Joseph Audio: Perspectives and Pearls

This is extremely helpful. Many thanks. 

Forum member:

@astewart8944 

Had the Perspectives and upgraded to the Pearls.  He's done side by side comparisons.  We've discussed it in messages.  Perhaps he'll chime in.

In a nutshell his findings were the Pearls had a more solid bottom end, a more convincing soundstage, slightly smoother highs (though I think he had the original Perspectives, the graphene version is smoother).  Basically the "more of the Perspectives" - a more complete and convincing sonic picture.  Which is what I think one would expect.   The question is money and whether the Pearls suite a particular room etc.

This might be a bit of a long shot, but there’s a guy selling his Sapele Perspective 2s on USAM who’s upgrading to Pearls, so I’d think he’d have some very good insights regarding their similarities and differences if you can get in touch with him.  Worth a shot I’d think.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649920381-joseph-audio-perspective2-sapele-finish-graphene-woofer/
 

Agree on all counts regarding Jeff and his holistic approach to design and execution. While I definitely appreciate craft (e.g. Dr. Bews from LFD hand-wrapping components), in the end I am evaluating the sound. Jeff spent an hour with me talking on the phone about some achievable adjustments to my room. In today's world, that is indeed rare, even for someone contemplating $45k speakers. 

I am quite sure that the Perspectives will be transformative with my current gear, I also don't want to find myself wondering if I should have bought the Pearls. The test will be a solid listening session using some of my "reference" recordings. It is interesting that no one has appeared here who did an A/B with these models. Hopefully someone will take note!

I have not compared perspectives to peals but own perspectives.  I’ve gone through a couple of amp upgrades and preamp upgrades and continue to be impressed with the perspectives.  They sound better with every upgrade.  I’m not convinced I can spend enough on hardware upgrades to surpass the capabilities of the perspectives in my room and setup.  I do think you can go wrong with either.  Also Jeff is great source of info and to work with.  

stereo5,

Having done tons of research on the Joseph Speakers while I was deciding whether to buy, I looked over years of reviews, user reports, show reports, and audiophile impressions.

I'm not sure I've seen a speaker manufacture get as much uniformity of praise as I've seen for the Joseph speakers.  Even if, as you say they weren't for you, almost everyone praises the quality of the sound. 

It's interesting the brand isn't bigger than it is.  I guess some look at them as just "more drivers in a box" and there's lots of competition out there.  Aside from the luxurious sound quality, I find the craftsmanship in regard to the design/aesthetics/execution of the speakers to enter the realm of 'audio jewelry' and I'm ok paying some more for that type of pride of owner ship. 

+1 @prof ​​​​​@stereo5 

Jeff Joseph is a bonafide designer and not a mere assembler. 
His speakers are world class!

Jeff Joseph builds his own crossovers and he has the cabinets built to his specifications.  Just because he uses off the shelf drivers, as do many speaker manufacturers does not mean he is just an assembler.  It is HIS designs, HIS crossovers and HIS cabinet designs. I have heard his speakers many times at audio shows and although they aren’t for me,the always sound fantastic.  Usually, VPI shows with him. 

+1 @prof again I'm looking forward to hearing JA speakers in a few weeks

grannyring, the Perspectives were measured to around 84dB sensitivity at Stereophile, with a generally even "tube friendly" impedance.

The Joseph speakers had long used a proprietary "infinite slope" crossover design (created by Richard Modafferi).  So not off the shelf in that regard.  Apparently the crossover design has been tweaked over the years and I'm not sure it still fits the original "infinite slope" design.  But it's still quite steep, I believe.

Personally I have no problem with a speaker designer like Jeff Joseph taking the best parts he can find to create his speakers.  Driver makers like SEAS are among the best that exist - they have so much history and expertise.  Some speaker companies brag about creating their own proprietary drivers, but that's certainly no guarantee they are better than a top shelf driver from a far more experienced company like SEAS.

The Perspectives are interesting. Cannot find the sensitivity spec on their site? I think it may be low, based on the Pearl model. JA seems more like an assembler sourcing drivers and cabinets externally. Does Mr Joseph build his own crossovers or do they come into his shop assembled? Part to part wired or circuit board?

I assume Mr. Joseph designs each speaker and simply uses suppliers to build to his design specs.

I do like the aesthetics of the speakers and know they have a solid reputation for sounding very good.

I have heard the Perspectives at a dealer’s showroom. We initially came for a friend to listen to another pair of speakers and the dealer had us sit and listen to the JA driven by a huge The Gryphon integrated.

Well, I was shocked: easily one of the best sound I’ve heard, and definitely the deepest soundstage EVER (there was a battery solo in the recording, and the battery was like 8 feet behind the speakers, crazy) BUT in that large-ish showroom at what I call moderate levels (comfortable, but less loud that many big systems at audio shows) I could hear the woofers bottoming out on some impulses. That didn’t seem to bother the dealer. I guess the room was a bit too big.

So ever since I got the Perspectives I’ve disconnected the subs. Need to put them up for sale soon. If you have good and powerful amp, you don’t need subs with these speakers. 

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Perspectives. In looking at your system, I noticed that you are running subs in addition to the JAs. I do not have (or plan to get) subs, so that may be a factor in how the Perspectives fit the bill for you. This is not to dispute your thoughts on my room and the Pearls, but it could be a factor. 
 

I am hoping to hear the latest Perspectives tomorrow or Sunday and will certainly report back. Many thanks as always to this great community. 

I have never done a direct comparison between the Pearls and Perspectives. But I currently own JA Perspective2 speakers. Last year, or perhaps the year before, I went to listen to the Pearls at a local seller's house. The guy was ready to sell them at almost half the retail. I absolutely loved the sound but big boss said no!

My Perspective2's are in a 15x20 room with 12 ft ceilings, and produce a very healthy amount of bass. In fact, some times it seems to get a little too much. I'm adding thicker bass traps and additional paneling for this reason. If the new Pearls have similar bass signature, I suspect the bass might get too much for a 13x18x9 room. They are much bigger when compared side by side with the Perspectives.

The Perspectives fill my room with music and satisfying bass, and honestly, not once have I wished that the sound was bigger or fuller. It's amazing how a speaker with a sleek and relatively small cabinets can produce such a big and immense soundscape.

IMO, as great as the Pearls are, Perspectives are a better fit given the size of your room.

P.S. You didn't mention whether you're looking at the latest version (Perspective2 Graphene) or the older version. I've never heard the older version but from what I understand the new version goes much lower in the frequency range.

Actually the Pearls seemed fairly modest in size and proportion.  Especially for a flagship speaker!   They don't feel dominating at all.  But then, Joseph Audio is known for packing a bigger sound in to smaller speakers.   I can see them fitting in to lots of different rooms without feeling like they are too much. 

@prof -- thanks for the note on this. Jeff had said that they were able to be played in a number of different configurations. I know that they are much larger than the Perspectives, but did they seem over the top in person?

FWIW...

I was at my Joseph Dealer's store yesterday dropping my Perspectives off, to be shipped for the graphene driver upgrade.

To my surprise they had the Pearls in the store. Hadn't seen them there before.

They were not playing but were set up closer to the back wall behind them than what I would think is ideal. I was told that the Pearls worked surprisingly well no matter where they placed them, and that they could even be placed closer to the back wall, as they were, without obvious bass bloat, vs some other tower speakers in the store which they have to pull out more.

Not what I would have expected, but that's what I was told.

@jafant Where do you think a lot of the parts inside speakers made in the US come from? Stoopid reasoning.

Yeah, unless it’s some sort of political posture, it is pretty silly.

(In fact, given what you wrote, even as a political statement, it's going to be problematic)>

Once I learned that Jeff sources his cabinets to china, instant non-purchase for me.

@jafant Where do you think a lot of the parts inside speakers made in the US come from?  Stoopid reasoning.

@jafant,

Why would you not buy a speaker because the cabinets were made in China?  I hate to inform you but beautiful cabinets come out of China.  My GE Triton Refs came from China and they are the best speakers I have ever owned.  What is your problem with Chinese speaker cabinets?

I've not had Joseph speakers in my setups, but the Pearls were part of a show demonstration he put on, one of best setups ever heard in over thirty years in audio.

@rsf507 -- I had a long conversation with Jeff earlier this week and he felt that either would work in my space. I was hoping that someone had listened to both and/or upgraded to the Pearls and could share their experiences. 

@thr1961 you should ask Jeff Joseph his thoughts. From my perspective I would suspect the perspectives would be the better choice just based on your room size but lots of other things to consider like how loud you usually listen and how far into the room you will place the speakers. I'm also considering the perspectives and hope to get a listen to them before Xmas

thr1961

Often times I have wondered how many Pairs of The Pearl (I,II,III) have been built over the years as well. Once I learned that Jeff sources his cabinets to china, instant non-purchase for me.

Happy Listening!