New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2

There are so many hyperbolic statements on this site that accurate praise is lost in the hyped marketing. Anyway, here goes.

This is is the best speaker I have owned and one of the best I have heard. It is a destination speaker. Compared to my original Perspectives, it has more and better defined bass. Kick drum sound realistic. It is simultaneously richer with better definition. Silky smooth midrange. Lyrics are clear, smooth and accurate. Same tweeter and cabinet.

Slightly more efficient. Excellent off-axis response anywhere in the room. They throw a wide sound stage, almost wall-to-wall, in part because they are locked into the room.

Thanks for that, Mark! Sounds exciting. I’m so glad your upgrade seems to be working out for you.And you are in a particularly rare position to comment. I doubt we'll see many others who have had the chance to live with both the original and the upgraded Perspectives.

Interesting about the Perspective 2s being slightly more efficient in your experience. Having looked at what Eric said, and some DIYers discussions about those new drivers, I was under the impression that efficiency should have gone down a bit (a db or two).

Erik?

I spend some time in the Joseph Audio room every year at Axpona and I am never disappointed.  This year he was playing the upgraded Perspective speakers and they sounded wonderful.  So musical.  I believe these are in the $15k range and compete very well with other speakers at or above that price point.

On a side note, Jeff is a very nice guy and fun to chat with during the show.

I listened to them at Axpona. Granted, the room was crowded and I had to stand in a less than ideal spot (right next to Jeff Joseph). I had no idea the drivers were so small-five inch or so? The sound was good but after five minutes I identified the general nature at play-highly detailed and precise-what I call "hi fi". They are beautiful and WAF friendly with a relatively small footprint and I can fully understand the praise, they are just not my cup of tea from what I heard in Schaumburg. Listening to these brought to mind some relative newbie on an audio forum who once asked "what speaker sounds like laser beams?". IMHO there are speakers that appeal to the head and those that appeal to the heart. I don't care for speakers that mimic headphones. I prefer headphones that mimic loudspeakers. 
If I may elaborate just a bit more, I believe that the Volti Audio Rival room was at the other end of the spectrum and also not in my sweet spot though I again recognize the appeal. This room was crowded both times I entered and the Volti Rivals being played had a prominent "Sold" sign on them. They were champions of texture and tone but were a bit plodding and slow, and just a shade dull. And though beautiful to look at, they were certainly not svelte or likely to meet approval by a non-audiophile spouse. 

@markalarsen ... Mark, did you get your original Perspectives upgraded or did you purchase new ones? Also, on a percentage basis, how much of an improvement was there over the original Perspectives? When it comes to audio equipment, I try to be cognizant of the law of diminishing returns. Thanks.