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Great Monitors – Joseph Audio Pulsar ?

I read a review today of the Joseph Audio Pulsar. Has anyone heard these in a listening room setting and do you have an opinion? Before you laugh, what I am looking for is a monitor that will give me the wonderful mids, highs, and all the accolades that go with an Avalon or Magico or Wilson or Revel or etc. but with a bass cut off that can be supplemented with a Subwoofer. I am looking to move from 2 channels to 5 channels and have never been able to integrate a subwoofer well in my system. Does a great (under $10k - sorry no Dynaudio C1) monitor exist that does everything but just has a low end cut out. It seems that everyone is trying to build no-compromise monitors and in fact everything gets compromised given the price. Help.
128x128cdj123
goldprintaudio's avatar
goldprintaudio
332 posts
 
Retail price on the Pulsars is $6999.
cdj123's avatar
cdj123 OP
57 posts
 
I appreciate everyone's input. I guess I will just have to wait until a dealer in the area carries them. Has anyone compared them to any of the well thought of monitors out there or full range speakers?
goldprintaudio's avatar
goldprintaudio
332 posts
 
Where are you located? I will contact my person at Joseph for you to find your local dealer if you would like me to.
cdj123's avatar
cdj123 OP
57 posts
 
I appreciate the offer. I spoke with the sales rep last week and the only dealer around (2.5 hour drive) does not have them and likely will not carry them (above the price range of their normal customer). I am sure with all the good press someone in MA/NH will pick up the full line.
rumadian
152 posts
 
I'm going to play devils advocate for a moment. Please note that I'm not trying to stir the pot. I'm just trying to grasp why on earth these relatively compact monitors are priced at 7 grand..

I mean, we've seen the Seas Millennium tweet / Seas Excel mid woof combo for nearly a decade now. This speaker doesn't look much different than anything else that I've seen out there. Sea's drivers? Check. A pretty/finely tuned MDF box? Check. Crossover Wizardry.. also check. Throw in healthy margin for distributors and dealers, and I could see the Pulsar's fetching around 3 to maybe 4 grand. But 7? What on earth makes them so different from everything else that uses the same above recipe?

Hell, not having even read the reviews, I'd guess that the sound flows more to the 'linear' side of the audio spectrum. The Excel driver has always been known for great bass and its general lack of warmth throughout its midrange presentation. I'd also guess that the mids could be described as very open, nicely detailed, and sports great pinpoint imaging. The highs are probably also well detailed, have a bit of natural 'grit' and texture to them, and are otherwise smooth when paired with the right gear (particularly of the tube variety). Bass is probably impressive for the size, but nothing earth shattering as far as compacts go.

Overall, I'd guess it to be a great speaker, but one that sounds pretty much like every other speaker that contains the same formula. Hell, some of you have heard them / owned them. Am I completely off in the description? And does anyone have any legit insight as to why such a speaker would fetch such a high price tag? I'm genuinely curious.
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