Joseph Audio: Perspectives and Pearls

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!

@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

@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. 

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.

@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?

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 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)>

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.

@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?

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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 ​​​​​@stereo5 

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

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. 

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.  

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!

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/
 

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 is extremely helpful. Many thanks. 

I did suggest Mr Joseph was both a designer and assembler. All good information here. Does anyone know if the crossovers are part to part wired or a circuit board execution? Any electrolytic caps or iron core inductors in use? I am interested in the crossover parts quality level. 

@thr1961 

If you are considering the pearls I highly recommend auditioning Rockport Avior ii speakers as well. You will be glad you did. A truly amazing speaker! Happy listening !

Ron

A quick update: I still haven't heard the Perspectives but am told it will be this week.

In the interim, I am curious about what speaker cables have you used with the Perspectives?  The dealer is pushing hard on Stage III for both speakers and upgrading my interconnects, but those alone are approaching the cost of the Josephs!

I want to do some research on balancing the relative investment in various aspects of a system, as this seems like it could be overkill for my current setup. 

Sounds like your dealer is looking to make a very merry Xmas for himself!

@thr1961

If you are in to buying expensive cables I won’t be able to dissuade you.

I won’t try.

But as one of the few JA Perspective owners I’ll mention my own experience, as a data point you might consider: My Joseph Perspectives are in a separate room from my amps. I run standard pro-grade speaker cabling - in this case a 40 foot run of Belden 10awg cable (5T00UP on the Blue Jeans Cable site) from my CJ amps to my Perspectives.

I heard the Perspectives plenty of time at my dealers, with all my usual test tracks, where they were hooked up to very expensive speaker cables. There is no discernible loss of sonic information in my Perspectives at home using the regular pro grade cable. In fact, my Perspectives sound "better" at home than in the store (set up/listening positions etc optimized in my home).

Likewise, I’d owned other high end speakers, one pair of which I sold to an audio reviewer friend. At my friend’s place I would listen to the same speakers hooked up to $50,000 worth of cabling - top end Nordost, Crystal cable, others - and, no, I wasn’t hearing things I didn’t hear at home with those same speakers hooked up to the Belden cables (and my inexpensive interconnects in the rest of my system).

I know well the pull of "wanting to make sure I’m getting the most out of my system" and if one is inclined to believe cables make big differences...well...there’s a market for that :-)

If you are gonna spend a lot of money on cabling: Jeff Joseph is well known to be fond of Cardas Cables. I believe he almost always shows his speakers with Cardas

@prof — thanks for your help and experience with the Perspectives. To be honest, I don’t feel drawn to spending tons of money on cables and your, umm, perspective is extremely useful in validating my suspicions. My current LFD speaker cables are terminated in bananas so they won’t work with the Josephs. But I think a logical plan is to have a chat with the folks at the cable company and order a few different options to try out, both speaker and interconnects. 

Again, many thanks. 

No prob.

Hey, I'm always looking for plausible upgrades to my system.

My Perspectives are currently at Joseph Audio being upgraded to the Graphene 2 version.  I can't wait to get 'em back and give a listen.

@thr1961 my speaker cables are also terminated in banana plugs on both ends. I’m using Cardas banana to spade converters. They work very well and are high quality.

Same for me:  Banana plugs for my speaker cables, using the Cardas Banana-Spades adapter (given to my by my Joseph dealer).

I change out my speakers often enough, and also even sometimes switch the connections to maintain polarity when I switch between my preamps, so dealing with banana connectors is so much easier.

Thanks, gentlemen!  I just ordered these which will now allow me to make a more thoughtful decision about cabling. I am looking at an interesting trial offering from Transparent where you can test drive speaker cables and interconnects. Someone on a different thread who has the same ARC gear shared his findings that Transparent seemed to have the best synergy with ARC. We shall see...

@prof can you tell us about how long it will take for your perspectives to be upgraded to the Graphene 2 version? And the cost? Might have found an older version at a significant savings.

Re cabling, I am using Silversmith Fidelium with my Perspective2s.  They sound great.  My dealer recommended Transparent ultra bi wire but I haven’t pulled the trigger on that.  I did order biwire connectors from Silversmith.  In my experience, speaker cables can make a large difference.  But I don’t want to drop a few thousand without letting everything settle and getting a sense of the sound with the cables I already have. 

I can't believe you could go wrong with the Perspectives in your sized room, if you like the sound, and I have loved it for a long time, since Pearl I's came out. The Pulsar's, if properly positioned, can give a lot of deep bass joy without a sub as well.

I think the Perspectives will go plenty deep and solid for you in that room. I run 2-1/2 way type speakers like those, albeit with two smaller woofers, and they will get down into the 30s solidly in my 16 x 20 x 10 room.

In the interim, I am curious about what speaker cables have you used with the Perspectives?

First, CONGRATS!!! on an awesome set of speakers. At this level, to me synergy with your specific tastes and system in choosing cables is paramount, and I agree with others there’s no need to overspend on cables if you just choose wisely. Along these lines I’d ask what sound qualities are you looking for or not looking for? To my ears, JA speakers are very neutral yet not at all clinical — hence a lot of their beauty along with throwing off an exceptional 3D soundstage. So, look at the Perspectives as a blank slate that you can affect to your will with the choice you make. To me, I think JA speakers are tuned damn-near perfectly so my goal would be to find something to let them do what they do and don’t hamstring or restrict them with something that diminishes any of their considerable strengths.

Toward that end I’ll mention the Acoustic Zen Double Barrel cables. I use Soliloquy 6.2 speakers that, to me, offer very similar sound characteristics to JA speakers (in fact I chose these over the RM22s and RM25s after hearing them side by side in the same system) and the AZ Double Barrel cables just play right into all their strengths beautifully. I’ll highlight excellent soundstage and 3D imaging with an incredibly natural and dynamic midrange and airy, detailed highs without ever getting harsh. Just another option to maybe explore FWIW, and enjoy your wonderful new speakers!

https://www.thecableco.com/cables/speaker-cables/double-barrel-speaker-cable-pair.html

I’m using Cardas Clear speaker cables with my Perspective 2’s. I bought them used from the Music Room. They sound excellent. 

@thr1961 

I'm guessing you haven't listened to the Joseph speakers yet.  But I'm wondering:

Will you be auditioning both the Pearls and Perspectives?   If so, will you be able to do a sort of side-by-side comparison?   Are you leaning toward one or the other?

@prof -- I listened to the Perspectives yesterday for almost two hours and really had a chance to run through a range of different LPs and hear how they responded. Music ranged from UHQR copies of Bill Evans (Portrait in Jazz) and Miles Davis (Kind of Blue) to the first Dire Straits album to an original copy of "Blues and the Abstract Truth." While the room was quite different than mine and the source table and arm much better, I was impressed on all fronts. 

I was not able to hear the Pearls as this is a new JA dealer and he doesn't have a pair yet. But with the size of my room and the fact that I have a downstairs neighbor, I am not convinced that I will be able to take advantage of the Pearls (especially at 3x the price including the jumpers I would need to buy.) I suppose I will hear them at some point, but I suspect spending the "saved" money on cables and treating my room will produce a bigger improvement all around. 

Still waiting to see some decent photos of the wood options before the order is placed, but I expect to be able to do my own review shortly. On a slightly related note, I was able to see and hear the new Kuzma Safir arm and was really taken by its role in presenting the Perspectives. More on this once I lock down the speakers!

@thr1961

Nice! So it seems you’ve mostly settled on trying the Perspectives in your home?

I’m curious about your waiting for wood finish photos. I think you can find photos of the Perspectives in the three main finishes, or are you waiting for Jeff to send you photos of exact wood finishes he has on hand?

I actually went through that. I’m super picky about wood finish and I like a nice wood grain, but though the wood grain on the usual Joseph Rosewood panels look great, I’m not a fan of overly reddish/orange-colored wood. So back in 2017 when I first auditioned the Perspectives I asked about a browner-toned finish. Jeff sent me some photos of some wood he had, as yet to be finished on a speaker, that was more brownish, a bit more reminiscent of ebony, and I quite liked it.

But my finances took a dive and I couldn’t purchase the speakers at that time. It was two years later when I had the money. It was just when the Perspective 2s were coming out, so my dealer was willing to sell me a relatively new pair of his demo original Perspectives at a good price. And...what do you know? They happened to be the very pair with the brown finish that Jeff sent me photos of. So I ended up with those speakers after all! They are gorgeous!

I love me the Sapele - game, set, match.  But I’d take’em in any finish I could get’em in my price range.  

@thr1961 Down to the Waterline off of Dire Straits’ first album was a revelation for me with my Perspective2s.  So much air and space around the guitar notes in the introduction.  The sound of the guitar is just perfect.  Just stunning.  I like the rosewood panels, by the way; the sapele is lovely too.  

I'm excited later in the afternoon I finally get to hear the Perspectives! 

My guess is you’re going to absolutely love them.

@disc 

I vividly remember testing Rush's 2112 on the original perspectives and the Perspective 2.   The way those speakers untangled the layers of guitar so effortlessly, including that shimmering/ringing tone of Lifeson's guitar (also on Hemispheres album) was wonderful.   They didn't have quite the thickness of the guitar parts as on the Devore O/96 speakers or my Thiels, but it was so tonally beautiful.  I would not own the Perspectives if they couldn't rock, though.

I've been blown away playing tracks like Rush's Hemispheres or Tom Sawyer on the Perspectives in my home.  Amazing punch and dynamics especially in the bass and drums.  From what I've read, the Perspective 2 are even better in that regard, so I'm looking forward to getting my upgraded pair back for a listen!