(Review) Philharmonic True Mini Monitor – Small But Mighty 2 Way Speaker

philharmonic audio

I met Kenneth, the Chief Producer at Philharmonic Audio, at Capital Audiofest last fall and got to experience their speakers for the first time. I knew immediately I wanted to check these out some more and the team arranged to send a pair of their Ture Mini Monitors out to me after the show as our car was completely full. The pair that came in is finished in a great blue color that stands out from many of the speaker colors available on the market. These are their smallest and most affordable speakers, starting at $380.00 for the Black or Blue Finish and $480.00 for the Satin Walnut finish. In our world of Hifi finding a good pair of speakers for under 500 bucks is not easy, but Philharmonic is making it easier by offering a range of speakers for extremely reasonable prices, but are they good? Well, let’s see if these fill that void of super affordable quality speakers.

Setup

I initially set these up in a secondary system in my front room, connected to my Marantz SR7009 via my Prosper Cable custom speaker cables. I also tried them connected to Hercs TV where we watched The Equalizer Trilogy, powering them in this system is an Arylic BP50 integrated amplifier. After I had some of the other Capital Audiofest reviews wrapped up I moved them into the main room for additional listening. They are extremely easy to position, and they can sound good in an open space as well as a smaller one. If you need to you can back them up to the wall pretty close, but still like a bit of room as they are rear-ported. Pulling them out opens up the sound stage, and I will say most all speakers react this way to positioning, while some speakers are designed to be in corners or against the wall, most will perform better if you can get some space around them.

True Mini Monitor as a Mini Theater System

Herc has his own TV and mini sound system to help keep him entertained when we are not home. It is comprised of a Sony Bravia 55″ XR A75L 4K TV, Arylic BP50, and PSB 300 2-way monitors. Some may say Hercules is spoiled but isn’t that what we are supposed to do for our pets? The PSB 300s are a bit bigger with a 6.5-inch woofer, though the tweeters are both 3/4 inch. The True Mini Monitor uses a fabric tweeter while the PSB uses a polyamide tweeter, the trade name is Nylon. If you are a long-time reader you will know my preference for tweeters or at least conventional tweeters, is silk dome as it softens the highs while keeping detail. Harder materials can be harsh though the nylon tweeter on the PSB is pretty nice as compared to some metal tweeters. The woofers also differ, the PSB uses a poly woofer and the Philharmonic uses a natural fiber Reed Cone Woofer. The difference in tone is noticeable as the True Mini Monitor has a rounder fuller sound. The PSB has good bass but lacks a little in the midrange when watching movies the special effects can overpower dialog whereas the smaller Mini Monitors have better balance and control giving greater clarity through the mid-range meaning clearer dialog.

The Equalizer Trilogy has some hard-hitting action scenes as well as more intimate quiet dialog scenes and the True Mini Monitors do well with both, as well as musicality when the soundtrack is playing. The Minis do lean a little warm tonally with a rich midrange making them great speakers for a living room theater system. They have a good-sized soundstage for the size of the speaker and their imaging is quite nice as well. In a two-channel system, they create a good phantom center channel.

While this setup is no replacement for a full theatre like the one we have downstairs, it is still impressive nonetheless. If you were to add a small subwoofer you would have a heck of a 2.1-channel system for a very reasonable price.

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True Mini in the Main System

After enjoying some movies with the True Mini Monitors, I moved them into the main system and Powered them with the Java Single Shot, which may be a bit overkill for these little speakers but I can be sure that they are not being limited by either the amp or sources. There was certainly a dramatic increase in sound quality and we would all hope so. The previous amp they were connected to can be had for a couple of hundred bucks and the speaker wire was some generic zip cord. This change also goes to show the potential of Class D when it is implemented well, like it is in the Java amp. For sources I have the VPI Prime hooked up to the Pyxi Phono stage and the Qunitet Red from Ortofon. For digital, I used the Rotel CD-11 and streaming through my MacBook Air M2. In the main system, I moved them out from the walls a decent bit, a little over 2 feet from the sides and 3 from the rear wall, which really opened them up as well.

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These speakers are not the most efficient at 85dB, so they do like some volume and power to sound their best. Listening at low volumes, lower than I would typically ever listen at they lose detail and imaging. However, up at normal levels, they sound very nice, more open, and transparent. I don’t happen to have a tube amp in at the moment so I am not positive how they would do with a lower-watt SET amp however with my MC250 with 50 amps per channel they sound very good, though perhaps a bit too warm for some people, as they themselves are warmer speakers and the MC250 is a fairly warm SS amp. I preferred them with the Java as the extra power and neutral tone suited the True Mini Monitors better, at least for my preferences it did.

I listened to a variety of music as per usual to see if they favored any particular genre or if they had any weaknesses. One of my favorite vocalists is Aurora, her song “Runaway” is sonic bliss, there is a Piano Acoustic Recording as well and it is my preferred version of the song. her voice on the True Mini Monitor is soft and smooth. The piano adds a layer of depth to the track placed behind Aurora but in front of the ambient choir. The Tru Mini Monitors have a deeper stage than I would expect from a speaker of this size. These speakers seem right at home with singer-songwriter music, as well as smaller ensembles. They don’t have the body or presence of my Soneeto V, but then again they are significantly smaller speakers. They do however have a good level of detail and clarity, while the low end lacks the punch you will get from a larger driver it is clean, and paired with my Paradigm Devfiance V8 subwoofer they deliver a full range exceptionally well. I love the midrange of these speakers, as well I really enjoy the tweeter, it’s not overly sharp and thin. The crossover point of the drivers blends them very well to the point that it doesn’t seem like the music is coming from multiple points but rather a homogenous source.

Playing something a little different, I spun System of a Down’s “Mezmerize” on the Prime. I was curious how these speakers would sound with faster-paced music and blast beats. Serj’s vocals are also a great test for a speaker’s accuracy with his wide range. I have to say the True Mini Monitor doesn’t do quite as well with metal as it does with indie rock and singer-songwriter genres, however, I am impressed with the capabilities of the small speaker. When compared to a 3-way floor stander they get a little veiled and closed in during the louder faster parts of songs on the album. During “Revenge” the chorus sounded quite nice, but during breakdowns, they aren’t quite as clear as the much more expensive Sonetta V, then the bridge slows down, and the clarity returns. I played some more standard rock format music, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and similar bands and the True Mini Monitors handled themselves just fine. If you are a metalhead, I think Philharmonic speakers could work for you but you will want to move into one of their larger 3-way speakers.

Going completely in the other direction, I wanted to see how classical music would sound on these so I qued up Joe Hisaishi’s Viola Saga Part 2. This is one of my favorite pieces from Hisaishi. The progression and arrangement are compelling and draws you as the piece builds towards the crescendo. The level of detail from the True Mini Monitor is superb for the size and price point. The imaging and separation are quite nice as additional instruments join in and are placed either to the left or behind or what have you. The distant percussion laid a foundation for the closer Viola, which sounds as if it is several feet behind the speakers while the Viola sounds as it if is in front of the speakers.

Specs:

CabinetHigh Gloss Black, Blue, and Satin Walnut
Tweeter3/4″ Fabric Dome
Woofer4″ Reed Cone
Frequency ResponsePorted: 70 Hz – 20kHz (+1.5 / – 3db) Anechoic
Sealed: 90 Hz – 20 kHz (+1.5/ -3dB) Anechoic
Sensitivity85 dB (2.83v/1M)
Box AlignmentPorted or Sealed
Dimensions11.75″ H x 6″ W x 7.5″ D
Weight12 lbs
Nominal Impedance4 Ohms (3 Ohms minimum, 11 Ohms Maximum)
CrossoverLinkwitz-Riley 4th Order Acoustic at 2,100 Hz

Price: $380.00 U.S.

Pros:

  • Good build quality
  • Good Sound
  • Easy to Place
  • Compact
  • Gorgeous finish

Associated Equipment

  • Marantz SR7009 (Preamp)
  • McIntosh MC250
  • Ayrlic BP50
  • Java Single Shot
  • Rotel CD-11
  • VPI Prime with Quintet Red
  • SOTA Pyxi Phono Stage
  • Sonus Faber Sonetto V
  • Paradigm Defiance V8 Subwoofer
  • Synergistic Powercell 8SX
  • Synergistic Foundation SX (Full Loom)
  • Esprit Celeste Cables (Full Loom, other than the speaker cables)
  • AudioQuest Forest (Full loom)
  • Akiko Audio Triple AC Evolution
  • Unbranded Wood Stands

Cons:

  • Struggles a little with fast-paced music
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Conclusion

The True Mini Monitors are pretty good speakers, but when you consider price, they are really good speakers. They are not perfect, but for under 400 dollars, I don’t know a speaker I have heard that sounds better and I don’t expect perfection from a 400-dollar pair of speakers, these however exceeded my expectations by a long shot. When you spend 10s or 100s of thousands for a pair of speakers you expect the moon, so when you can spend less than 500 and get beyond your expectations it makes for a refreshing surprise. For the vast majority of music I listened to as well as movies they did very well. The only time they had any issue was with metal, but don’t take that as they performed poorly, rather they just didn’t sound as good as they do with other genres. Classical music sounded quite nice, as well as indie rock and singer-songwriter music. As for comparisons in their price bracket, I prefer these to the Klipsch speakers you find at a similar price, in general, though I don’t care for Klipsch’s tweeter as it can be harsh and thin. Tonaly they would be more comparable to KEF’s Q150, but again I prefer the sound from True Mini Monitor to KEF as they can sound dull and lifeless. I can not think of a 500-dollar pair of speakers I like more than these. Also beyond the sound, the finish is stunning, the Blue on my review set is gorgeous and unique. Overall I give the True Mini Monitor a thumbs up and love that there are companies out here offering good quality sound for a price that the average person can afford and you don’t get what you pay for, you get more than you paid for. These are well worth your time to check out and see, or rather hear if they will work for you.

For more information about Philharmonic Audio click the link below

https://philharmonicaudio.com

Disclaimer: Philharmonic Audio provided Hifi Chicken with a demo pair of the True Mini Monitor for the purpose of this review. Philharmonic Audio, nor any affiliate paid in part or in full in exchange for this review.

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