I built very similar speakers myself using SEAS drivers. I made my own baffles using 1.5” thick solid ash. Cabinets are Parts Express 0.5 cu’ piano black units.
I spent quite a bit $$s on crossovers and they are big and therefore external. The sound? They sound amazing. Clear and very detailed. I love to post a video of them here but not sure how. I will upload it somewhere and provide link here.
Overall, they cost me less than $1,500 for the pair ( not counting my labor/engineering). |
kalali,
Good post!
I agree about how speaker drivers behave in the hands of different speaker designers.
The first time I ever liked a speaker with metal drivers was encountering Paul Hales "Transcendence" speaker designs. Paul was (is?) a wizard with crossover design and he brought the best out of those drivers. I still own some Transcendence speakers, which use Seas drivers like the JA speakers. The Hales have a purity of tone and lack of hash similar to the JA speakers. So at least my first inclination is to attribute some of that signature to the drivers, but clearly both designers knew how to get the best out of them.
The Perspectives are near the top of my list of most attractive looking speakers. It's a smart, contemporary look with a killer level of finish and craftsmanship.
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This goes to show how important is the way speakers and crossovers are designed since the drivers appear to be commercially available SEAS components, albeit all top quality. He doesn't mention which models he uses but similar (or maybe the same) SEAS woofers and tweeters sell for around $300 each at Madisound. Assuming a similar quality part selection for the crossovers and adding it all up, that's a lot more than what most other high end speaker makers put into just raw components. More like 4X vs. a norm of 10X. Aside from the design elements, quality parts combined with a moderately high impedance load curve explains why they sound so good. They also look great which is the icing on the cake. |
Yeah congrats rlb61. Years ago I got to compare JA RM25 directly to B&W Nautilus 804 and 803 -- all original versions of speakers. There was nothing, and I mean NOTHING, either of the B&Ws did as well as the JAs (this was at a B&W dealer with their setup BTW). Not that the B&Ws sounded bad on their own, but directly compared to the JAs they sounded just flat and uninvolving. Very similar to what you described with your 804s, which is what reminded me of this. Anyway, congrats again and enjoy!!!
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dweller,
Indeed.
This "can't stop listening" evaluation is obviously subjective.
I have a problem when people move from their own subjective reaction to a speaker/system to declarations of some objective form "this speaker plays music, others don't!" or "this speaker is one you can't stop listening to!"
Like any other audiophile, I've sat in front of systems that turn the crank of others, but which have left me cold and bored. So I have no reason to ever say "B&W speakers are boring or don't play music in a captivating manner" as if it were some objective truth.
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"Can't Stop Listening" That's how I feel about my new B&W 804D3s.
Sweetest, most musical speakers I've ever heard.
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@mr_m ... I had the original Nautilus 804s. |
@rlb61 It's great when you can get really involved with your system. Enjoy!
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Agreed about the JA speakers.
My test for if a speaker might be for me or not is the "can I get up and leave or not?" when listening. Some speakers just pin me to the chair making me want to listen to track after track, and the JA speakers do that for me when I've auditioned them. It's that magic clarity, warmth and incisiveness. They have the to my ears incredibly rare attribute of "surprisingness." That is, the timbral nature of voices and instruments seems so clear and distinct, that I can't exactly predict how a new instrument will sound. For most speakers once I hear drum cymbals, or a sax or a trumpet etc I pretty much know how those instruments will sound through those speakers from then on. But the Josephs seem to mirror a more life-like sense of revelation.
I remember putting on some vocal tracks - Chet Baker, Julie London, mono recordings - and I was absolutely struck at how they sounded like I'd never heard before. A certain clarity all the way through the voice to the furthest away instruments and even though the instruments were all jangled together in the center (mono) each was distinctly clear with it's own timbral voice. And the voices had a particular "that's a real person" realism. A similar experience to hearing voices through Harbeth speakers, the way Harbeth "gets' the human voice in a way most speakers don't. The JAs don't sound exactly like the Harbeths with voices but for me they do a similarly compelling portrayal of voice.
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rib61,
What pair of B&W speakers did you have? Model#/series? |
@initforthemusic ... I had the B&Ws for several years, but really didn't pay attention to their uninvolving nature until I heard the JAs. After that, it was a no brainer. |
Great to hear. But how long did you put up with B & W Speakers? No surprises as B & W Speakers are the most "uninvolving" Speakers I've had the misfortune to hear.
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Yes Joseph Audio always one of the best sounds at Capital AudioFest especially out of a smaller box. |
To me, Joseph Audio always has one of the best sounds at the shows, and Axpona was no exception. He gets that extremely lifelike "hear the vocals chords vibrating" insight that I normally only hear on very good, super-efficient speakers driven by low power SET amps. But you need good, ample power to drive JA. He had an enormous Rowland with a Doshi pre at Axpona. I'm just too cheap to pay the entrance fee, but if voice is a priority, few if any do it better. |
Yes I know my Silverline Bolero Supremes and Lawrence Double Bass are both Obsolete now,the Irony is that every other Tekton speaker before is also Obsolete as well.
Just more over the top marketing,Ulfberht is some Viking term as far as I know.
If given the chance I would like to hear them,but I doubt seriously I would buy them based on appearance alone.I say this after owning their double impact speaker for 10 months.
I will just have to get by with what I have for now,
Kenny.
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Sorry, your speakers were made obsolete by the TekTon Ulfberhts Be. Were did the name Ulfberhts come from anyway? |
firstly,those Pulsars sure get lots of praise. I emailed with Jeff Joseph
about auditioning a pair at his headquarters on Long Island,as I live here as well,but had to let the idea go because I just couldn't afford them. I subsequently home auditioned a pair of Harbeth P3s but decided to keep my speakers ...B&W 303s... That lead to a somewhat all over the map window shopping thread reading frenzy
since I had the 2 grand from the Harbeths burning a hole in my hand
so ended up somehow,and as a bit of a surprise to me, buying two sets of Nordost Heimdall interconnects instead for about $300 each, and they turned out
to be a revelation,perhaps on a par with your Pulsar experience.
The Heimdalls were my first foray into " high-end " interconnects,replacing old Monsters that I had for years. The difference was astounding,and they have become at least for now the missing link,by default as it were, in my system of Eastern Electric cdp, Modwright 9.0 pre amp. McCormack DNA 1 amp,and the B&Ws.....with Signal Cable speaker cables. I feel my system,my stereo as I call it, has reached a good solid place,and I now listen
much more,even later at night at lower levels. Now,that being said,I still look at classifieds on all the sites,and would still like to check out various speakers of interest,including the Pulsars......and I've also through first hand experience concluded that at least as speakers go there's no substitute for in home audition,which I understand isn't
always possible, but for me I probably would have bought the Harbeths after listening at the dealers if I hadn't been able to compare them to my speakers. So apologies for the rambling....just so impressed and surprised at what an impact the Heimdalls had for
me ....... good luck with your Joseph Pulsars. |
Oh Yeah,
every listening session is like that for me and I don’t think about changing anything and just relax and take it all in.
Musical Nirvana.so nice that you found yours.
Enjoy,
Kenny. |
