Incoming ... Joseph Audio Pulsars

@markalarsen

Since you've had both, could you give a bit of detail to compare the Pulsars vs the Perspectives?

It's been a year since I demoed both.  The first time I ever heard Joseph speakers was the Pearl 3 at the Montreal show last year, playing a vocal acapella track.  I was stopped in my tracks because it wasn't simply that the sound was incredibly clear - plenty of high end speakers do that.  It was the tone and timbre - voices actually sounded warm and human in an exceedingly real way where you recognize "that's what people singing in front of me sound like."  Totally grain-free and unmechanical.

I demoed the Pulsars and found they had the same family sound, a delight to sit in front of those speakers.  Then the dealer asked if I wanted to hear the Perspectives.  I first objected because I wasn't in the market for that price.  But he set them up - a perfect "upselling moment" - and after listening to the Perspectives they utterly grabbed me.  It seemed like the Pulsars...but more of it (and somewhat more even in the mids to lower mids, as they have the additional driver and don't need an additional boost in that area like the stand mounted Pulsars do).

But I was awestruck at how utterly different and accurate every instrument sounded as they entered a mix.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts.  What are yours?

@rlb61

You mentioned your admiration for the Pulsar's cloth dome tweeter.

I agree.  It's special, or the implementation of that tweeter is, anyway.

Though all the cliches about tweeters don't always hold true, in general I tended to find metal tweeters did metal sounds more convincingly - e.g. drum cymbals.  The soft dome JA tweeters really blew me away because metal, cymbals, sounded so solid and metallic.  And yet like everything else in the high frequencies, totally pure and grain-free.   The JA speakers provide one of the best high frequencies performances I've ever heard.  Like Michael Fremer said in his review, they sound so open and extended, yet unmechanical.

@prof ... I agree wih you completely. Last night, I listened to the Regatta de Blanc CD by the Police. I noticed just how lifelike the cymbals and hi-hats sounded. As a drummer myself, I know exactly how they should sound, and the Pulsars did a great job. The fabric dome tweeter is simply a joy. Oh, and listening to Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here through the Pulsars reminded me of the good ’ole days at the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, when Laser Floyd ruled the night. Such imaging! Wow! I am really loving the Pulsars.

@rlb61

Ha!

We really are on the same wavelength.

I just recently got my new Transrotor turntable up and running - my leap into high end vinyl playback - and last night my album of choice was...
Regatta de Blanc!

My old copy. It actually sounded incredible. Both the recording and performance of Stewart Copeland on drums makes for an awesome "drum sound demo" album. So much snap and aliveness in the playing (and recording).

@prof  ... right on! Copeland is an amazing drummer, and you can really hear every hi-hat stroke through the Pulsars.  Also, check out "Walking on the Moon" ... I have listened to that song a gazillion times through my B&Ws and had never before heard Andy Summers' guitar doing the rhythm "chuck" in between verses. Now, it's loud and clear. I love those moments. It's like having a whole new CD collection. Amazing!

Another +vote for The Police catalog. Those "records" were crafted and recorded with such care. The CDs are excellent. The SACDs are outstanding! I own both versions. Enjoy the music.
Happy Listening!

@prof    Pulsar vs Perspective.  Above 100 Hz they sound very similar. The Perspectives have better, and lower bass. I compared them back to back on PS Audio’s best electronics. The bass foundation makes a significant difference. 

@markalarsen

Thanks.

Any reason you chose Perspectives vs Pulsars with a subwoofer?

When I was shopping the JA speakers I wasn't thinking subwoofer (because I usually hate subs) but I'm giving some JL subs a go soon in my current set up with my Thiel speakers. 

Did you also find the Pulsars to be a bit noticeably warm in the upper bass (goosed up a tiny bit)?  As I said, that's one thing I noticed with the Perspectives, a more even sound through the mids/lower mids/bass. 
And in the store auditions, the Perspectives general bass presentation really grabbed me - really fun and tonal and energetic.

So it was the Perspectives that I demoed at home.  They had the most ravishing midrange and general presentation and if I had one question mark it was actually the lower bass.  I noticed on some material a bit of "puffy" quality attached to the bass, something that sort of reached out and mildly annoyed my ears occasionally.  I didn't have time to find out if this was something that I could dial out, or if it wouldn't be an issue on most material, but it did leave a question mark.  (And my room is generally good with bass response - my big Thiels for instance are quite smooth in the bass in my room).

My thinking is that if I get some experience working subwoofers into a system, then if indeed the Perspectives aren't as linear as I'd like in the lower bass, crossing them over to a sub (and some room correction - I have a Dspeaker Anti-node) could be the fix.

Of course I also think about the Pulsars with a sub, which would be less money.  But for one thing it's hard to shake the Perspectives as they made such an impression on me.  The other is I much prefer the Perspectives aesthetically.

(I just found out I have a Devore Fidelity dealer nearby so I'm going to check those out as well, since they get great reviews.)

Excellent question -- Pulsars with subs v. Perspectives -- and I have done both. The third option is Perspectives with subs. Using the Pulsars with a set of subwoofers, if they can be integrated, works well. I used a DEQX to integrate them.

I was running the Perspectives with a DEQX and dual subs in an awful room. Seven foot ceilings, strange shape, slate floor, culminating in an incredibly bright room. I decided to replace a pair of Magnepan 20.1s with the Perspectives in an easy room. I am running the Perspectives without a DEQX. What I like about them in a big, wide room is the integration of the bass and midrange.The answer as to which combination you like best, I would suggest, is going to be room dependent.

The other comment I would make about both the Pulsars and the Perspectives is that they respond to the input, good or bad. The better the electronics, the better they sound. The better the recording, the better they sound. This is my measure as to what makes a speaker excellent. I have a friend with Pulsars who is using Bel Canto Black EX (so 4 to 5 times the cost of electronics v. speakers). My Perspectives are feed with the very best PS Audio electronics (2 to 1 ratio in favor of electronics).  

@prof  The Pulsars and Perspectives sound good with less expensive electronics, but beware of the upgrade junkie effect of speakers that sound better and better with more expensive electronics.

markalarsen,

So do I understand you are using the Perspectives without a subwoofer now?

As for speakers: I find pretty much every speaker sounds better if the source, or associated equipment, is providing a better signal.  Certainly every of the very many speakers I've owned, large and small, have been that way.  So I'm very used to the upgraditus ;-)

Yes. 

BTW, while I agree with you, generally speakering, some speakers are more sensitive to their source than others. The JAs are on the far right side of this bell curve.