oblgny,
I agree the Meadowlark speakers can be wonderful. I’d listened to most of their models (when they existed) and ended up with the Blue Heron speakers at my house for a while. IMO, The Meadowlark sound was characterized by a natural organic woody/warm tone, with an airy open sound, and huge soundstaging - a real disappearing act - and decent dynamics. As you went up the Meadowlark line, and as Pat M. started using more expensive tweeters, the sound became more smooth and refined. And the larger speakers like the Heron were notable for a lush, full midrange.
As much as I absolutely loved the warmth of the Meadowlarks, I did find their tone to be more obviously imposed on the sound vs the more neutral Thiels. (I had the CS6s near to when I had the Meadowlarks).
Also, the Meadowlarks exhibited a well known characteristic with time aligned/first order crossover speakers when used in a typical tweeter/mid layout: a weird interference pattern depending on where you sat. Especially if I would rise higher or stand up, the sound would do this slightly odd change, to a suck-out in the upper mids. It reminded me of the aural equivalent of those images that use ’Lenticular Printing’ where the image shifts or changes as you change your viewing angle. Not a big thing given we tend to sit in one spot listening, but it somehow nagged a bit at me. The coaxial design of the Thiels mitigates this (one of the reasons Jim went in that direction) so not only do I not hear that problem with the Thiels, they are actually one of the better speakers in providing a uniform sound off axis.
Anyway, I agree the Meadowlarks are quite a bargain used.
