I just bought a pair of these speakers after extensive auditioning. I don't know of any speaker on the market at anywhere near the price that can touch them. The bass is incredibly fast, the highs are clear as a bell, and the mids are dead accurate. I'm running them with an Acurus A-200, a combination that I find very pleasing.
When I started shopping, I thought I'd buy minimonitors for the imaging. Well, guess what? The Josephs can image with any minimonitor I heard, and you don't have to fuss with stands.

BTW, I have not yet taken advantage of the option to load the speakers with sand. I expect that when I do load them (probably this weekend), the bass will only get tighter.

Anybody planning to spend anywhere remotely near $2300 should put these speakers on the must-hear list.

I have compared these speakers to Linn, PSB, Monitor Audio, Mission, Paradigm, B&W and JBL (yes I know JBL's have a sound of their own, but I use them for recording).
The Joseph's beat all of them, they have a great sound, very clean and detailed. Their only problem is that you can have the volume much louder than you realize. Since I live in an apartment this can create a little problem for me!

I have tried them with Bryston, Nakamichi, Quad, AMC and Carver power amps. I was running them with an A760x (380w per channel - now you know where my volume problems come from!). The sound with these was excellent, when I was listening to vinyl I could place the performers, hear the overtones and timbres, spot the use of studio compression. Even with CD (tube CD player), the sound was very dynamic.

The speakers are capable of reproducing everything that goes into them and not hiding anything. I had thought this set up prefect until I tried bi-amping them. I am using a pair of monoblocked Carver TFM15b's for the bass/mid and a pair of monoblocked TFM6b's for the top. With this set up the sound is even more detailled. You can hear the tonal variations between Robert Cray and Eric Clapton's interplay on "Old Love" (Journeyman). When Earl Wild plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2, you can hear the timbre of the notes and the way he flows across the keys. On Janis Ian's Breaking Silence, the sound of her voice and the guitar are right there in the room with you. Of course all of this is on vinyl (using a Linn LP12, Ittok and Benz Glider). CD still gives more detail and better imaging than with the single amp, but doesn't compare to the LP.

I guess that the only thing I can try with them now is tube amps! If I win the lottery!! For the price, I don't think that there is a speaker to touch them.

Just one thing. I agree with Warren on the veneer. Mine are also cherry and I have marked the veneer slightly while moving them.

Smooth sound, very coherent two way. Images with the best mini-monitors. Tight, fast and clean bass.

Veneer is easily damaged. With grills left on and placed near a window, the veneer
not covered by the grill darkens considerably. Suggest leaving the grills off until the veneer darkens.

Follow Up Review(See first review)

I have had these in my system for the past nine months and am very pleased.
With the old the CDs I listen to I am amazed at the detail I am now hearing.
I find I can listen to hours without being fatigued.

I decided to try to mate the Josephs with the REL Stata II Subwoofer. Wow, I think I found
the complete speaker. The bass on the RELs work very well with the Josephs. I have the REL's set at their next to lowest crossover point and it gives the bass more weight without adding thickness to the wonderful mid-bass or midrange.

I had my original pair replaced by Jeff Joseph (very helpful and nice guy) because they got mangled in shipping. (Don't use UPS). The veneer on the second pair is much nicer and more uniform.

Overall I have yet to hear a speaker I liked more in this price range (up to $3,500 USD) with my gear.

I hope you all get a chance to listen to these. They deserve to be appreciated by music lovers.

PS. Some great sounding music to audition these speakers by are;

Tchaikovsky
"1812 Overture & Beethoven Wellington's Victory"Anatal Dorati, cond, Minneapolis Symph, Mercury Living Presence Mercury Classics 34360

NdegeOcello, Me'shell, "Peace Beyond Passion"

Gomez, "Bring it On"

BRUBECK,DAVE;"TIME OUT(REMASTERED)"

BYRDS,"20 ESSENTIAL TRACKS FROM"

Bern,Dan;"Dan Bern" Sony 67644

Pavement, "Terror Twilight", Matador

Air,"Moon Safari", Astrelwerks


Enjoy the music!

Similar Products Used:

See review below

Smooth sound, very coherent two way. Images with the best mini-monitors. Tight, fast and clean bass.

Veneer is easily damaged. With grills left on and placed near a window, the veneer
not covered by the grill darkens considerably. Suggest leaving the grills off until the veneer darkens.

Follow Up Review(See first review)

I have had these in my system for the past nine months and am very pleased.
With the old the CDs I listen to I am amazed at the detail I am now hearing.
I find I can listen to hours without being fatigued.

I decided to try to mate the Josephs with the REL Stata II Subwoofer. Wow, I think I found
the complete speaker. The bass on the RELs work very well with the Josephs. I have the REL's set at their next to lowest crossover point and it gives the bass more weight without adding thickness to the wonderful mid-bass or midrange.

I had my original pair replaced by Jeff Joseph (very helpful and nice guy) because they got mangled in shipping. (Don't use UPS). The veneer on the second pair is much nicer and more uniform.

Overall I have yet to hear a speaker I liked more in this price range (up to $3,500 USD) with my gear.

I hope you all get a chance to listen to these. They deserve to be appreciated by music lovers.

PS. Some great sounding music to audition these speakers by are;

Tchaikovsky
"1812 Overture & Beethoven Wellington's Victory"Anatal Dorati, cond, Minneapolis Symph, Mercury Living Presence Mercury Classics 34360

NdegeOcello, Me'shell, "Peace Beyond Passion"

Gomez, "Bring it On"

BRUBECK,DAVE;"TIME OUT(REMASTERED)"

BYRDS,"20 ESSENTIAL TRACKS FROM"

Bern,Dan;"Dan Bern" Sony 67644

Pavement, "Terror Twilight", Matador

Air,"Moon Safari", Astrelwerks


Enjoy the music!

Similar Products Used:

See review below

Ireallylovedthesespeakers...
The above may seem gramatically incorrect... but not so, from a listening point of view. Top to bottom coherency is the ultimate challenge in speaker design, and these babies FLOW fluently throughout the musical spectrum. Quality crossover design, quality drivers/components, quality enclosure, quality sound. Slightly ineficient, but with the proper electronics, a gem of a speaker. Truly worth an audition, and worthy of 5 stars. To note, I prefer a 2-way design - simplistic, and more musical and tight than a comparable 3-way at the same price. More for the money, IMHO...

congested,analytical,bright

I don't get it. I had these speakers in my home for a month and was very unhappy with the sound. The sound was harsh, bright, and very thin. There was detail, but it just seemed to be a big noisy mess. I bought them based on the great reviews. Big mistake. I played with them for a month, adjusting position and trying different cables and interconnects. I just couldn't get it right.
I was upgrading from Meadowlark Kestrels. The Kestrels were much nicer speakers. They are more natural, have depth and much more punch. They also sell for about $700 less for the more expensive Hot Rod version. I listened to many speakers including the Shearwaters, Trios, B&W Nautilus 804 and 805s and Aeriel Acoustics. I bought the Aeriel 6s. All the other speakers were better then the Josephs.
My equipment is a krell integrated, Arcam 9 cd and Aeriel 6 speakers. I have cardas cross speaker cable
and Jenalabs interconnects. There was a review in Stereophyle that called these a "great white wine speaker". I like white wine, but I'll take a full bodied red wine speaker any time.

Similar Products Used:

Shearwaters,Aeriel acoustics 6, Platinum Trios

Smooth, balanced, very detailed but non-fatiguing sound, very broad "sweet spot"

Very slight lack of "sparkle" on high end

I can't dispute the previous reviewer's experience(equipment mismatch, bad room, something broken, just preferences ???) but I've had a very different experience with my RM22si's. I ordered them from the factory on a two-week home trial because there is no Joseph dealer in my vicinity. After two weeks of listening to a variety of music (Beethoven to the Dead, Susan Tedeschi to Patricia Barber, Danny Gatton to Albert Lee) I bought the speakers.

Fit and Finish: Quality cabinet work, sturdy grilles, clean contemporary appearance with a high Spouse Acceptance Factor.

Setup: Very predictable responses to room placement. The soundstage is nicely elevated (unlike the ankle-high Thiels) and very broad (unlike the head-in-a-vise Aerius sweet spot).

Sound: Combines balance and clarity without any fatiguing "brightness" (this is where my experience is very different from the last reviewer's). I can listen for hours at a time with no fatigue. Bass is quite good without a bass "hump". It's easy to distinguish steel strings vs. nylon strings on guitar parts, hear individual background vocalists, count the beans in a pair of castanets (well, maybe not :). And as the volume increases, they just get...louder. They remain clear and composed at all volume levels within reason. An added bonus is that they maintain their balance at low volume levels, so late-night listeners can have an enjoyable time without cranking it up.

Nitpicks: The silk dome tweeter is definitely more "sweet" than "bright". This is especially noticeable on cymbals. However, unlike other "smooth" speakers I've auditioned, there is no loss of detail at high frequencies. Removing the speaker grilles, as Joseph recommends for critical listening, aids high frequencies and improves imaging. And home theater lovers should probably look to a high-quality subwoofer (but unnecessary for music listening).

Summary: a beautifully integrated, clear, relaxed and uncolored full-range speaker that's well-worth an audition.

Relevant Associated Equipment:

Hafler DH-200 amplifier (100 wpc MOSFET)
Hafler DH-110 preamp
Rotel RCD-951 CD player
Yamaha D-71 turntable w/Grado F1+ cartridge

Room size: 14x17x8 (feet)

Similar Products Used:

Martin-Logan Aerius i, NHT 2.5i, Paradigm Reference Studio 80, Thiel 0.5 and 1.5

I took a listen to these and were NOT overly thrilled with them.
Associated equipment:
Golden Tube Audio Pre/Amp
Rega Jupiter CD Player

The bass sounded like a completely different speaker from the mids and highs. The mids and high were extremely fatiguing and in your face. No real soundstage depth at all. Detail, yes these speakers had detail in abundance but at the cost of being harsh and bright. In comparison to the Sonus Faber Grand Piano, I thought the Sonus Fabers were much more natural sounding, had much more soundstage depth and were MUCH easier to listen to while not sacrificing much detail while maintaining a natural image proportions and size. The Alon 3s threw a much bigger soundstage and had more natural timbres. Maybe I DO like a certain kind of sound (Alon 3, Aerial 8, SF Grand Piano), but this is NOT that sound.

virtually identical to the prior review

same

Please see my other review of the RM25si, which I also own, for background on the system environment. many of the same sonic characteristics apply to both speakers.

I bought the 22s to be the rear speakers in a home theater setup that had RM 25si's in the front, with a cynergy in the center, but the RM25s were delayed in shipment waiting for cabinets.

So I used the 22s as my primary audio speakers for about a month. The highs and mids were awesome, but I was a little disappointed. The speakers seemed overwhelmed in my admittedly somewhat large home theater room, straining to reproduce low frequency content. So, I decided to wait and see what happened when the 25s arrived.

In the meantime, I moved the speakers to a smaller room in the house, measuring about 13x15, and used them with a Carver CT17 pre and 634 amplifier.

The difference was breathtaking. Suddenly the speakers came alive. The low end extension was amazing. honest, clean 32hz and below from a speaker with one 6.5"driver!! Great vocals, wide sweetspot. The difference that the room size made was incredible.

Once the 25s arrived, I assembled the whole HT system in the large room and it sounded incredible, with the 25s in the front, the 22s in the rear, and the cynergy in the center.

but somehow it seemed a waste to not use the 22s in the smaller room system.

So, today, I most of the time use some B&W602S2 speakers for the rears in my HT for non-critical listening, and have properly placed the RM22si's in a system of their own in the other, smaller library environment.

So, if you have a moderate sized room, the rm 22s are an outstanding choice that will deliver great sound. Yes, the 25's are better for main speakers in a larger room, but I have to say that the overall balance of the 22 in the right listening environment is unmatched by speakers costing 2-4x as much. Sweet highs, lifelike vocals, solid bass, large soundstage.

Lastly, the cabinet quality is top quality, with perfectly matched hardwood veneers, beautiful drivers, and spotless workmanship. I have never even had the grilles on the speakers. My wife even likes them better without grilles !

Similar Products Used:

Please see my other review for the RM25 SI. I listened to many speakers from $2k to $20k+ before buying these.