meadowlark nighthawk/ vandersteen 3a sig

I really don't hear anything wrong with the Vandersteen's bass as long as a high damping factor amp is used capable of delivering high current into the relatively low impedance of the speaker. Tube amps are nice in the mids and highs but leave a little to be desired in the bottom. One of the only tube amps I have personally heard that gives a solid bottom is the ARC VT200.
Set up is of the essence. This plays a bigger part than anything into how the bottom ultimately sounds on any speaker.
As for the Meadowlark's, I would like to set the two speakers side by side with the same amp and same source, etc. and make a direct comparison. The two 7" woofers may increase speed a touch but they have their problems also.
You know, it's funny, but I was talking to Steve McCormack and guess what speaker he personally uses? Yes, the Vandersteen 3a Signatures. It seems the speaker must be accurate enough to satisfy some very discriminating listeners. Doug Blackburn on Soundstage uses them as a reference as does one of the contributors for The Absolute Sound, Shane Buettner and also, Richard Hardesty of the Audio Perfectionist Journal just to name a few. Now how many reveiwers use Meadowlark? Think there could be a reason for that?
At the price of the Meadowlark, it would be fair to compare the 3A Signature with the 2Wq subs since this combination would be still be a little less at $6500 than the Meadowlark at $7000+. This combination easily passes the Nighthawk in my opinion.
I have owned several pair of Meadowlark's and I can say without reservation that in each comparison, they have fallen short of the Vandersteen's.
My point is, don't go jumping ship just for something different. You could ultimately regret that move. Make sure you know what you're comparing and do it yourself. If you decide the Meadowlark is for you, then I wish you the best.

Atagi,
What are the chances that what you don't like about the bass in your system has a lot more to do with the room than it does the speakers?

as stated earlier, i'm sure that most if not all of the bass problem is caused by the room. i'm currently experimenting with room treatments to fix this. any suggestions to help get rid of a large peak at 40hz are appreciated. i think that i may not have been clear in my original post but i'm very pleased with the vandersteens, and nitpicking although i would really like to get a bit more soundstage depth. as bigtee suggested, i'm sure a pair of 2wq's would work great. basically, i want to use this thread as a sounding board for comparison between the meadowlarks and the 3a's, because there's not alot of info on the meadowlarks. thanks for all the input guys.

aloha keith

For what it's worth, I have Vandy 3A sigs. and was also frustrated that I wasn't getting the quality of bass that I heard when I paid a visit to Richard Hardesty. Thinking that the difference was the 2wq's that he used I bought a pair. Helped a little but, still not even close to what I heard at his house. Then I visited a new friends house who had a older pair of Vandy 2's. His bass was much tighter and musical than mine. That was when I realized how important the room was. I toyed with the idea of treating my room as discribed at Mr. Hardesty's website. Especially after seeing it first hand.
After reading all that I could find I went with a commercial product instead (Realtraps). I know we have all heard it before but, let me be the next one to say it, it was like buying new speakers. It is hard to beleive all the hype about the room being as important as any other peice of gear but, unfortunatly it is true. Treating a room isn't as sexy and exciting as getting a new peice of audio gear but, it can make a more positve contribution to your system than most other upgrades.

Hey BigTee, as I stated above, "your current speakers are also very good." I agree if you have a high damping factor tube amp the Vadies sing. I was reflecting on personal experience and his equipment. Most likely it is room interaction...

Many reviewers ought to have the 3A's... they are an overachiever at their price point, and have been out for MANY years. I would think it would be a bit unfair to make the comparison on the Nighthawks that have just come into production 5 months ago as to how many reviewers have more of each. However, I too chose this speaker on the premise I felt it was an overachiever for it's price point.

The time and phase aligned speakers of these two companies are much more appealing sonically after having owned and auditioned many other speakers that left you wanting.

Best advice for Keith would be to try to correct the room resonance issues first, and see if what you own (and are paid for!) satisfy you. Room treatment is a major factor in sonics and can really raise your listening satisfaction to the next level. Auditioning is free - however may lead to excessive spending... :)