New Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene 2

celo,

I kept writing the same thing over and over again making myself think if I really got paid by Jeff to write:)

Ha, I've had the same feeling as I've written so much about the JA speakers for quite a while here, and elsewhere.

I think if he paid me to write for speakers that I didn’t like, I would have hated my job

That's how I felt.  I did a little audio reviewing in the late 90's and had no interest in reviewing speakers I didn't...or even might not like.  So I only took the gig if I could write about the speakers I wanted to write about.  Basically, I wanted to select out the speakers that excited me so I could tell others about those speakers.

The slightly paradoxical thing for me is that I simultaneously love audio and checking out high end gear, but when it comes to "would I want to own this?" - particularly speakers - the list is vanishingly small.  It is the rare speaker that has a magic factor for me.  Most hold my interest just long enough to get a gist, and then I don't feel compelled to keep listening.  It's the ones that keep my butt immobilized wanting to hear track after track that are keepers.  (Which of course is how many other audiophiles feel about auditioning equipment).  The Joseph Perspectives did this every single time, without fail.

I have a friend who reviews who is much more suited to being an audio reviewer.  He can appreciate a much wider range of equipment.  Whereas most of the speakers he reviews have me interested for moments, and then I wouldn't want to have to keep listening to them much longer.

@radiohead99

Great user report.

And wow, nice speaker list of the ones you let go.   I'm curious what you'd have to say about the PAP Horn1 speakers.  They seem very different from the Josephs.

I agree on your assessment of the Joseph sound.  It's so rare to hear a speaker that has as open, sparkling an vivid upper frequencies which are at the same time so relaxed and smooth.   I have sensitive ears and worried somewhat that the vividness of the Joseph Perspectives, especially the originals that I bought, might be fatiguing over time.  I found the opposite.  I was able to listen more comfortably to loud levels than probably any other speaker I've owned.  The Perspective2s would be even more comfortable, from what I've read and what I heard.
And, as you mention which I've said as well, the JA speakers seem to do well with a wide range of music because they have that exquisitely refined midrange and highs which give you wonderful tone for acoustic music, but also that juicy, punchy bass that keeps the fun factor for rock, funk, pop or whatever. 


There's a track on the Collateral Soundtrack - Korean Style - that I heard on the Perspectives years ago and it completely grabbed me with it's swirling array of synths punching in and out, going through envelope filters that move the sound from thin/bright to opening up to lush and thick.  This is where that beautiful timbral pallet of the Josephs paid dividends beyond acoustic music.  That track is just so vivid and juicy on the Perspectives.  I haven't found another speaker that quite does it justice like the Perspectives - it's "fine" on other speakers but "wow that sounds amazing!" on the Perspectives.

@prof I agree. Today, there are so many gear choices, it is ridiculous. There are $400 speakers sounding amazing. There are $100K speakers sounding meh. However, still they all sound fine. I mean they’re good. But to find that “special” one is hard. I swear, at the FL Show, there was systems that cost $500K and it really didn’t do it for me. I don’t want to name them here but JA should cost at least ten times more than most “high end” speakers at the show. 

Lots of really great information on JAP2, well done Prof and the rest!  I fell in love with these speaks at CAF last Nov.  Despite a challenging listening environment in a tiny room this speaker turned heads, certainly mine.

I’ve always like JA speakers but have only heard them at the CAF - might be my next speakers but I need to spend some time with them and no dealer in my area.  Like some of you guys I have Thiel CS6 in my system and have been a Thiel guy for 20 years. 

pops,

The CS6 was one of my favorite all time speakers (I had them for a while, long ago). I’m still a Thiel guy. I don’t see getting rid of my 2.7s any time soon.

I love having the Joseph speakers too, though.

Obviously no speaker is perfect and I can, like others, pick nits in every speaker I own. But having said that, I get obsessive when researching speakers before a prospective purchase. I have probably bookmarked everything someone said on the internet about the Joseph speakers :-)And I don’t think I have ever seen as close to that much consensus of approval about a speaker brand anywhere else (that I’m aware of).


It's not like everyone wants to *own* a Joseph speaker of course.   But whether it’s reviews, or user reports, or show reports, whether in "objectivist" or "subjectivist" audio forums, and from users of all different types of speakers from panel to horn, people who have heard the Joseph speakers almost always say how impressed they were.Almost any other speaker I can think of seems more divisive.