SSI 2010

With the Joseph Audio Pulsar ($7000/pair), introduced at the 2009 CES, Jeff Joseph’s goal was to turn his top-of-the-line Pearl into “a convenient, single-serving size speaker with real bass slam.” The Pearl’s 1” tweeter is mated to a magnesium-done woofer made by Seas to Joseph’s specs. Joseph explained that the Pulsar is designed to radiate sound evenly over a very wide angle to avoid wave interference, and make for simple placement and good sound throughout the listening room.

Here, the Pulsar was partnered with Simaudio’s 700i integrated amplifier ($12,000) and Moon 750D CD transport/DAC ($12,000). Joseph sat behind me and used his iPhone as a remote to control his iBook, which was supplied with a 1TB hard-drive. Speaker cables and interconnects were Cardas’s Clear Beyond.

Joseph scrolled along the screen of his iPhone and selected Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York.” The sound was rich and immediate, with well-delineated images placed within an expansive soundstage. The song was gorgeous.

Is everyone trying to kill me today, I wondered.

“This song kills me,” I confessed to Jeff.

His expression asked for clarification.

“An amazing girl once put this song on a mix CD for me,” I explained.

“Did you marry her?” Jeff asked.

“No,” I sighed. “She’s married to someone else now.”

“Oh, that’s sad.”

“No,” I reflected. “It’s not, really.”

But I thought of her and remembered things and let the song take me away.