Joseph Audio: Perspectives and Pearls

@markalarsen @yoby ++1

@markalarsen : Agreed. They are butt ugly..

Is the KMD 700R using the same Seas driver?  I know Joseph Audio has them built  to specs, so manufacturers may have them “tweaked.”  Your friend must be single because the KMD 700Rs probably have the lowest WAF in the entire universe of speakers. 

One of my friends has heard the Pearls and $32K KMD 700R’s and liked the KMD 700R’s more.. was more musical engaging more real sounding

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtrziEh2S6s

It makes sense from an economic standpoint.  There have been speaker manufacturers who don't believe biwiring makes a difference, but they are selling to an audiophile community in which many think it does, and demand speakers that can be bi-wired.  So...sell 'em what they want.

Makes no sense why Mr Joseph would add 2 sets of binding posts if it makes no difference. It's an added expense for the manufacturer and a larger expense for the customer. 

@thr1961 I have spoken to Jeff Joseph about biwiring as I have a pair of Pulsars (v1). Jeff said that he really hears no difference with biwiring, and suggested using regular cables with a quality set of jumpers (he seems to like Cardas).

I have had my perspectives up and running for a few weeks now and will be posting my impressions over the weekend. After a few weeks, I just made some cabling changes, and will also comment on that as well. 
I ended up with the Rosewood finish and am really thrilled with how they look. I can also say that I am hearing all sorts of new details in my reference recordings and am quite sure that there is even more improvement ahead as the hours increase. 
One thing of note is that I am likely going to bi-wire them once I finalize my cable decisions. Is anyone else on this thread doing this?
More to follow, but wanted to share my update!

@rsf507 

I broke in the Perspectives in a different room for a few days, hooked up to a little radio receiver, wired out of phase playing dance music.   So I've only had them up and running in my system since Monday.  I plan to write about them in my "contemplating Devore" thread.   I haven't got a full handle on them yet, still adjusting things, but so far...promising.

@prof it's been almost 5 days since you unpacked your updated Prospectives so what's the verdict? 

I haven't put the Perspectives back in to my system again, but my impression upon unboxing was once again: man what beautiful speakers.  They just look so high end and high class.   I think the graphene drivers are a little darker too.  (Which I would like.  I'm not a fan of seeing most speaker drivers, but the Joseph's are something of an exception.  I find the SEAS drivers with the copper phase plug, and the way it ties in with the copper surround on the Joseph tweeter, to look really nice.  Still,  I dim the lights when listening and prefer the drivers to disappear from view when listening.

Lol prof.  Don’t blame you.   How exciting though.  Looking forward to hearing your listening impressions!

I was at my dealer yesterday picking up my upgraded Perspectives (breaking in now).

They were setting up the Pearls.  OMG are those gorgeous looking speakers! The construction and finish are just impeccable and luxurious.  And they are such a modest size for a flag-ship speaker.

I didn't stick around to hear them: the last thing I'd want to do is hear the Pearls after having spent a bunch of money upgrading my Perspectives. :-)

To the OP.....if you have a particular finish option you are looking for picture wise, let me know.  I try to keep pics of all finishes on hand and would be happy to forward them to you if I have them (I'm a Joseph dealer as an FYI).

In regards to cabling, Jeff internal wires with Cardas.  So he's a big Cardas fan, and they do tend to work quite well with the Pulsar/Perspective/Pearls.  I typically run my demo units with Kimber and Tellurium Q and those are good matches.  I don't personally find the Josephs to be to fussy in regards to cable matching.

Aaron from Now Listen Here came by my house earlier this week and was a huge help with regard to placement and toe in.  It was a great visit and I am very appreciative.  He also brought a set of Transparent Ultra speaker cables. They definitely were a step up from my Silversmith Fidelium.  So, on the one hand, my system sounds better than it ever has due to Aaron’s good ears and help.  And, on the other hand, I’m left with a still very clear aural memory of the better sound I can have if I pony up the $$$.  Never ending. 

Good to hear arafiq.

I'm actually borrowing a friend's Bryston 4B3 again to swap from my CJ Premier 12 tube monoblocks.  I'd tried it before with my tube pre-amp - liked some things but definitely preferred my Premier 12s.  However I'm curious to try all solid state, so this time I'll use my Benchmark LA4 pre-amp.

@prof I recently acquired a new amp by Aavik, it’s their U-280 model. I was very skeptical since it’s class D and up until this point I had yet to meet a class D that I liked. But this amp has totally shook my belief system. It’s like the Pesperctive2s are on steroids now (in a good way). The bass coming out of these speakers is unbelievable. So much so that I ended up selling my REL s510 subs ... not needed anymore!

The level of realism, purity, and transparency is just amazing! It’s hard to believe that these relatively small footprint speakers can sound so big, yet so pure and intimate. Yep, these speakers can scale with more high end equipment without a doubt. We are all lucky to own these perfect little gems!

Congrats!  Color me SO JEALOUS!!!  By all means please let us know your impressions once the speakers are broken in.  I have a strong feeling you might end up selling your Harbeths anyway once you have a new, er, Perspective on things.  Heh heh.  I’ve read more than one member here ditching their Harbeths after hearing JA speakers and notta one ditching JA speakers for Harbeth.  Look forward to hearing your thoughts, and it’ll sure be a Happy New Year for you!!!

Wow, it's a Joseph Perspetive-Festival!

We will all be listening to our new Perspectives pretty soon.

Well, I ordered a pair of Perspectives in Rosewood (based on a sample photo from Jeff) and so now the wait is on...

In the interim, I began the process of improving my room. My wife was quite the trooper, helping me move my 100 pound plus ARC 160S and juggling an even heavier rack!  Naturally my Harbeths are sounding better than ever, but since I didn't stretch for the Pearls, I don't "have" to sell them. 

I just pulled out and cleaned (in my degritter) Rickie Lee Jones' first album and it's like when I first bought it all those years ago!

Happy New Years to all. 

@rsf507 

That's great!

It's always nice when other people seem to hear what I hear.

Yeah, that purity of tone!  I wrote in my other thread about listening to an Emily Barlow track with piano, vocals and other instruments, and the authenticity of the piano tone (and vocals, and drums, and trumpets...) blew my mind.

Happy new year!

@rsf507 I completely agree with your impressions of the Perspectives.  But here’s the bigger thing — ain’t it a great feeling when you finally hear “The One” that really does it for you?  It’s like an incredible feeling of both excitement and relief that you finally just “know” what you really want.  Some audiophiles spend their whole lives chasing their tails cause they never really found “The One,” so consider yourself blessed.  Congrats!!!

This past week got to listen to a new set of Perspectives that maybe had 100 hrs on them. Still trying to wrap my head around what I heard but in a nutshell I was highly impressed. They were remarkably transparent with excellent imaging and soundstage and best quality IMO was its tonality which had this purity on piano and voices that were spot on. They sounded relaxed and natural but were able to rock as well. Dealer put on a track from Yello that was mind blowing! If I recall it was "All tied up" and he played it LOUD and immediately I got goose bumps and knew then I had found what I was looking for. Now to save some $$$ and hope to order a pair in early 2023.

Happy New Year to everyone.

soix,

Three weeks ago I dropped my Perspectives to my dealer, who was going to get them to the importer, who was going to ship them to Joseph Audio.  I understand they have been shipped Dec 15.  No word or estimate directly from Joseph Audio, but the importer suggested "in the new year" (given it was Christmas season).

Hopefully soon.

@prof Did they give you any estimate of when you’d get them back? Looking forward to your thoughts. I’ve read the graphene drivers are nice but maybe not exactly transformative on the Pulsars, but in the Perspectives they make a not insignificant difference/improvements.

Following on the Rush theme, I confess I don’t listen to them as much anymore, but I’ll point to “The Rhythm Method” from disc #2 on their Different Stages live album as something big and fun to listen to on a good system that images/soundstages well. It’s basically an 8-minute drum solo by you know who. Cheers.

@prof so happy to hear about your experience with 2112.  Side one, in particular, is one of my favorites and I have yet to spin it since I bought the Perpective2s.  I’ll have to move that up in the queue.  I still have so much music to try out with the new speakers.  Very exciting.  

@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!

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

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

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

@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!

@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 

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?

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

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 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.

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. 

@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.

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...

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.

@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.

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.

@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. 

@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

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

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. 

@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

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.