New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2

I stopped posting on this site years ago because of the typical insults, personal bashing and comments from those who have not heard a component under discussion but think their input is valid, etc. In spite of this, I want to summarize my experience regarding the value and price of the Pulsar.

I retired about 20 months ago and moved to Alto, NM from Jackson, WY. I Iived in Jackson for 38 years and during that time, I owned, in ascending timeline, the Dahlquist DQ10 with the Sequerra ribbon tweeter, the Acoustat 1 + 1, the Martin Logan CLS2A, the ML Aerius, the ML SL3, and finally, the ML Summit. About five years before I left Wyoming, I decided to switch companies and bought the MBL 116.

When I arrived in Alto, I decided to downsize for aesthetic reasons and auditioned / bought the Joseph Audio Pulsar and, shortly after that, a REL T7i subwoofer. I also currently own a Conrad Johnson ET5 preamp, a Pass Labs X250.5 amplifier and a Luxman D06U CDP. With the exception of my speaker wire (Signal Cable Silver Resolution - 30’ and 40’ lengths), I use Shunyata Research wire.

When I made the decision to go from electrostatics and the MBL 116 (MSRP $24K) to a stand mount / monitor size speaker, I knew it would be a serious challenge to match the performance levels of my previous speakers, especially the MBL.

Much to my pleasant surprise and amazement, I auditioned the Pulsar and found its performance comparable, if not better in some aspects, than the 116. I spent several months fine tuning placement and (with exception of the limited soundstage height) I am extremely satisfied with this speaker. It is likely my last speaker purchase. It has the quickness, imaging, dimensionality and provides me with the musicality and emotional impact of my previous transducers. FYI, I typically listen to my system (one on one) a minimum of two hours a day.

Suffice to say and in my humble opinion, the Pulsar, from a price / performance perspective, is one the the greatest bargains I’ve purchased in my 40 years of being a serious audio listener.

And yes Mark, the Talk Talk CD you mentioned is a very special piece of music.

Am I going the get the upgrade? Take a guess.

Gordon

This is response to the "kanjit" post on Page One. Six from the top.

He states that the original SEAS mid bass driver costs $50 and the SEAS graphene $200. Madisound sells the original for $260 or so and the new graphene model for around $500.

I wonder where people get their information from.

And another of his posts on this page.

"A true hi end speaker has no identifiable characteristic".

Having owned several "hi end" speakers over several decades (see my above post on this page), this is absolutely untrue. He appears to have a bias against Joseph Audio and I would guess he has never heard the specific product under discussion. I also suspect he has limited knowledge regarding the overall costs that go into making a hi performance product and has an anti hi end bias in general.

And FWIW, this is one manufacturer that has received many compliments from the audio press exhibiting at various audio shows. I was talking to a friend who owns the Martin Logan CLX Art speaker (MSRP $25K) with dual subs and Audio Research electronics. I mentioned in an e-mail that I had the Pulsars and he replied that he had just been to the Axopana show and felt the demo was one of the best of show.

My Pulsars sound plenty good at low volume and I have a Pass Labs X250.5.  At higher volumes (85db or so), the voltage needle barely moves.