A tubed integrated amp for Joseph Audio Pulsars?

By the way, twoleftears, that's a $20,000 amp.

From Soundstage Hi-Fi: "The Pulsar is, at least on paper, a uniform and benign load with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms that never drops below 6 ohms -- perfect for tube amps."

So, the sensitivity and that statement appear to be in contrast, which is one of the primary reasons I’m seeking guidance here.

Thanks for the amp choices. Have you all ever actually driven the Pulsars with those amps?

Thanks. I think some of you are just throwing amps out there without comment. I mean, the Line Magnetic is 22wpc. Have you actually used this thing with Pulsars. Have any of you? I know ALL the amp companies practically. I'm looking for voices of experience WITH THESE SPEAKERS, not amp recommendations.

Thanks guys.

Seigen, I auditioned the VSi 75 and just wasn't all that impressed, but people love it, so ears count. The MA252 looks lovely and maybe even a value.

Thanks, rlb61. That's great advice, and, currently (no pun intended), that's what I have running through them.

Dave and Troy, thanks for the introduction. Those amps I haven't heard of, though might have seen them down in Virginia at deja vu. I'd love to hear them. I know you're dealers, but: reliability and service?

Both Synthesis and VAC look very interesting. This is getting tougher than craft beer!
SOIX, you are so enthusiastic! Yeah, I'm a JA fan. I moved up from the RM25si Signature to the Pulsars. I have just loved them from the get-go, although if I lived in a big house I might have horn speakers.
That said, I went to Capital Audiofest a few years ago and dropped "The Legendary Buster Smith" on them in the room showcasing JA Pearls/Luxman and mouths just dropped. What a grand combo that was. Moved into the Pulsar room next door and tried the same song. Obviously not the same, but I knew the Pulsars were the magic I wanted. It was them or Harbeth, and I think I bit on the dynamism of the Pulsars a little hard. No regrets, though, really. Interconnects by Kimber. Speaker cable is in old pair of Straightwire Maestro that one day might get replaced.

beeswax

SOIX,
I'm perfectly content with my Kimber Hero interconnects and Kimber PK Base power cord. I'm not on a mad perfectionist pursuit; I just want a really fine system. As to your question: I purchased the Joseph Audio RM25si MKII Signature speakers and never sent them in for the upgrade when that came around. I found them light years better than the RM22si, and yet in my years with them (and there were a lot of them), I couldn't pinpoint why I didn't fully love them and always felt a desire for better, for more. I heard into the mix, and the bass was tight when I upgraded my tube complement in the amp, but I felt slighted in that representational fullness - the flesh, the weighty substance of how instruments and voices ought to sound. I learned a lot through those speakers, particularly about the importance of sources: The most important part of my system is my  media - the vinyl, the CD (for some, the file). The quality of that is No. 1. Then I don't know if it's source components or speakers, but it's pretty close. When I added - modded CD player, better cartridge, better cabling - all that showed up in the RM25si speakers. But honestly? In my 13x21 room, when I swapped in Rogers Ls3/5a speakers, classic British mini monitors vs. floor standers, all the bass disappeared but I found myself going, "Oh, my God," when putting on acoustic jazz, voice or even a track by Radiohead. Suddenly imaging and the rightness of the instrument sounds were so much better. I knew if I ever got a bigger place with a small room for a second system, the Rogers would own it, but the RM25si's now had to go. I think a lot of people would have left Joseph Audio right then and gone to other brands, but I had been in those rooms with the Pearls and Pulsars (and also in rooms with a lot of other speakers I liked, especially Harbeth and Audio Note and horns and big electrostatic Martin Logans, and crazy speakers like Oskar Heil) and knew I needed to just spend my way into a better place, and I did. The Pulsars remind me of my old '88 BMW 325i - they sound tightly torqued and really grip the music. The bass, whether electric rock or acoustic jazz or a bangin' trap producer's depth charges is so off-the-charts good it's not funny. There is some review out there where the guy at the show said he looked behind a curtain for a subwoofer when he heard them because he couldn't believe the bass. I laughed when I read it because it's like that. Yet there also is a huge soundstage, clear image, a lovely subtlety about them along with that torque sensation. They are startling at low and high volumes.  They don't present things passively or softly. They command attention with vividness, which the RM25si's did, but in your mind triple that and triple the representation of quality bass. I played Stephen Hough's "The Dream Album," last night (like an enchanted child's idea of a perfect classical piano recital) and wanted for nothing. But, then, I had upgraded my primary source player to a Bryston BCD-3 two days after I posted this, and realize now I might not even need to do a new amp. It's absurd how sweet the music is here. I've always been an audiophile yet only recently have had truly audiophile quality equipment. I can live contentedly without it, and most people do, but I don't need THE BEST; I just need great. I still might check out a VAC, but I'm wheeling back to the idea of components before amp and so, perhaps, that long-coveted turntable is now next in line.

Well, sure, I would love Doshi, but they are super pricey and there is no integrated. I didn't realize when I bought the speakers, they were going to need at least 60 watts of power (which they are getting now from the Jolida 502B). I almost matched them with a Jadis I-35 (the North American distributor is a jerk, but that's another story). If I'm going to get something like a Continuum S2 I'd probably go get a top-line Luxman L-509X, which I've heard sing magically with the Pulsars at shows.  \\

Moto_Man, you're going to be very happy.

As for CJ, everyone I talk with says their quality has gone down the "tubes."

So, still sitting on the rock.

(Laughing) Not ANOTHER upgrade!!!!!!!

You know, perhaps its a way to up the price of the Pulsars to a point the company believes is justified, considering their quality and reviews. Maybe the new model is better, I don't know. I've read some on some boards calling Pulsars overpriced as is. I was happy to pay for them, but I couldn't do that new price. I'll probably have to reach out to JA to ask if there is an upgrade path, but how do you know if that's something you even want to do if you're already content?

I like the idea of greater corrosion protection, since I fully plan to live forever . . and ever.

You know what I suddenly just wished? That sales of all audio equipment were tracked and published and we could see, in numbers, what everyone, everywhere, is really buying.

No more than a TV show being top-rated would make me watch it. How you extrapolated what you wrote from my post is beyond me.

jafant, sadly, no. I will say that swapping the JJ KT88s out for Gold Lion tubes has made a tremendous difference. The Jolida is a fine little amp, but I am looking to change (two years after the post!) and I've also been looking at a phono stage to replace my acoustic signature Tango. I've been thinking again about completing a plan I had - which was to take home and trial a Conrad Johnson CV45-S2, although it has its shortcomings (concerned about passive pre, only three inputs, not 8ohms, no balance knob). Why do I move at such a glacial pace?

 

Nice, NEXT8. Good rec.