meadowlark nighthawk/ vandersteen 3a sig

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... :)

Also wanted to mention I was seriously considering purchase of these speakers years ago based upon sonics as well as price/performance ratio. However, some of us have to deal with "other" significant factors as well. When my wife saw the Sig 3A's the reply was something along the lines of "there is NO way those ugly square black socks will find a place in our home." Now, I don't always agree with my better half, however I have also become more wise as to which battles are worth the arguement when they have a "definate mind set." This was not a battle I chose to have. Unfortunately some of us must also rely on aesthetics to play a factor in the purchase as well...

Audiofankj, Sometimes I get confused, are we looking at which speaker looks good or one(s) that sound good in this thread. In the looks department, I would certainly give the nod to the Meadowlarks. However, how much of the production cost goes into those cabinets and how much into the drivers and crossovers? Maybe I deal too much in absolute terms. My point of view is the Vandersteen's offer better performance overall for the money in comparison.
In my reviewer blurb, I'm not just talking about the Nighthawks here but any Meadowlark speaker. Time will tell if reviewers swing to the Nighthawk if and when it ever gets reviewed. I do wish they would review more of Meadowlark's speakers.
You know, I heard all of this about the Meadowlark Osprey. What has happened to them? They were touted as a better alternative to the Vandersteen's.
I do feel Meadowlark makes a decent speaker and I'm sure Pat has thought it out. I also feel that the Vandersteen's HAVE benefitted from the years of refinement that comes with a mature product since new models don't come out very often and usually when they do, it's an upgrade. I have always thought that if you design something well to begin with, then small refinements as technology advances is all that is needed.
Sorry, at the price point of the Nighthawk, I don't believe I could throw them in the class of "Over achiever." $7000+ is getting into some pretty spiffy company and with the Vandersteen 3a Signature running at less than half the price ($3495), well, I just don't see it.
Anyway, I do believe any speaker that addresses time and phase is ahead of the game. I'm glad this issue has been addressed by Meadowlark. Time will tell if and when this speaker will take a place as a timeless classic.