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

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.