s perhaps to be expected, as they are a small company based in Vienna, Virginia. Yep, that Vienna.

Who Is Philharmonic Audio?

Philharmonic Audio is the brainchild of Dennis Murphy. Wait, I’ve heard of that guy! My memories immediately associated him with Jim Salk, formerly of Salk Sound. Dennis was Jim’s crossover design guy, and together they put out some incredible sounding products. The Salk Sound room at CAF was another “must visit” year after year, primarily for the great sound they always got.

What I didn’t realize until just a few years ago was that Dennis Murphy has his own boutique speaker brand, Philharmonic Audio, which he founded back in 2012. Due to some health issues a few years back, Dennis had to drop back for a short while, but ended up re-launching the company with his new business partner, Kenneth Lin, in 2020. These days the company seems quite productive, with Dennis serving as chief designer, Ken overseeing production, acquisition, marketing, and sales, and finally Paul Kittinger, who optimizes cabinet design for optimal bass response.

I’ve always been quite impressed with the sound of any Philharmonic Audio speakers that I have heard demoed at CAF, but even more impressed by the price tags. It’s honestly (at least to me) one of those situations where the appearance and performance of the speakers suggests that they might sell for multiples of the asking price. I always made a note upon leaving the room to contact these guys and see about setting up a review, and this year I finally got around to prioritizing it before other tasks got in the way.

What Ken decided to send me was a newer design, the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini Monitor, which was on display this year at CAF, but not being demoed at the time I was present. At $850 per pair, I was more than curious to see what sort of magic this little mite of a speaker could render.

The Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini

At first glance, the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini looks like the quintessential stand-mounted mini-monitor. I suppose one could also use it as a desktop speaker, but I didn’t evaluate it in that capacity. Right out of the box I was quite impressed by the fit-and-finish of these speakers without even considering the low cost of admission. These little puppies are built solid, and the black piano gloss finish is top notch- a truly lovely thing to behold.

By today’s normal standards, the speakers are a bit inefficient, coming in at 84 dB at 2.83 V/m. Nominal impedance is also a bit low at 4 ohms (the range is given as 3.2 ohms to 15 ohms). The Ceramic Minis are crossed over at 2 kHz and utilize a fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley design. The published frequency range is 55 Hz to 20 kHz, which is how I chose to use them. The rear port can be plugged if one chooses to back the speakers up close to the wall, but the low frequency limit (-1.5 dB) is increased to 70 Hz. As far as dimensions go, each speaker stands 12” high, has a width of 8.5”, and a depth of 11.25”. The cabinets themselves are curved at the sides, lending them a sleek, modern appearance.

The driver complement is interesting. Dennis Murphy chose to use 5” woofer and 1“ tweeter units sourced by SB Acoustics, specifically from their ceramic line. In this case, the term “ceramic” refers to an aluminum driver cone that has been heavily anodized and then coated with a thin ceramic layer. Both drivers are white, which contrasts nicely against the glossy black cabinets.

As for amplification, I like to price match my gear as much as possible, especially when it comes to mating amplification with speakers. Ken Lin suggested that I pair the Ceramic Minis with something consumer level, but I didn’t have anything like that around. Besides, the speakers just looked like they were begging to be driven with some nice gear.

To this end, I’ve been on something of a vintage audio kick as of late. So why not try driving the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis with some comparably priced high quality older gear? A few weeks back, I was able to procure from that auction site an amp I’ve always wanted to try: the Bedini 25/25. (Bedini and I go way back, but I won’t bore you with that story just now.) My amp arrived in near mint condition and worked like a champ right out of the box. For preampfification, I grabbed the once-popular Superphon Revelation Basic preamp I bought about 10 years back and promptly forgot I had. Out of the storage cabinet it came, and I cabled it up to the Bedini amp. Lo and behold, great sound was produced via the Philharmonic speakers, with the amp combo hardly sounding like it was 40 or so odd years old. I was hearing warm, crisp, dynamic sound with plenty of transparency and detail.

The whole thing had me wondering if we have really progressed much on the amplification front since the early ‘80s. Digital source? OK, I cheated a bit by using my Bricasti M1 SE converter as the source component, but it was what I had on hand.

Later on, I opted to drive the speakers using the wonderful 150 watt per channel Orchard Audio Starkrimson mono Class D amplifiers. Orchard Audio amps were used with the Philharmonic Audio speakers at the last CAF, and I thought the sound was excellent. Many thanks go out to Leo Ayzenshtat of Orchard Audio for lending me a pair for this review.

How do they sound?

Regardless of what amplification I used, the sound emanating from the Philharmonic Audio speakers was nothing short of warm and compelling. They are an easy listen, I can assure you of that! Perched atop my heavy Target stands, the tweeters seemed aligned just below my ear level. A little bit of toe-in helped to provide a smidge better imaging and slightly more treble immediacy. Much of my listening was done off-axis as I worked at my desk, while the critical part of my evaluation was taken on from my listening chair at the apex of a more or less equilateral triangle formed between my chair and the speakers. In either capacity, the Ceramic Minis were
speakers I could listen to all day at a reasonable volume without fatigue.

I was actually quite surprised at how well the little antique Bedini amp drove the speakers, considering their efficiency (or lack thereof). The amp supposedly doubles down in power into four ohms, so that probably helped somewhat; I also don’t listen at ear-splitting volume levels.

I mentioned the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis sounded warm, right? They seem to just sync up beautifully with that class A amplifier goodness while not yielding terribly much detail and resolution-wise. What a lovely combination! Well-recorded acoustic guitar was a treat, sounding silky, resonant, and open. All of these observations were driven home while listening to Fabiano de Nascimento’s album Mundo Solo (24/44 PCM file, streamed via Qobuz). I’m pleasantly surprised also by the bass presence on this album as conveyed by the Philharmonic Audio speakers. While not exactly earth shaking (and who would expect it to be?), it’s there in its almost full glory. I’d say that the Ceramic Mini speakers present a bit of a mid-bass boost that makes them seem to dig deeper down into the low frequency range than they really do. And that’s fine by me, as they keep me engaged and listening.

Besides their strong tonal density and presence, another strength of the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis was their ability to do space in the way that only a traditional mini monitor can manage. This attribute was well demonstrated when listening to Thomas Stronen’s album Relations (24/96 PCM file, streamed via Qobuz). This work consists of Stronen, a percussionist, engaging in duets with other musicians offering either vocal or instrumental accompaniment. The album is mixed in such a way that a very spacious soundstage is presented with plenty of space around each instrument. Here the Philharmonic speakers easily fleshed out that space, presenting ample depth and width to the ensuing soundstage.

The Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis are just a great sounding speaker when driven by my vintage components; they always left me wanting to come back for more!

Enter the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Monos

Next up was some time with the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis driven by a cutting-edge, but quite affordable amplification option. These were the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Premium amplifiers, a thoroughly modern Class D design employing state-of-the-art gallium nitride (GaN) output devices. These small but mighty amps retail for $1,250 per pair, but are sometimes discounted to $1,000 per pair if you get lucky. The amps are sold directly by designer/manufacturer Leo Ayzenshtat.

My immediate impressions upon placing the Starkrimson amps into the system (driven directly by the Bricasti converter) were of increased bass punch and presence, as well as slightly improved resolution of detail. On the other side of the coin, I also noticed a little bit of a decrease in the tonal density, or “sweetness” of tone, which I heard from the Class A Bedini amp. There was little doubt, however, that goosing the power from 25 watts per channel to 150 watts offered some distinct improvements in the Philharmonic Audio speakers. The speakers just seemed faster and more dynamic when driven by the Orchard Audio amps. Stereo imaging was also quite precise, though I didn’t think I got quite as wide or deep soundstage as I had from the Superphon/Bedini amplification duo. Again, this sort of thing is a very strong trait amongst the very good class A amplifiers.

Listening to German guitarist Ulf Wakenius’ album Love Is Real (16/44 PCM file, streamed via Qobuz) was a real pleasure via the Orchard Audio/Ceramic Mini combination. Wakenius’ guitar was rendered with with crisp detail and good tone. Also, when things got more complicated when his back-up players got going, I never felt the soundstage become congested or overcrowded. Strings, percussion, and brass all sounded appropriately vivid and eminently enjoyable. That the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis did such a fine job of overall sonic housekeeping was remarkable for an $850 pair of speakers.

Finishing Thoughts

The Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini speakers are a perfect example of why I enjoy working in the “budget” side of high-end audio. Most reviewers, and rightly so, prefer to spend their time in the rarified air of the so-called “best” gear available. We all know the adage: if it’s expensive, then it must sound better than everything else. Oh, and we also love that audio jewelry: accoutrements such as thick, milled aircraft-grade faceplates and exquisitely crafted veneer cabinets. I get it. These sorts of characteristics add to the whole pride of ownership thing.

But we can’t forget that we all had to start out somewhere. There needs to be a really solid entry point into any serious hobby. And what about those folks who just don’t want to (or can’t) spend big bucks pursuing their passion? Well, that’s precisely why we need companies like Philharmonic Audio.

What I found during this review is that the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Mini speakers provided me with a really good dose of all the things an audio enthusiast should be looking for in a great piece of gear. Fit and finish? Top notch. Heft? Yeah, those cabinets and drivers have some serious weight to them. Parts quality? Check. Great design? You bet! And above all, these speakers sound way nicer and more sophisticated than they have any right to at the asking price of $850.

Another big advantage is that I got great sound out of the speakers using different types of amplification, but all at a price point similar to the speakers themselves. I was marveling at the system I could put together–Orchard Audio offers a simple music streamer with on-board DAC and volume control for $650. With that device, one could easily stream music via Qobuz or Tidal (or any other streaming service) directly to the Starkrimson amps powering the Ceramic Minis for a total outlay of around $3,000, including some nice budget cabling. Want to expand? Just add a decent preamp, turntable, or other source down the road.

And the Philharmonic Audio Ceramic Minis can startle. I had a friend come by who is a music lover, but otherwise knows next to nothing about high-end audio. I put him in the listening chair and cued up some of his favorite music via Qobuz. It was so satisfying to watch his face light up and see him settle into his favorite music washing over him in its full florid glory. Long story short: he was absolutely blown away by the experience. As the saying goes, another one bites the dust!

This, folks, is what our hobby needs the most. Thank you, Ken Lin and Dennis Murphy. You guys are a national treasure–well, at least to me.

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