Sure sounded great on the video :-)
New Speakers ... Can't Stop "Listening"
I’ve had my new JA Pulsars for about a month now, and something really strange has happened ... I’m actually interested in "listening" to the music. With my old B&Ws, I’d put on the system and read or surf the internet; being "involved" with the music typically was not something I had experienced. Now, reading a magazine or surfing the ’net is virtually impossible. It's almost as if I'm compelled to pay attention. I never knew I could be so engaged by my system. Other than greater detail, what am I hearing now that I hadn’t heard before? Has anyone had a similar experience?
69 responses Add your response
I love my Thiel 2.7s but If I find something even lower profile that I like I'll buy them. At this point I believe I've narrowed it down to between the Joseph Perspective or possibly the Devore O/96s or 93s. Two different sounds, but both grab me with their beautiful design, finishes and sound. (Though I've only had one audition of the Devores). |
Here's the problem...one to two years from now, your system becomes "the norm" and you start looking for a better/bigger this and that. And when you get the next item into your system, you start listening to all your music again...hearing and enjoying things you never heard before. It's never ending! |
clarinetmonster2 said " Hmm. The guy that claims the SF Olympicas are in another league vs the Joseph’s...only if you value rolled off, polite sound based on my experience with the Olympicas." If you heard the Olympica 3 sounding to polite and rolled off it was not the speakers fault. I would say it was the fault of the equipment used and/or lack of proper set-up. As I stated,the Pulsars are a great little speaker and can create a very musical and involving performance.. but having listened at length to both in my system,I much prefer the 3’s. They just cover all the bases for my needs and my tastes. Of course,as always..horses for courses |
Clarionet: not sure what components were mated with the SF Oly 3's you listened to, but I can share my experience with you - mated with a Pass Labs X250.8 and a First Sound PD III tubed pre amp, the SF's are anything but 'rolled off', nor 'polite' (read: boring, veiled, uninvolving). Smooth? Yes! Musical? In spades - big time emotional connection with the music. Big sound stage? Absolutely! Detailed? No question. Refined? Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Uh, yeah, he sorta does (no disrespect). Yes, very refined. If I have a complaint about my SF Olympica III's its that in my acoustically challenged, oversized listening space the bass can get kinda lost. In smaller to medium sized rooms the Oly 3 bass is more than up to the task, very satisfying and tuneful, very effective. These speakers will pin you to your chair and put your head on a swivel, causing you to move your eyes to look at spaces in the huge soundstage from where instruments and vocals erupt. It's all a matter of personal taste of course, no right or wrong, but give the X250.8 an hour to warm up and I can listen for hours, at almost any volume level, to virtually any (reasonable) music genre and be satisfied. You want to hear chatter between musicians, and between musicians and patrons on a live jazz recording in between songs? Check. You want to hear the slightest drumstick taps on cymbals? Check. You want to hear vocalists inhaling their next breath to belt out the next lyric? Check. You want to hear the difference between a steel string vs. a nylon string guitar? Check. You want to hear whether there are 2 or 3 or 4 back up singers on stage? Check. You want to play loudly and rock out? Check. Sounds like the key to making the Olympica III's sound their best is to mate them with top end, high powered, high current power amplification and a premier pre amplifier. Works for me! |
markmendenhall...I couldn’t agree more with your findings,they match mine to a tee. Oh,and the cavernous soundscape with the highly organic and oh so natural musical/emotional presentation is to die for...just amazing! |
With so many speakers on the market sounding quite different from one another the question becomes not what sounds the best to any given individual but rather what system more closely represents the original image. Assuming control of the variables, electronics, cabling, etc., the question becomes how close does any system come to recreating the original live performance, or at least what the recording engineer intended you to hear. Then we must make the assumption that an accurate recreation of the original image is what the listener will find appealing...which is not necessarily the case. It is also a mistake to assume that the speaker manufacturer is attempting to develop a speaker that is indeed faithful to the original recording, which is obviously not the case. Perhaps what can be said is that a speaker/system that renders an image approximating the original recording will ultimately be more satisfying with all types of music as well as the soundtrack from a motion picture. Hopefully your "new" sound will continue to please. If so you've succeeded. |
Joseph Audio definitely makes speakers to die for. I fell in love with a pair of Pearl 3's that I had the opportunity listened to. Immediately, I realized that I had just met my audio soul mate and that there would be no other speaker for me. Unfortunately for my sonic love life, my savings fund towards the $35,000 price tag is only 25% there. I am going to seek out an audition for the Pulsars so I can compare them. |
gnason, Have you considered the JA Perspectives? Jeff Joseph said he was trying to essentially make a more affordable, and living-room friendly sized Pearl. In fact he'd mentioned to me that it was in designing and voicing the Perspectives that he'd thought he'd made advances that he'd like to incorporate into the Pearls, hence afterward he made the Pearl "3" version. I’ve only heard the Pearl 3’s once, but the Perspectives seemed to carry over that type of midrange quality and purity, and sound plenty big for their size. |
Aolmrd: Olybro - just a bug in your ear, if you are feeling in a larger room that your 3’s are a little light in the bass, I added a JL Audio e110 sub to supplement the very bottom end. Call it cheating if you like, and I’ve always eschewed the use of subs, but this little guy is amazing. Lots of reasons to dislike subs, aesthetics being one of them, especially given the sheer beauty of the walnut cabinetry housing the SFs, but sonically, and installed per JLs instructions, the e110 has kicked the whole presentation up yet another notch. Putting a $1500 sub in between $18k worth of amplification and $13.5k speakers takes a tremendous leap of faith but trust me it works. One of JLs precepts is: first do no harm. Do not change the characteristics that led you to your mains. Augmentation not alteration. Just a thought. |
@gnason I listened to the Pearl 3s for the first time at AXPONA 2018. Beautiful full sound. I own Perspective speakers and feel comfortable comparing them. Prof has it right; there is no mistaking that the Pearl 3 and Perspective are voiced the same. The Pearl 3s clearly have a deeper tighter bass. And the Pearl 3 seems more holographic, although the small size of the AXPONA room may color this observation. FWIW I run my Perspectives with 2 subs and this setup fills 4000+ cubic feet nicely and provides a very satisfying 25Hz-20KHz experience. When I mentioned to Jeff Joseph that I intended to run the Perspective speakers with stereo subs, he told me I would be getting close to the Pearl 3 experience. Now that I have heard the Pearl 3, I think that assessment is correct. Of course, I'd love to hear Pearl 3s with stereo subs... |
