The Latest - And Help Needed!!!

Posted by: Greg Beatty on 01 April 2003

OK All - here's the latest on Greg's Speaker Debacle, if anyone cares. And if you don't care, but are in a position to help, it would be appeciated Smile And for the Naim forum administrators, don't worry - Naim is still in the running.

We took delivery of the Meadowlark Audio Kestrel 2's a few weeks ago. Turned out the finish was way too light for our room and the dealer agreed to order a pair in a premium finsih for us. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!! I remembered seeing a pair of Meadowlark Shearwaters (Hot Rod version) in the shop that were in a finish that would work for us. The added cost of premium finish for the Kestrel 2's in addition to the discount for the older demo pair of Shearwaters got the two speakers close enough in price to be worth a listen. Also, the Shearwaters would go home with us and we would be done.

So I thought.

The Shearwaters are like the original Kestel but bigger and with Scanspeak rather than Vifa drivers. Unbeknownst to me, the wife was having difficulties with the treble on the Kestrels. I could hear that the speaker wasn't the cleanest up top, but it didn't bother me. It bothers her, to the point of not being able to listen to closely mic'ed violins, for example. This might go away with more run-in, I don't know.

At any rate, we went to the shop and put the Kestrels next to the Shearwaters. Jeepers - The Shearwaters were ***clean*** and did everything better. The wife pegged it in 10 seconds - "Those are more musical and they sound clean. I could live with those."

So home they went, home they are, and home they may stay.

Here's the Nag. Next to the Shearwaters in the listening room was a pair of Naim Allaes. Now, I've heard these speakers before while I was demming Totems and didn't exactly get along with them. Here are my notes from the admittedly quick listen:

"Turned out that was a pair of Naim Allae's in the room so had to give 'em a try -
natch. OK - better - fuller sound that the little Totems (about half the width of the
Allaes) but got "hashy" at about the same volume level. They also didn't do the
"space" thing as well, but they were not optimally positioned by any means. As a
check, I replicated the "hash" test with two more CDs and up - still there. Drats -
I'm *finally* ready to get back into the game, and the kit is doing something that I
do not want in my home at any price."

In retrospect, the "space" thing is a non-issue. The "hashy" thing is a BIG issue, given the wife's issues with the Kestrels.

Also at the time, the Allaes were seeming out of reach compared to the 2K Totems. Was I too quick to dismiss the Allaes??? Posts I've read here indicate that they are smoother up top than SBLs, even though many still prefer the SBLs overall. And "bass light" has been written about the Allaes. My room eats bass, so this is an issue. And…I'm looking to drive them with a Nait 5. Is the Nait up to it??? The Nait works well with the Shearwaters, even producing thunderous bass when called for.

Should I pursue the Allaes???

- GregB

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Posted on: 01 April 2003 by Greg Beatty
"Take the Allaes home and test them with your equipment. How the h**l can anybody guess how they will sound in your room?"

Always good advice.

My dealer has been very accomodating and if the Widsom of the Forum could could eliminate the need, then me, my family, and my dealer would be spared the effort. Something like, "Allaes DON'T work with a Nait" for instance or "The bit about Allaes not having bass is rubbish" would be helpful.

The Shearwaters are very good, BTW, and seem happy on the end of a Nait.

- GregB

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Posted on: 04 April 2003 by John Schmidt
Greg,

This won't help your dilemma at all, but I recall responding to your earlier post about the Swift and Kestrel 2 by joking that you might unexpectedly find yourself buying the Osprey. Since the Osprey is the replacement for the Shearwater in the new line, it looks like I guessed right!

I was able to hear the Swift and the Kestrel 2 last weekend at the Montreal audio show. My impression was very good.......for the money.

In another room Pat McGinty (designer and owner of Meadowlark) was playing the new flagship Blue Heron 2. Now that was unconditionally great music, which is of course nothing less than one should expect at US$12,000.

Cheers,

John Schmidt
"90% of everything is crud" - Theodore Sturgeon
Posted on: 04 April 2003 by bec143
Greg,

As I mentioned I demoed neat Elites, Allaes, Harbeth compact somethings and Meadowlark Hot Rod Shearwaters at the end of Naim electronics recently, as well as Audio Physic Sparks and Meadowlark Kestrel II's and Meadowlark Ospreys on non-Naim electronics.

In a direct A/B I thought the Allaes killed the Shearwaters. I found the Shearwater just too dark, bass-heavy, and just nnot my cup of tea (this was on the end of a 52/500 mind you). In contrast, the Allaes were alive and much more interesting. I didn't find them cold or harsh at all, but that was in a very well treated room. I will try them at home in the near future, as well as the Neats Elites, which were also quite excellent.

With regrads to the Kestrel II vs Osprey, I would definately go with the Osprey, although it has a pretty large footprint, and rather distinctive styling that has low WAF in my family. I thought the Kestrel II was harsh up top, and missing too much in the bottom. The Osprey was really good, and the cost is right in between the Elites and the Allaes. I heard these speakers through oustanding elctronics as well (non-Nain).

The Meadowlarks have the advatage of being very easy to drive, although I think my 112/Hi/150 could probably do OK with any of them. I'll have them all go through a WAF test, and demo a few at home.

Bruce
Posted on: 04 April 2003 by Greg Beatty
The Ospreys are a nonstarter for us due to the size - they would overpower our room, especially since they don't like hugging walls.

I agree about the Shearwaters - they are very good sounding speakers but they don't go beyond that. They sound like speakers! Albeit VERY good ones if they are to taste.

Pat McGinty assures me that the Kestrel 2s treble cleans up with run in. Takes 200+ hours of hard playing.

In better news, my dealer as agreed to take the Shearwaters back so we get to demo Allaes - probably on Saturday. They don't send speakers for home dems though, but I'm betting we get 'em. If we don't take the demo pair, I wonder how long it would take NANA to ship a pair.

- GregB

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