"Too expensive" is a relative term. I listened to A LOT of different speakers before I bought the Pulsars. The Pulsars and the rest of the JA line sounded the way I like to hear music. As a musician, I know how instruments should sound, and the Pulsars convey a realism that I have found lacking in other speaker brands. The Pulsars ain’t cheap, but cheaper speakers that were hawked as being "really good for the money" just didn’t do it for me.
New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2
Just wanted to update my prior thread where this topic may have gotten lost. As many of you may know by now, Joseph Audio has come out with the new Pulsar Graphene 2. This new iteration of the venerable Pulsars has a graphene coated magnesium midrange-woofer cone, and the drive motor, suspension system, etc., have been revamped. From what I have been told, the upgrade is pretty significant ... the sound is fuller and has greater ease, yet is very resolved. Jeff Joseph advises that an upgrade path will be available for existing owners of the Pulsars, too. Also, note that the price quoted in the Soundstage piece was in Canadian dollars ... Jeff informs me that the price in USD is $8,999 per pair. I am eager to hear the new Pulsars.
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It is easy to understand when you hear them. Songs sound better, the lyrics are easier to understand, and notes are cleaner. The very fast opening guitar rift on “Feel it Still” by Portugal. The Man lets you hear each of the notes. @prof you should hear Everything but the Girl. Fink’s Trouble’s What You're In is rich and clean. Amazing guitar and the vocal is the best I have heard it in this system. |
@rlb61 -- I was referring to the Perspective, not the Pulsar. @prof -- very interesting, er, perspective. Wonder if maybe now the Perspective 2 is the most linear of the bunch? @nyaudio98 -- we get it. You don't like JA and prefer other speakers. Good for you. Now get out of our sandbox and go piss elsewhere. |
soix, I was wondering exactly the same thing. I also wondered if perhaps the new Pulsars smooth out the slightly "overwarm mid bass" (as reported in Stereophile). One of the reasons I changed direction from the Pulsars to the Perspectives when auditioning the JA speakers is that, as great as the Pulsars were, I could detect that bit of midbass coloration, especially in lower male voices. The Perspectives seemed more linear in that part of the frequency response. Not sure Jeff Joseph would deliberately smooth away that midbass warmth as it may be part of what makes the Pulsars sound so complete and rich for their size, on lots of music. |
I do not have the technical skill to answer the question with any degree of certainty. What I would suggest is that the 6 inch drivers are slightly more efficient, reducing the relative output of the tweeter by a few dBs. That however would not account for a few of the major improvements, such as the increase in resolution and fluidity. |
I’m thinking in reworking the crossover Jeff may have shelved down the upper mids/lower treble in the Perspective 2 just a tad as that seems to be one area where the house sound differed between the original Pulsars and Perspectives -- and the Pulsars seemed to have a smoother overall response. Make any sense @markalarsen? |
Mellow is not a good word to describe them. They are richer and simultaneously more detailed. They are more accurate and detailed, while being silky smooth and dynamic. I am not running these with subs because they have plenty of bass, but my guess is the bottom octave rolls off a bit as did the original Perspectives. I am thrilled with these speakers. I consider the system finished, having followed a number of great suggestions from this website. |
As I mentioned earlier, Mark would be a pretty valuable resource for threads like this, as he's the only one in a position to have compared the old version with the new Graphene versions. I look forward to any more detail Mar provides down the line as he gets a handle on the new Perspectives. On that note: Question for Mark: You mentioned the new Perspective were smoother. The stereophile show report mentioned the Perspectives giving a mellower presentation than his home speakers. And rlb61 says he's been told the new versions have greater "ease" to the sound. So I'm curious if the new perspectives are mellower than the previous versions. Do they lack any of the "aliveness" or dynamics or has some of that been rubbed away? |
As the OP here, I find it mindboggling that my thread about the new Pulsars has devolved into a retailer's defense of products he sells as well as extolling the purported virtues of Jersey City (Bleh!). Can we now all simply play nice in the sandbox and return the topic of this thread? Thanks to all. |
You keep bringing up property value....whats up with that? The closer you are to ANY major "market" city the property values go up. I have friends in North Jersey who live in 1250 Square Foot homes that are 70-80 years old that go for 400K. I wouldnt live in those shacks for Half that amount. Whats your point?? House Value and Population size = Quality of Life??? LOL Havent lived in Old Bridge for 25 years But it was a wonderful SUBURB to grow up in. Guess you think East Brunswick, Woodbridge, Marlboro, Freehold are all "in the sticks". Too Funny. By your metrics EVERYTHING south of Jersey City is "the Sticks" except for Trenton I guess. As for Route 9 + 18. No virtues....Don't know many 3 and 4 Lane Highways to be "in the sticks". |
Thanks Soix good points. Marklarsen we didnt start this our initial post never mentioned any of our brands it was others that caused this derailment. For the record we have nothing against Joseph Audio we like their speakers just not enough to want to carry them and we like our existing product lines. |
Why would ANYONE buy a pair of monitor speakers at this price range rather than a full range speaker costing the same amount? @larry5729 -- because "more" isn't always "better." Go hear the Pulsars before you assess their value based on size alone. Plus, the Pulsars produce prodigious bass for their size such that they get pretty close to many floorstanders. Again, go listen before you judge. @audiotroy -- don't waste your time with Kenjit. His reasoning and logic are extremely flawed and distorted as per prior threads, and his head is like a brick wall so no chance of getting through. Don't encourage him by trying to debate him -- it's fruitless and it just derails this thread for no reason. |
Kenjit is extolling the virtues of a cheap LSA loudspeaker we heard them and they were indeed very good, how can we draw comparisons to other products in a similar price point that perform to a very high level without naming them? We go out of our way to constantly seek out very high dollar for sound products stating Quad is giving a comparison of an excellent product that competes with LSA for similar money. Sure. How can you enter an audiophile forum to comment on other products, without constantly comparing them to products you sell while extolling their virtues? As Yoda might put it: "A convenient problem, you have." |
Here are a couple of points Riaa, First Jersey City is the most populated City in NJ so there will always be more crime with a greater population density. As per NJ.com crime in Jersey City has decreased. As per Living in Old Bridge/Pennington or Lambertsville those towns are in the sticks so please enjoy your isolation in the woods. Secondly what brands are Mainstream for US customers? Do you mean Bose, or B&W, or Mcintosh? We sell many mainstream products: Kef is mainstream, Naim is pretty mainstream, so is Anthem and Nad, before that we had Cambridge audio, we also sell Parasound also pretty mainstream, Paradigm is pretty mainstream as well. We have said before we have a new website that is in development we are considering a name change as we get repair calls all the time not to mention there is now The Audio Doctor as well. www.audiodoctor.com/wp check it out. As per T+A a major CA dealer was disenfranchised so most of what you see is his old inventory and there is not a lot of that left and when did resale have anything to do with high end audio? Buy a brand new BMW drive it for two years and see how much you lose 20-30% of retail willing to bet. As per reviews certainly seems there are a lot of reviews from the Absolute Sound, Soundstage and Positive Feedback that really like the T+A gear and hold it in very high regard. In the Absolute Sound review an $18k T+A integrated amp was found to compete with $120k worth of CH Precision gear that is a pretty bold statement isn’t it, read the review we didn’t say it Allan Taffel did. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/ta-pa-3000-hv-and-mp-3000-hv/ Conclusion Don’t let its unassuming appearance mislead you. T+A Elektroakustik’s PA 2000 R is a first-rate integrated amplifier whose modest power rating should be taken with a grain of salt. It proved to be an unflappable partner for challenging both two-way and big, efficient three-way speakers. It’s also as neutral as they come. Its most alluring talents, however, are its three-dimensional midrange and its butter-smooth treble extension. From top to bottom of the audioband, it is a complete integrated amplifier, whose sound quality is matched by its impressively solid aluminum build. For a reviewer prone to cast a skeptical eye on everything that comes through his listening room, I’m at a loss. This thing is faultless. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/ta-pa-3000-hv-and-mp-3000-hv/ After a Reality Check stage that, as noted, somewhat curbed my enthusiasm, I decided to set all that aside and listen afresh to the T+A combo playing either CDs or hi-res files via SPDIF. The sound, once more, just blew me away. I invited fellow TAS writer Karl Schuster to drop by and have a listen. He summed things up perfectly when he described the sound as “spooky good.” That spook factor stems from how eerily close these units come to the sound of far costlier Swiss gear. And that, I realized anew, is really the bottom line here. For $13,500, the MP3000 delivers tremendous versatility and, on its best sources, sound that rivals digital playback from components that cost six times as much. Not all of its sources are up to that standard, so consider your own listening habits and decide if the MP3000 is for you. Similarly, the $17,000 ($18,500 with phonostage) PA3000 not only competes directly with integrated amps that run all the way up to $50k, it holds its own against $120k worth of Switzerland’s best separates. This is a component that’s not to be missed. We could go on. Riaa you really need to get your facts straight. Profi Kenjit is extolling the virtues of a cheap LSA loudspeaker we heard them and they were indeed very good, how can we draw comparisons to other products in a similar price point that perform to a very high level without naming them? We go out of our way to constantly seek out very high dollar for sound products stating Quad is giving a comparison of an excellent product that competes with LSA for similar money. Last point the Paradigm Persona aren't for everyone, however, when setup correctly they can sound amazing and can compete with way more expensive loudspeakers, their driver technology is extraordinary and the bass response out of the little 3F is amazing considering the size of the loudspeaker for these reasons we are very found of them, we also love Legacy which has different attributes but still represents outstanding value for the money. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
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audiotroy, If someone speaks ill of the Paradigm speakers a thread predictably becomes an audiotroy-defends-paradigm thread, sprinkled with items you sell. For instance in this thread: Our current line up of high quality integrated amplifiers includes Naim, Micromega, Anthem, Nad Masters, Synthesis, T+A and a few others I didn't come to this thread to read more about your inventory. You contribute some good stuff, but there's also a reason why you have a reputation among some here for being reflexively self-promotional. |
Profi Look at our initial post didnt mention one iota of any of our products. We respond when attacked if we werent attacked threre never would be a derailment. The moderators need to step in and remove attack posts problem solved. Kenjit and Marklarsen mentioned other speakers which helped derail the post. Unfortunately this is something that happens alot on open forums. |
I’ve gone on record that I am for dealers contributing to the forum. But frankly its just a bummer how this turned in to another audiotroy thread, full of the usual pumping up of the Paradigm speakers and finding every opportunity to list more of his fine inventory. Saves going to his web site I guess, but it’s just a drag that a Joseph Audio thread is taken over by this stuff. |
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Kenjit, Direct sale operations such as Underwood, Schiit, Emotiva have the ability to offer pricing less than 1/2 traditional companies. One very heavily talked about bookshelf speakers at Axpona are made by Borresson. Only $38k a pair. This too is a marketing come-on. Start high so people pay attention, then mass market at the real price. Two bookshelf speaker companies causing some buzz were Odyssey and LSA . $1800-$2500 if memory serves. |
Larry we feel the same way but there are a ton of expensive monitors on the market the Focal Sopra 1 are $9k, the Focal Utopias are $14 or $15k so are the TAD ME1, the Paradigm Persona B are $7k and the Kef Ref 1 are $8k to name a few. The reason is some people either don't have the room for floor standing speakers and they really have to put the speakers on a bookshelf, or theirroom is physically too small for the greater bass response of a floor stander. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
Mark lets go for more shall we, Persona, Persona, Persona, Persona, Persona happy now. Kenjit it is not about distortion it is about perception. We have in our shop the LS 50 and they are great speakers for the price, however, the Kef R3 monitor is better, and the Kef Reference One is far better. As you generally go up in price you get greater clarity, based on denser non resonant cabinets, faster drivers with less coloration based on bigger magnets, distortion minimizing techniques, more advanced cone materials and drivers which are engineered better, add in better crossover components and you get a substantially better speaker. So here are three different Kef models which all sound great but as you step up the ladder the clarity gets greater, the dynamics improve, the imaging gets more focused and you also get tighter bass as well as more of it. The reason a company can sell a more expensive set of speakers is that there is an audible improvement with the more expensive versions. Take the KEF R11 a $5,000.00 set of speakers vs the Kef Reference 5 a $19,000.00 set of speakers, both speakers look very similar and employ similar drivers, however, the Reference drivers use a more advanced version of the drivers, the cabinet is much more advanced and is much denser, the weight difference is 57lbs vs 120lbs. Sonically the R11 is very good, but the Ref 5 just crushes it, you hear more information, the dynamic kick is far better the bass is tighter. You are hearing the same music but you are experiencing more of it. Another good analogy is like switching from a cheap lens on a 35mm camera to a much more expensive one, all of a sudden colors are more vibrant and tiny details are evident. Better speakers with more advanced driver technology generally produce far greater amounts of information. The Borsteen loudspeakers use very expensive ceramic diamond tweeters and midrange/woofers these drivers cost a lot more than the Graphene woofer/midrange drivers and a soft dome SEAS tweeter. So given the same set of electronics you would hear more with the Borsteen speakers are they worth $30k personally we wouldn't recommend a $30k two way but we heard their big $120k pair and they were impressive. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
I just looked these speakers up on the internet. Are you serious they cost $8,000/pair? You kidding me. Why would ANYONE buy a pair of monitor speakers at this price range rather than a full range speaker costing the same amount? Wouldn't you have to add two subwoofers to supply the bass extension. So if you spend an extra $2,000 to $5,000 for subwoofers this brings the total cost up to $12,000 to $15,000. I think this is Einstein's definition of insanity. |
Here is why in my opinion people should buy from manufactures who sell direct rather than through dealers. Manufactures like Jim Salk told me he sells direct because he is dammed if he has to lower the quality of his drivers in order to sell at a lower price so the dealers make all the money. Besides, most dealers only stock the cheap stuff so you don't even have the ability to compare the sound difference to the more expensive lines. Why is the audio business in trouble? This is why. |
any $30k speaker should beat a $9k one A $30k bookshelf will not produce significantly less distortion than a $1k bookshelf. Theres never been any evidence of this. Even cheap speakers like LS50 can have good measured performance. Exactly what more do you get with a $30k speaker other than differences in bass extension? |
No Markalarsen, We never mentioned Paradigm or any other brand we sold other guys came in with that. Our initial post was when someone compared the Boresteen moitors at $30k and compared them to the Pulsars to which we said that was a silly comparison as any $30k speaker should beat a $9k one or a $14k one unless the $30k speaker is poorly designed. The Boresteen are heinously overpriced but are very good speakers with outstanding drivers. Our comment was we heard the Perspectives and said they sounded good and were impressive for their size just not the speakers we would endorse for $14k. Then we got attacked by many of you. Weather of not you love Joseph Audio or Pardigm or Kef of Wilson or Magico these are all great loudspeakers that will appeal to certain listeners and then is the setup and pairing issues. Haven't been a Wilson fan for years but the showings at CAP and Axpona were impressive, and we don't sell them, however, we have heard some really mediocre Wilson setups over the years even with the same speakers, so setup is everything when you reach these kinds of products. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |