New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2

@prof 

Yeah, we went through that in this thread :-)

Exactly, but it seems like it's all new again. :)

Some update after living with my Perspective 2 for few months.

I bought/sold 5 speakers in last 1.5 year - Daedalus Athena V2, PAP Horn1, Wilson Sabrina, Harbeth 30.2 and JA Perspective 2. Except Sabrina, I was happy with all the other speakers. Sabrina is great except that it’s really high maintenance and fussy - you need top notch front end for it to not sound harsh and fatiguing on bad recordings. I just couldn’t deal with it. In this 1.5 years - I’ve attended 3 audio shows, went to at least 10 dealers for extensive demos and listened to hundreds of speakers of all price classes.

The 5 speakers I’ve went through (except Sabrina) - they all have these traits in common - very organic, non-fatiguing, rich, musical sounding. However, all of them were missing something in different ways albeit very satisfying. I had the Athena for longest - 4 years. So obviously it’s a fantastic speaker. But I wanted to try something new and that led me down this path. All the rest of the speakers, within few weeks of playing - I could feel it in my guts that I was not going to keep them eventually.

But with Perspective 2 - it’s a different story all together. I’ve owned JA Pulsar in the past. But wasn’t my type - too soft and polite on rock music. Not enough oomph. So, I wasn’t really considering JA speakers during my search. However, RMAF and CAF visiting JA room changed all that. I know show conditions are not ideal. However, I just couldn’t be apart from that new JA sound. I had to have them. I’ve never felt that way about any speakers in recent times. I just couldn’t get the sound out of my head.

So, after the honeymoon phase is over - does it live up to my initial infatuation?

The answer is - YES, a resounding yes. And you know what’s encouraging - I’ve not really put enough time to optimize the speaker or have the electronics (except my source) worthy of the Perspective 2 yet. So, it can only get better and better from here.

I’ll try to be brief. Some important characteristics that makes me smile everytime I listen to them:

- Music sounds effortless and relax (regardless of the type of genre).

- Even bad quality recordings are immensely enjoyable. This one is the holy grail for me. Example: "Night shift" by Lucy Dacus. Modern pop/rock album. Wonderful song. However, around 4:11 - the noisy/lo-fi electronic guitar riff used to pierce my ear even on my previous Harbeth. However, on JA Perspective 2 - it is immensely listenable without taking away the rawness of the track. I honestly do not understand how JAP2 does this balancing act.

- Female art pop/folk songs are rendered with all the right emotions and timing. Angel Olsen’s "Never be Mine" or "Chances" - sounds as haunting as ever.

- Voice and acoustic music has the elusive soul. One of the best album of last decade - "A Crow Looked at Me" by Mount Eerie, I get swept up in the emotion that the artist went through with teary eyes. Not that other speakers didn’t have the same effect on me. But on JAP2 - I think it feels more real; as if I can empathize him better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Crow_Looked_at_Me

- Modern rock songs have the proper punch, authority, drive, meat on the bones. The song "Air" by Waxahatchee from the album Ivy Tripp, sounds as dynamic as I’ve ever heard on any speakers.

- Classic rock: One of my go to song for speaker auditioning is T. Rex - Main Man, and The Slider. I’ve played these on system costing north of 6 figures. But I don’t know why the sounded the absolute best on JAP2. Obviously, the max SPL, life like dynamics room filling capability of JAP2 is not going to be like the Avantgarde super horn I played them on. But it wasn’t as musical as it is on JAP2 in a real world setting. JAP2 has rich, juicy bass that lends itself really well to older rock recordings I think.

- Electronic music: Thom Yorke’s Anima, the new Tame Impala album, Air - they all sounded really really good. Electronic music doesn’t have the nuances/refinement for JAP2 to highlight. But it’s an excellent speaker for this genre given their impactful bass, warm and accurate midrange and wonderful macro and micro dynamics.

I wanted to write some of the traits that of JAP2 that I’m looking to improve. But it’s getting too long. Probably in a follow up post.

I kept writing the same thing over and over again making myself think if I really got paid by Jeff to write:) I think if he paid me to write for speakers that I didn’t like, I would have hated my job. 

I first heard JA speakers at CES in the late 90s. It was good but nothing special that drew my attention. Then last year at FL Audio Expo and it still didn’t do it for me.

Two weeks ago, I went to FL Audio Expo again. So, we were passing in front of Jeff’s room but since I am biased and think they’re not for me, I told my wife “Nah, skip it”. Well, we had to pass his room again because it was on our way back to the other floor. My wife convinced me this time and I was floored how real the sound was. I couldn’t believe it. We left the room and before we left the show, I had to go back because I had to make sure it wasn’t just that moment/track. Well, I liked it even better second time. It was unreal how beautiful and live the sound was. I swear you could close your eyes and think you were in a church when he was playing a track had pipe organ in it.

I have heard speakers from A to Z. I own Harbeth SHL5 and Falcon LS3/5As. And I hadn’t heard or read about them before either. I came across the Harbeth’s at a dealer and heard the LS3/5As at FL Audio expo last year. When I audition speakers, I never pay attention and try to evaluate them. They find me. If I hear something very different from the speakers, then I turn my radars on. 

There aren’t many speakers that could do that for me. The JA Perspective2s, did this for me in the most realistic way. Probably the best speakers I have ever heard.

emailists,
Correct.  I do sound design (not a mixer - editor) for film/tv, so yes was referencing room tones and air tracks.  I'm often either mixing and matching room tones I provide, or matching the room tone audible in between the dialogue in the production track .  Especially if they are keeping the original dialogue recording and there is an artifact, e.g. room hum or the very particular buzz of the lights in that room, I will try to match it.   Same with exterior "air tracks" - I may have to select or adjust tracks I place in to exactly match the timbre of something in the dialogue tracks, be it background traffic, an industrial hum of some sort, or any other artifacts. 

Sometimes I'm balancing and carefully mixing up to 60 separate tracks of sound or so - minute volume changes, eq, processing to make some stand out, some blend in.   It always cracks me up when a fellow audiophile has no other resort but to try to diagnose someone's hearing acuity over the internet to call his ability to perceive audible differences in to question.  Especially someone in my vocation.  I'd love to see how some self-designated golden ears who profess to hear differences with every tweak would do if their ability were *really* put to test in my editing seat ;-)

celo,

I kept writing the same thing over and over again making myself think if I really got paid by Jeff to write:)

Ha, I've had the same feeling as I've written so much about the JA speakers for quite a while here, and elsewhere.

I think if he paid me to write for speakers that I didn’t like, I would have hated my job

That's how I felt.  I did a little audio reviewing in the late 90's and had no interest in reviewing speakers I didn't...or even might not like.  So I only took the gig if I could write about the speakers I wanted to write about.  Basically, I wanted to select out the speakers that excited me so I could tell others about those speakers.

The slightly paradoxical thing for me is that I simultaneously love audio and checking out high end gear, but when it comes to "would I want to own this?" - particularly speakers - the list is vanishingly small.  It is the rare speaker that has a magic factor for me.  Most hold my interest just long enough to get a gist, and then I don't feel compelled to keep listening.  It's the ones that keep my butt immobilized wanting to hear track after track that are keepers.  (Which of course is how many other audiophiles feel about auditioning equipment).  The Joseph Perspectives did this every single time, without fail.

I have a friend who reviews who is much more suited to being an audio reviewer.  He can appreciate a much wider range of equipment.  Whereas most of the speakers he reviews have me interested for moments, and then I wouldn't want to have to keep listening to them much longer.