Summary: If I can only use one word to describe these Shearwater HotRod speakers, the word would be awesome! Thanks Pat for creating such a great sounding pair of speakers. I got a great deal on Ebay since the pair was damaged cosmetically. These speakers are open, airy, clear, dynamic, and simply wonderful. Currently they are hooked up a Yamaha receiver, which I know it totally don’t do justice to these speakers. But even with the receiver the speakers sound amazing. I can’t even imagine what they will sound like with a nice tube amp. Originally I brought the speakers as the front mains for home theater since they were so cheap and I have a dedicated two channels system. But upon listening to these speakers I was totally mesmerize by the great sound they put out. I think they are worth every penny even at MSRP. The amount of bass these speakers put out is nothing short of a miracle. I have listen to many high-end systems in the past few months including Wilson’s Watt Puppies, Revel Salon, Martin Logan Statement E2, Thiels, Meridian, and other manufacturers. I think the Meadowlark are great bang for the buck speakers.
Strengths: Everything
Weaknesses: The grills are a little cheesy.
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Summary: These are the Hot Rods, and were a demo pair. I really like these! I was looking for a pair of floorstanders to match with my Jolida 502A so they had to be efficient and sensitive. It turns out that these are a GREAT match for tube amps
Strengths: Fantastic mids; vocals and stringed music are silky smooth. Crisp, but never harsh highs, and plenty of bass with no "mud". The beautiful midrange can distract you from the clean, taut bass; but it IS there.
Weaknesses: I wouldn't call it a weakness, but the "grill sock" thingy needs to go. Leave it off.
Similar Products Used: Auditioned many others for about 8 months before buying- Klipsch Reference line was nice, but not quite there. Paradigm Reference was not even close. Joseph Audio was excellent but a lot more $. System Audio (SA-1250) sounded very, very good but didn't have the room-filling feel that the Meadowlarks had. B+W Matrix were great, but not for my 50 watt tube amp. Same with the ML series.
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Summary: I purchased these speakers used and therefore did not have to endure the apparantly dreaded break-in period. What a pleasant suprise these speakers have become. Great imaging and detail without the brightness you would probably get by stepping down a notch to a lessor quality speaker. With at least decent amplification, the bass has nice extension. They come ready for bi-wiring which makes them ideal for running 2 seperate power amps if you wish. I experimented w/ this and was pleased with the results. The bass began to tighten up and "sing" more. Many claim that these speakers sound better w/ tubes. I have found that they sound exceptional w/ solid state as well. They are indeed, however, fussy when it comes to positioning in your listening area. I had to pull mine 3.5 feet away from the back wall before the sound would open up. I purchased a sub-woofer to round out the bottom end before I discovered how sensitive they were to positioning. I found the right position and have not had the sub on for 3 mos. (What a waste of $)The selling point of these speakers is the mid-range. Best mid-range in a 2-way at this price I have heard. Acoustic guitar and keys sound fantastic. Solid construction, good looks, good price (especially used) and most importantly, great sound. I see no reason for me to upgrade anytime soon. I think I will focus more on the electronics.
Other equipment:
Rega Planet 2000
B&K PT3
2 B&K Reference 2220
DH Labs interconnects and speaker cables
Strengths: Price. Smooth detail w/ no harshness. Excellent mid-range and better than average bass extension for a small speaker. Bi-wired.
Weaknesses: Difficult room placement. Not the best for heavier music. Sounds great w/ heavier Porcupine Tree but loses intensity when exposed to anything much heavier.
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Summary: Wow. After finally fine tuning my front end components to where I want it I needed some speakers to match the quality. I've been thru quite of few speakers and this time did more research before I bought them used, which is probably better anyways because they apparently take very long to break-in. Rather than go into a long winded sound analysis, lets just say this will probably my last speaker purchase for years to come. My Shearwaters are the hotrod version.
Associated equipment:
transport- AudioNote CDT-Zero
DAC- MSB Goldlink III with T-1000 Power
peamp- WrightSound VLA12A
amp- CanaryAudio 300B sets
interconnects- TMC
Strengths: warmth, imaging, detail, easy to drive (I use 8 watts), build quality
Weaknesses: grille sock is awkward, but I don't think anyone uses them
Similar Products Used: Infinity Overture 2's, Hale T-3's, Jamo Concert 8's, Axiom 80MTI's
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Rating Reviewed by: Bruno Wichnowski(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date May 6, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 3 Months to 1 year
Review 5 of 38
, from Pittsburgh, PA
Price Paid:
$1700.00
from Private Sale
Summary: Great speaker that's very easy to drive and sounds fantastic! Nice bottom-end to it and very warm, detailed mid-range. Highs are smoother than the metallic dome of my previous B&W 805s and are much more "there".
Strengths: Wonderful imaging and detail. Easy to drive and a pleasure to listen to.
Weaknesses: Somewhat laid back but a minor weakness at best.
Similar Products Used: Proac D15, Vandersteen, B&W N804,
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5 of 5
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