Anybody have Experience with Alta Audio Alyssa Speaker

@tjraubacher 

TMR has a pair of Prisms for a lot less $: 

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisb93j3-joseph-audio-prism-bookshelf-speakers-black-pair-58044-monitors?refsource=hifishark

@tjraubacher 

Your disclosure that you may have enough funds for a separate listening room changes the picture you first presented quite a bit!  In that case, it wouldn't make sense to demo/buy speakers until the new room is set up. 

@tjraubacher

I also have H390 and am beginning to look towards an eventual stand-mount upgrade.

I encountered many very positive reviews of the Allyssa, before reading the Stereophile review.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/alta-audio-alyssa-loudspeaker

"Unfortunately, when the Alyssas were not thrilling me, they were disappointing me with a lower midrange that lacked focus—but was it the speakers I was hearing or their interactions with the room and my amplifiers? In a larger space, with lower levels of reflected bass energies, the Alyssas would, perhaps, present themselves with a more balanced tone and sharper lower-midrange focus. Perhaps another Stereophile reviewer can audition these speakers in a larger room".

I have no idea whether this is the same thing @audiojan experienced. No other review I’ve encountered so far has mentioned this, so perhaps it is a room issue, after all.

There is a pair of Pulsars on usaudiomart:

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650056503-joseph-audio-pulsar-speakers/

@tjraubacher

If you simply can’t afford it, I get it but compared to the new price for Graphene (12K), the used ones at 5K Plus the $2900 to have Joseph upgrade them to Graphene seems a good deal.

Consider that you might be totally satisfied with them, without the upgrade.

@tjraubacher

This:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/joseph-audio-pulsar-original-vs-graphene-opinions

Don’t know why it just now occured to me that shipping could add a lot to the upgrade cost!

@tjraubacher

You’re welcome. If I had the funds, now, I would probably buy those used Pulsars. BTW, one need not be a "bass freak" to appreciate standmounts that deliver bass that exceeds expectations in terms of the size of the drivers. But each to his/her own.  

Perhaps, if your wife is a music lover, you can play her favorites on the Pulsars to get her on board. Or is it purely a case of (visual) esthetics? 

@soix

Am I mistaken, or was it you who described the sound of Pulsars driven by Hegel as "mesmerizing" ?

@tjraubacher 

That's a tough one. It's hard to make someone care about something they don't naturally discern/value. 

One of the youtube reviewers drove the Alyssa's with an H190 and H 390, which caught my attention. He didn't mention anything about lack of clarity in the lower mids, though. 

@soix 

I could be mistaken. At  any rate, I recalled you were very positive about the Hegel + Pulsar pairing.  

@tjraubacher

I’d guess the prospect of getting Pulsars for that price isn’t a "deal" so much as an impossibility.

Perhaps if you can’t bring yourself to spend 5K it would make more sense to set a budget you’re more comfortable with and proceed from there?

@tjraubacher

No reason to apologize. It never occurred to me that you were trying to hide anything. ;o)

I simply meant it makes sense to hold off on buying any speakers until you find out whether or not a designated listening room is where you are headed!

@soix

I’m wondering if you’ve heard Fritz Carbons with Hegel amplification and if so, how you think they’d compare to the Pulsars and Alyssas.

@soix 

OK. Thanks for weighing in.

@tjraubacher

Just found the Stereophile follow-up review, responding to H. Reichart’s original :

https://www.stereophile.com/content/alta-audio-alyssa-loudspeaker-jim-austin-december-2020

What seems odd, given what YouTube reviewers have reported, is the second Stereophile reviewer’s assertion that "they are at their best with female voices and higher instruments". Huh? What are we supposed to deduce from such a disparity?

What have you decided to do ?

@csmgolf 

It sounded like the midrange driver did not correctly meet the tweeter making vocals seem recessed / distant / veiled. There was a suckout that just didn't work for me. The Stereophile measurements of the Alyssa not only show the suckout, but a peak at about 1.5k that make it even more obvious. It was clearly audible. 

Thanks for this. I for one am crossing them of my list. 

@tjraubacher 

So, what's next in your search???

Are you lucky enough to live near to a Joseph dealer who has Pulsars in stock?

I'm not ;o\

I contacted Joseph and was told they have no dealers in N. CA !