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New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2

Just wanted to update my prior thread where this topic may have gotten lost.  As many of you may know by now, Joseph Audio has come out with the new Pulsar Graphene 2. This new iteration of the venerable Pulsars has a graphene coated magnesium midrange-woofer cone, and the drive motor, suspension system, etc., have been revamped. From what I have been told, the upgrade is pretty significant ... the sound is fuller and has greater ease, yet is very resolved. Jeff Joseph advises that an upgrade path will be available for existing owners of the Pulsars, too. Also, note that the price quoted in the Soundstage piece was in Canadian dollars ... Jeff informs me that the price in USD is $8,999 per pair. I am eager to hear the new Pulsars.
rlb61
prof
3,474 posts
 

If anyone is actually in touch with Jeff Joseph, it would be great to get some confirmation, or disinformation as to whether the sensitivity of the speaker has changed.  Mark suggests from his experience the 2 version seems a bit more sensitive.  It would be nice to have that confirmed.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
From my correspondence  he said the sensitivity  was slightly higher but the subjective  impression  is greater than the measured  difference.  They had a fuller, richer more detailed sound. 
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Not sure what is meant by the subjective impression other than if a speaker has a more detailed sound you will hear the music better which gives the impression the speaker is louder? I know it wasn't  the most cost effective  way of going about it but I bought used perspectives and after some back and forth with JA I  went ahead and sent them for the upgrade. When I bought them I wasn't  aware they had come out with the new version. Still saving a few thousand though. 
prof
3,474 posts
 

djones51,

Thanks for the info.

I think a speaker can sound "subjectively" more sensitive for a number of reasons. One could simply be slightly altering the tonal balance with a fuller bass, so it can sound more complete at slightly lower volume levels, or you feel the bass more at the same volume levels as the old version, giving the subjective impression it’s moving more air at the same volume level.

I’m sure there are other technical aspects understood by others for why a speaker may sound more sensitive than it actually is.

I have a pair of Waveform Mach MC monitors, rated at only 84.5dB sensitivity. But they sound more dynamically alive, within their frequency limits, than pretty much any other speaker I own, including higher sensitivity speakers.
prof
3,474 posts
 
@markalarsen

Do you have the Talk Talk album Colour Of Spring?

If so try playing the first track. It’s one of my test tracks for speakers. The production and sound quality is amazing and that track is great as it starts with a pristine drum beat and individual instruments come in.

I played that track on the Perspectives at my house and honestly thought “I don’t know if reproduced sound gets better than this!”
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