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Joseph Audio Perspective2 vs Harbeth SHL5+

I currently own Harbeth SHL5+ and I’m generally very happy with them. I’m driving them with Audio Hungary a50i tube amp (50 watts class A) and don’t feel that the amp struggles at all. I have an opportunity to buy a used pair of Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphene in excellent condition. Just wondering if anyone has had a chance to compare the JA Perspective2 with SHL5+. From what I understand they sound quite different but I’m not sure how. The Perspectives are obviously quite a bit more expensive than the Harbeths but I understand that this doesn’t automatically imply that they are better. Someone told me that the Perspective 2 is more in Harbeth 40.x league instead of SHL5+.

As good as the SHL5+ are, I do sometimes yearn for a wider and deeper soundstage with bigger bass (although I have a pair of REL S/510s to supplement). I would really appreciate if people who have made the move from SHL5+ to JA Perespective2 Graphene, or vice versa, can share their impressions.

Note: My room is 20 x 15 with 12 foot high ceilings. The speakers will be placed along the short wall. I can pull them out by 4 feet from the front wall and about 2 feet from the side walls. My room is treated with GIK panels. My biggest concern is whether my AH Qualiton a50i will be able to drive the Joseph Audios well.

 

128x128arafiq
prof
3,471 posts
 

joc3021

As I remember Jeff Joseph showed the Perspective 2s in Munich in a large room and people were wowed by the sound.

16 x 30 is certainly very big so who knows?  But also...how close will you be sitting?  That would matter too, obviously.

(I also had dual subs for a little while with my Thiels, which have the same frequency range as the Perspectives.  I found I didn't need them either.  And actually, having tube rolled KT120 tubes in to my CJ premier 12 monoblocks for the first time a while back, the increase in bass response makes subwoofers feel even less necessary).

 

joc3021
100 posts
 

Prof, tks.  Guess I won't know until I try. Concern is losing sense of scale with big music in such a large room.  On subs, I've tried many over the years, has never worked for me.  Much prefer a single, full range design.

bjesien
1,283 posts
 

One of my favorite speakers lately is the Verity Otello. Has anyone compared the Otello (beats the Leonore by a wide margin) to the Joseph?  Another brand I'm really liking is Fyne.

prof
3,471 posts
 

bjesien

I can't speak to the Verity Otello model, but I was fairly familiar with Verity speakers of the past, especially the Verity Audio Parsifal Ovation speakers, which a friend had for quite a while.

My general take on the Verity sound up to that time is that they were a very easy to listen to, smooth speaker, with nice texture for good string tone etc.   They had a sort of automatic "vinyl" tonality to my ear.  So I always found them easy and inviting to listen to.  Also nicely controlled from top to bottom, and did excellent soundstaging.  Plus the design was very room friendly.

In a way I'd say the Verity speakers truck me as almost a 1/2 point between the classic Spendor-like sound, and a more modern speaker.

Still going on memory compared to my current experience with Joseph Audio: for me the Joseph sound is more engaging, more pure in terms of timbre, a bit more clean and clear, a bit less texture than the Verity, but also cast a bigger sound for their size than the equivalent Verity speaker.  (The Parsifal's always disappeared and soundstaged really well, but didn't really sound "big" in terms of instrument and soundstage size, in any surprising way).

Also I find the Joseph speakers with their punchy bass have more fun factor.  The Verity speakers of my experience aren't something I'd leap to put on my Funk or Dance  records.

FWIW...

I would like to hear a newer Verity speaker sometime.  I don't know how much they've updated their sound.

 

prof
3,471 posts
 

 

Dang, I hope @arafiq has had time to listen to his new system!  :-)

 

 

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