Incoming ... Joseph Audio Pulsars


WHOOPEE!!!!! Today, I parted finally with my beloved B&W N804s in favor of a pair of JA Pulsars in the Sapele Finish. Using temporarily a pair of Target stands until the Sound Anchors come in. I only have a couple of hours on these speakers, but they image like crazy and the sound is exquisite and non-fatiguing. They are much better suited to my 10x10x8 room than the B&Ws. Will post a more in-depth review after they’re broken in a bit more. This has been SOME St. Patty’s Day!
rlb61
As reported towards the end of this Stereophile show report there is a newly updated version from Joseph Audio called the Pulsar 2, which has been upgraded with a new SEAS Excel woofer featuring a graphene-coated cone.
As far as I can tell, the new SEAS cone is still cast-magnesium (like in the original Pulsar), but is now "coated" with graphene. Not sure that this is a night and day difference; however, the fact that they are using the same base material (i.e., magnesium) with a mere coating of graphene leads me to believe that any sonic improvement may be slight. I wonder if existing Pulsars can be upgraded to the new woofer and, if so, whether it would be worth it. See www.audioxpress.com/news/seas-announces-new-excel-graphene-woofer-series

Cone material not the only upgrade.

From the latest Soundstage report on the new Pulsar 2:
"Updated from the old is a new 5.5” midrange-woofer, which has a layer of graphene added to the magnesium-based midrange-woofer cone. But that’s not all. Joseph told me that the driver’s entire motor system and suspension have also been improved, all for much better bass and midrange performance. "

BTW: Apparently in the past, when he has upgraded a speaker, Jeff Joseph has offered those upgrades to existing owners.

moto man,
I hear you.
I scratched my Harbeth itch by grabbing a used pair.  They were great but didn't sway me from what I already owned so I sold them.
Also from the latest Soundstage report ... "The new Pulsar 2 Graphene is priced at $12,000 per pair ..." That’s an increase of $4,300 over the price of the original Pulsars. Unless the upgrade is a spectacular game changer, and unless an upgrade would be offered to existing Pulsar owners at a significant discount, I likely would pass.