After carefull listening to speakers in the $3,000-5,000 price range, I brought home for trial a pair of Kestrels Hot Rods, wich back in 2003 retailled for $1,600. They never returned to the audio dealer and are sitll there after almost seven years still giving the most sublime listening experience I ever had. These are the most musical, non fatiging speakers I've ever heard. Soundstage is excellent, instruments and vocal are perfectly placed, just like having the band and the vocalists right in front of you. A friend of mine the other day told me while listening, the speakers are physically in front of us, but they actually dissapear leaving just pure music. Craftmanship is superb, mine are finished in redwood, and I mean real wood. Anyone looking for affordable speakers should listen to these babies. Believe me, no one will be dissapointed.

Very musical and uncolored. All Meadowlarks are time coherent and use first order crossovers for a very unfatiguing and natural reproduction of the music. High quality drivers are used and the build quality of the enclosures is first rate.

These speakers reproduce the signal coming from your electronic components quite faithfully. Mediocre equipment will produce mediocre sound.

I had owned a pair of Meadowlark Swifts and was quite impressed with their performance. When I upgraded my two channel system, I purchased a pair of Kestrel 2's to compliment my new Parasound amp and pre-amp. These speakers have exceeded all my expectations. Like a fine wine, they improved with age. It takes quite a while for them to break in but after about two hundred hours they really come alive. The imaging is superb and they have a wide soundstage. With jazz and vocals, it's as if the musicians are actually in the room with you. Initially, I was a bit skeptical about the bass but after the break in, it improves dramatically and becomes quite tight and full. I couldn't be happier with the sound. As an extra added attraction, the speakers are beautifully crafted. Mine are in dark ash and are finished like fine furniture. They are not mass produced and can be customized in very exotic finishes. Photographs really do not do justice to how nice these speakers look. If your tastes lean towards deep pounding bass you may want to look elsewhere but if you enjoy pure, uncolored sound that is expressive and detailed then audition these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Totem, M&K, Klipsch.

Everything I listed and then some.

Not really a weakness, but you must allow for at least 100 hours break-in on the drivers.

This Review is for the Kestrel 2. After checking out all the big names in audio speakers many times a friend lead me to the Meadowlark line of speakers. I auditioned many speakers in higher price ranges and these are just plain better. Imaging is outstanding, the best I have heard. The Bass is tight and very good for the speakers size. Treble is to die for. I compared these to the best B&W had to offer and I was shocked that these sounded cleaner and more solid. The have a very "naked" unconfused sound to them. They make you smile. Now the build quality is the best I have ever seen. Real wood baffels.. Sleek design. AN THEY ARE SOLID!! I MEAN ROCK SOLID. The crossovers have thier own sound proof internal inclosure. Truely Amazing. Meadowlark is relatively small company located in Watertown NY. They hand build and test every speaker. You could not ask for better customer service. If you ask me there is no other choice anywhere near this price range. In fact for under 10 Grand there is no other speaker that compares. They use super high Danish drivers. YOU MUST ALLOW THEM TO BREAK IN FOR AT LEAST 100 hours.

Similar Products Used:

Mcintosh, B&W, Martin Logan, Thiel, Ariel Acoustics, Snell, Joseph Audio,

Music

this review is for the Meadowlark Kestral II , Before the Kestrals, I was a sceptic on speaker break-in. However after more than 200 hrs the Kestral 2's begain to evolve into a smooth controled speaker. Made me a believer. The Kestrals are simply amaizing with detail, imaging, and have an almost three dimensional soundstage. Bass response is puncy, never boomy. Very beautiful, solid ,well designed and top notch build. The Kestral II is a very musical speaker that gets you involved with the music. I liked the Meadowlark sound so much I upgraded to the Ospreys which are fantastic.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Von Schweikert, Vandersteen,

value for money

none

This guy John from MD calling the Kestrel for a boat anchor, s... and advicing people to "stay away from the speaker" etc., comes up with such a judgement without any kind of explanations. If one want to judge a product so badly as done here, one must at least expect some kind of explanation. But no - John just simply attacks like a beast or maybe simply does not have any kind of knowledge when talking highend. I think reviews like Johns should be kept out simply because it´s not serious enough. People can love or hate a loudspeaker and of course write about it, but it should be followed by an explanation. It´s too easy just throwing mud like that. OK - I think this speaker is great value for money. Sweet non fatiquing treble, crisp and clear mids with a lot af details. The bass is of course not the deepest one have heard, but then again for a cabinet this size, the price etc. it´s great- The "anchor style" is beautiful I think, and a great deal of explanation to why such a small speaker can sound so great - did you get the point John!! Of course your listening room should always suit your speaker or is opposite, especially when talking bass.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 804, Heco Anniversary(Biig german tank)Maarten Miles, Avalon Avatar, and many many more

Open, natural sound; Excellent soundstage; non-fatiguing; affordable hi-end sound

Cumbersome grill cloth that is best left untouched

After a lengthy auditioning quest for great sound at the $2,000 and under price range, I went with the Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods and couldn't be more pleased. My system consists of a Jolida 502-A Integrated Amp and a Rega Planet 2000 CD Player. Meadowlark claims these speakers simply "disappear" when the music starts and once you hear the Kestrels you'll know what they mean. This is due to a unique design of the speaker cabinet that is beyond my expertise to describe. The soundstage is as open as can be and bass is quite full (but never punchy) for a speaker of this size. "Natural" is the best term to describe the way these speakers reproduce sound. I noticed no coloration nor brightness, yet the speakers are lively and full of detail. I'm not much of a Beach Boys fan, but a friend suggested I listen to their harmonies on the Kestrels. My jaw just dropped as I heard their voices layered in. It was unreal! They were there in the room with me. It was 1964 again! If you audition these speakers, bring lots of music and you'll listen for hours because they have a zero fatigue factor. These speakers have been around awhile and you'll rarely see them for sale on Audiogon or Ebay. There's a reason for that.............nobody wants to part with them! Of the other auditioned speakers listed below, the B&W 7NT would rank second in my opinion. It was a more expensive speaker though and the soundstage wasn't as large. It all comes down to what sounds best to you, but do audition these speakers if you're on a limited budget because they're awfully tough to beat. The Kestrel soars.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Kirksaeter, Totem, Vandersteen

I first read about these on GoodSound.com which prompted me to include them in my search for great floor standing speakers for $2,000 or less. I listened to many speakers but never found a combination of sound quality and value like these. Beautiful cabinets too. Truly a studio quality speaker. At the time these retailed for $995 and I found a great little store in NJ which shipped them to me free, with no tax and then knocked $100 off due to my long wait thanks to the UPS strike.

Wonderful mids and highs...tight and musical bass...and they sound beautiful at moderate listening levels too...they really (emotionally) involve you in the music

none...bass

Love them...thats it...musically they are fantastic...and beautiful to see and touch also...I left the grills on... my system is simple...Yamaha 100 w amp and Cal Labs DX-2...Pioneer Turntable and Fisher (?) Tuner... I prefer the solid state sound and every time I listen to these I am amazed what really impressed me was when the woman I was dating actully cried during Copeland''s "Fanfare for the Common Man"...telling me how beautiful it was...these are the Hot Rod version

Similar Products Used:

tried various Totem, PSB and B&W all similarly priced and the Kestrels killed them all

Detail, soundstage, accuracy, balance

For the money, none

I purchased my Kestrels a bit over a year ago, from a dealer in Wisconsin who had just a few and was not familiar with their potential. As a result, I acquired them for a great close out price of $800. What a steal. I find the soundstage and imaging comparable to speakers 2-3X in price range. Very happy, and what I find most impressive is the ability to listen to these speakers for long periods of time, without fatigue, at modest listening levels (because they are so accurage and don't require being over cranked).
My system consists of a vintage Harman Kardon Citation II Tube amp with Genelex KT 88's, a newer Dynaco PAS 4 tube amp, a Marantz 67SE CD, and a vintage Pioneer PL-50 turntable. Vinyl & CD's alike sound great. An absolute stunning method to enter higher end audio at a modest price.

Similar Products Used:

Paradign Studio 20's, Theil, Sound Dynamics

Good balance, natural sounding, great for Jazz

awkward cloth grille

Although these are bottom of the line speakers from Meadowlark, they are great speakers. They are natural sounding and excellent for Jazz. They are also a perfect fit for our small living room space (14ft x 10ft). For larger spaces it might be worthwhile considering scaling up to other Meadowlark offerings. Surround sound consumers -- make sure that you buy an amplifier that can handle impedance of 4ohms. This is because Meadowlark only makes one center channel (pairs well with the Kestrel), which operates at 4ohms.