New Speakers ... Can't Stop "Listening"

Hi @kalali - 

This is a digression. 

I'm not saying everyone should design their own speakers, nor do I think saving money is the reason to do so. 

I do think every audiophile should get their hands at least a little dirty at least once in their hobby. Even if you only buy a $50 kit with all the parts ready to assemble, the learning experience of making your own speakers is priceless, as is the ability to tinker endlessly. I feel strongly that if more audiophiles went from amateur speaker engineers to actually building even a single pair of speakers our hobby would be better for it. 

Best,

E

@markalarsen 

I think you have a wonderful perspective! 

And yes, selling kits used is a B, but on the other hand, you did not invest that much to begin with. 

Direct comparisons matter a great deal, and it is horribly unfair to designers at JA to attempt a side by side, spec only based comparison. 

Still, you should build a kit once in your hobby lifetime, you would learn a great deal, no matter which kit you build. 

Best,

E

Shame I can't post images. So looking at the Stereophile review for the Perspectives, and the data at Madisound, the crossovers are entirely different. 

One of the main results appears to be the lowering of the tweeter / woofer frequency with the JA. The kit crosses around 3 kHz, the JA around 1.8 kHz. In order to support this, you need steeper crossover slopes so that the tweeter gets cut off faster. JA appears to use 18 dB/octave (3rd order) while the kit uses about 10 dB/octave (closer to 2nd order). 

If you knew a little about crossover design you could attempt this without using a magical crossover though. Also, there are some overall differences. JA's tweeter is tuned a little bright, and they deal with a slight hump of the drivers around 1 kHz which the kit does not. 

So, will they sound exactly the same? Probably not, but high quality parts with different directions were taken. Fun place to get started in DIY. 

Best,

E

Found the review for the JA Perspectives,

https://www.stereophile.com/content/joseph-audio-perspective-loudspeaker

which are closer in line to the SEAS kit I was suggesting.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2.5-way-speaker-kits/seas-delling-excel-kit-pair/

Around $3k for the kit, assuming cabinetry from Lee Taylor.

http://www.taylorspeakers.com/

Around $13k for the perspectives.

I think that if you are at all interested in building a kit, and want to try for something similar this is a worthwhile investment. Again, a major advantage to this is the ability to tune the entire speaker to taste with a little measurement and a little know-how. You may never buy fancy cables again. :)

Best,

E

hi @rlb61 - Well, without measuring there is no way to tell exactly what was done for Joseph Audio. This is quite typical work by the way. Changes to the impedance, or suspension to accommodate target enclosures or crossovers are often done, plus they make the drivers "unobtanium" for the average consumer. 

Note that those are a little smaller than the drivers in the kit I was recommending. 

As for the crossover, I don't know what they are actually using. Perhaps that notch in impedance is evidence of their unique style? 

Still, every audiophile should build their own speakers at least once in their hobby's lifetime. These are top quality parts engineered by experts and an excellent value. 

Imagine the fun rolling your own capacitors and tuning the levels yourself instead of swapping amps and cables. 

Best,

E

By the way, as I was looking for something entirely different I found a Seas 2.5 way tower kit at Madisound, using similar parts. Worth checking out, especially for the price! 

Around $1,800 for the drivers with crossovers. You could probably get Lee at Taylor Speakers to build cabinets for you for $1k, or assemble them in their entirety for a little more. 

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2.5-way-speaker-kits/seas-delling-excel-kit-pair/

http://www.taylorspeakers.com/

I have not looked inside the JA Pulsars, but I have to say, the impedance curve and measurements lead me to believe these are fairly conventional crossovers, but Kudos to JA for being so well implemented. The curious thing is the dip just below 2 kHz, leading me to believe there’s probably a notch filter or something there. Probably to adjust those woofers.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/joseph-audio-pulsar-loudspeaker-measurements

Without that dip, this looks like a very very normal impedance and frequency response charts. What IS unusual is Stereophile liking something that measures so well. - HAH!

There is usually about a 10x markup between drivers and sales price, so I think the $7,700 retail price is not bad at all. These are pretty high quality parts. 

E