Any monitors clearly better than Pulsars?

Rrolack-

The ARC Ref5 SE is nothing less than outstanding. I do not think you will find better money spent on a pre-amp.

Now, to address your loudspeakers. Having heard both the Pulsar & Perspecive models. Until I can demo the Pearl 2 or Pearl 3, you might want to consider a Magico or Wilson Audio speaker.

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

Sonus faber Guaneri Momentos - about $7k used. next on purchase list.

hello, 
this is an old thread, nevertheless i wonder if anyone have more experience with the monitors mentioned in the discussion above, namely these speakers : Joseph Audio Pulsars vs Alta Audio Celesta FRM-2 and Raidho's C series or XT series. anyone had A/B before? would appreciate everyone whom share info as i'm searching for monitors with good ribbons. JA Pulsar act as a reference point for comparisons. Thank you. 
-Ph

@philipwu

I have been enamored with the Joseph speakers, started off wanting the Pulsars, moved to wanting the Perspectives.

I auditioned tons of speakers including the Raidho X1s and C 1.2, which were being offered in a very good deal from my local dealer.

I’d been quite impressed by Raidho monitors briefly hearing them at shows. But on a longer listen I decided they weren’t for me. In a nutshell, though the Raidho tweeter does indeed make for very fine high frequencies, the actual tone and voicing of the speakers were a bit too obviously scuplted to my ear. I found the Joseph speakers to be more tonally beautiful and convincing and also more neutral-sounding (in a good way) than the Raidho. Also the Joseph speakers have stellar high frequencies as well in terms of natural, ease, and sounding "unmechanical."

I can certainly understand why someone would choose a Raidho instead, as of course it will come down to personal taste.

You can find some more detail on my Rhaidho audition in this thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/contemplating-devore-speakers-and-others-long-audition-report...

This is interesting.  I recently built a speaker that is similar to the Pulsar using the 7" instead of the 5 1/4 " driver and it is a lovely speaker.  For $4K a pair, I can't believe how good they sound.  I have about 20 hours of time on them and they continue to get better but aren't quite the be all, end all in terms of ultra fine detail.  And they deliver great bass.  That is shocking in a little speaker.  

Interestingly, I have also owned a pair of Raidho X-1s which are a fine speaker as well.  Raidho's are all about soundstage and if you don't have 9' between the speakers and a solid 3' behind them, they don't deliver.  I was blown away by the Raidho's when I heard them setup correctly and could not replicate the performance at home.  Additionally, bass response is good, but not in the same league as the Pulsar.

What is interesting is that I have done A/B testing between my recently built stand-mount the Seas Excel drivers and my Verdant Blackthorns and I can say, the Blackthorns are clearly an upgrade.  It is all in the fine detail.  One of my benchmark songs has been Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting and the amount of subtle detail and layers of sound in that song are extraordinary.  You can here more with the Blackthorn.  It is obvious when you do AB testing.  The exception is in low frequency response where the Blackthorns bottom out at about 60hz and these new speakers hit close to 40hz.  

Each speaker takes a different approach.  The Seas Millenium tweeter is high mass and that mass I think is helping it resist internal resonances and outperforms most if not all tweeters I have heard in wood or MDF cabinets. 

In my Blackthorns, the cabinets are made from Carbon Fiber over a DuPont Nomex core.  Thus, a lower mass tweeter from Eton can outperform the higher mass Seas because of the strength of the cabinet.  

Both speakers use magnesium based, 7" drivers.  The Eton Arcosia is a composite where the Seas Excel is claimed to be pure magnesium.  Either way, they are both outstanding.

Caveats on this - My speaker is not a Pulsar.  I am using a 7" driver vs. the 5 1/4" and I have a different cabinet material (solid bamboo) and a different crossover.  

I would encourage you to checkout the Blackthorns.  They are a great speaker and below your budget.  I know they are about the same price as the Pulsars were new but that is more driven by my RTM model as consumer direct.  If I sold these at retail, they would be $11,500 - $13,000 instead of $7000-$8500 depending n finish.