Joseph Audio: Perspectives and Pearls

stereo5,

Having done tons of research on the Joseph Speakers while I was deciding whether to buy, I looked over years of reviews, user reports, show reports, and audiophile impressions.

I'm not sure I've seen a speaker manufacture get as much uniformity of praise as I've seen for the Joseph speakers.  Even if, as you say they weren't for you, almost everyone praises the quality of the sound. 

It's interesting the brand isn't bigger than it is.  I guess some look at them as just "more drivers in a box" and there's lots of competition out there.  Aside from the luxurious sound quality, I find the craftsmanship in regard to the design/aesthetics/execution of the speakers to enter the realm of 'audio jewelry' and I'm ok paying some more for that type of pride of owner ship. 

I have not compared perspectives to peals but own perspectives.  I’ve gone through a couple of amp upgrades and preamp upgrades and continue to be impressed with the perspectives.  They sound better with every upgrade.  I’m not convinced I can spend enough on hardware upgrades to surpass the capabilities of the perspectives in my room and setup.  I do think you can go wrong with either.  Also Jeff is great source of info and to work with.  

Agree on all counts regarding Jeff and his holistic approach to design and execution. While I definitely appreciate craft (e.g. Dr. Bews from LFD hand-wrapping components), in the end I am evaluating the sound. Jeff spent an hour with me talking on the phone about some achievable adjustments to my room. In today's world, that is indeed rare, even for someone contemplating $45k speakers. 

I am quite sure that the Perspectives will be transformative with my current gear, I also don't want to find myself wondering if I should have bought the Pearls. The test will be a solid listening session using some of my "reference" recordings. It is interesting that no one has appeared here who did an A/B with these models. Hopefully someone will take note!

This might be a bit of a long shot, but there’s a guy selling his Sapele Perspective 2s on USAM who’s upgrading to Pearls, so I’d think he’d have some very good insights regarding their similarities and differences if you can get in touch with him.  Worth a shot I’d think.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649920381-joseph-audio-perspective2-sapele-finish-graphene-woofer/
 

Forum member:

@astewart8944 

Had the Perspectives and upgraded to the Pearls.  He's done side by side comparisons.  We've discussed it in messages.  Perhaps he'll chime in.

In a nutshell his findings were the Pearls had a more solid bottom end, a more convincing soundstage, slightly smoother highs (though I think he had the original Perspectives, the graphene version is smoother).  Basically the "more of the Perspectives" - a more complete and convincing sonic picture.  Which is what I think one would expect.   The question is money and whether the Pearls suite a particular room etc.