northman,
Regarding the Pulsar audition.
I’d call Jeff Joseph directly and see what he can do. Yes, you can talk to the "man" himself. He does sell direct and I would certainly ask for an audition before purchase. And FWIW, over the last 25 years or so, I had four different Martin Logans before I switched to the MBL 116’s. Suffice to say, I was very skeptical regarding how close the Pulsars would come to the 116’s but found they got me close enough in all performance parameters so I was not, am not wanting for much. The REL contributed significantly to this outcome. The Pulsars and REL, assuming appropriate gear and optimum speaker placement, are stunningly good. By the way, I listen mainly to jazz and classical but still enjoy Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, etc. on occasion. The combo performs well on all genres and can play surprisingly loud for their size.
Also, be advised that you can pick up a used pair of the "legacy" Pulsar for somewhere around $4K. Current model has the graphene coated woofer and retails for $9K. I would not discourage you from buying the legacy model since you can upgrade to the newest model (in the future) for $2,300 which I plan on doing this summer. Can’t imagine what the improvements will be because the original model, with the REL, is superb and performs well above its price point.
Regarding the Pulsar audition.
I’d call Jeff Joseph directly and see what he can do. Yes, you can talk to the "man" himself. He does sell direct and I would certainly ask for an audition before purchase. And FWIW, over the last 25 years or so, I had four different Martin Logans before I switched to the MBL 116’s. Suffice to say, I was very skeptical regarding how close the Pulsars would come to the 116’s but found they got me close enough in all performance parameters so I was not, am not wanting for much. The REL contributed significantly to this outcome. The Pulsars and REL, assuming appropriate gear and optimum speaker placement, are stunningly good. By the way, I listen mainly to jazz and classical but still enjoy Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, etc. on occasion. The combo performs well on all genres and can play surprisingly loud for their size.
Also, be advised that you can pick up a used pair of the "legacy" Pulsar for somewhere around $4K. Current model has the graphene coated woofer and retails for $9K. I would not discourage you from buying the legacy model since you can upgrade to the newest model (in the future) for $2,300 which I plan on doing this summer. Can’t imagine what the improvements will be because the original model, with the REL, is superb and performs well above its price point.