proac 2.5, heron i,or virgos

I just bought Heron i speakers. I was lucky enough to hear them at home with a Classe Ca 151. The combination was great, and I am looking for a good deal on a Classe 201. I can tell you for sure that the Meadowlarks are great speakers. They do everything right, including amazing bass, imaging, soundstage and detail. The Classe was smooth and natural, never hard to listen to, no listener fatigue. I heard the Virgos at my dealer before I bought the Herons from him. I chose the Meadowlarks, for what I thought was a sweeter and more natural midrange, and much better bass. I am unsure why they are not more popular. I think for the money, they are the best I could have gotten. If you email me, I could tell you where you could find a great deal on a pair.

TRYING TO COMPARE MEADOWLARK TO AUDIO PHYSIC IS LIKE COMPARING PEUGOT TO BMW OR MERCEDES.i DONT THINK YOU WILL HAVE A HARD TIME DETERMINING THE DIFFERENCE IN CLARITY MUSICALITY AND SEAMLESSNESS.PRO-AC IS EVEN BETTER THAN MEADOWLARK.I WILL TELL YOU THAT VIRGO'S LOVE TUBES

i've heard the meadowlark kestrel hot-rod, the proac tablette signature 2000's, the proac 1.5's the proac 2.5's. the meadowlark was very nice, but even the little tablette 2000 was better, in all areas, except, of course, the bass. the proacs are much more transparent than the hot-rod kestrel, at least - dunno about the heron. also haven't heard the audio-physic... but, even the li'l tablette is quite a bit more $$$ than the kestrel... doug

I own a set of the 2.5s. Personally I dont think I would want to hear them with your amps (no offense). The Proacs sound a bit reticent in the midrange compared to both the bass and low treble. Warmer sounding tube components are recommended, more neutral components like SF are possible but may be too strident. Unless you have a large room I think you might end up with too much bass and too much brightness. I have heard the Meadowlark Shearwaters and I like them pretty well. Powerful bass but not as good as the Proacs in the treble or particularly through the midrange. Not as much detail as the Proacs but more forgiving of bad recordings. The virgos I havent heard but from the reviews they sound like the exact opposite of the Meadowlarks - ultradetailed, superb treble, superb soundstaging, but no real bass. - Chris

Thanks to all for the input. As I stated in my post I have heard and like all these speakers. I realize they are very different but am interesed in hearing from people have personal experiance with hearing them with a Classe ca200 or similar. I will also mention that my line 1 preamp is tweaked to the warm side. Also if my amp is a poor match for the Proacs then what is the best solid state choice for them that I could afford? ($2500 used). Thanks, Jon

Jsbail, I should have been explicit. I have no experience with SF and only very little with Classe. My comments are based on general reputation of the gear. If you have some nice NOS tubes, maybe your preamp sounds much diferent then stock, then maybe I should change my recommendation, but... still the Proacs are very revealing and can sound clinical to my ear. Care should be taken, but maybe you have different system gols then I. I have mine partnered with an AR CA-50 which can sound overly clinical on some CDs but I do most of my listening to vinyl which is less of a problem - in fact its very nice. But if you can't listen to the componets in your own system I figure its best to err on the side of caution, hence the warning. -Chris

proac recommends the a-r ls-16 tubed preamp (or the more spendy ls-25); they recommend the a-r 100.2 solid-state amp. doug

i have had experience with pro ac driven by rotel to lynnpre and power amp (klout) This sounds very good. i also drove the pro ac with classe cdp1,ocm pre and ocm500 monoblocks (800 watts) compared to my B&W 801 the pro ac is smoother speaker with great imaging. the pro ac works well with solid states amps. i heard the pro ac 2.5 driven by all copeland tubes and did not like it nor did my friends. i have driven the pro ac with levinson 332 and was excellent. The classe will work good with the pro ac in my opinion but everyone has different tastes so............

Sorry i forgot i have heard the 2.5 driven by wadia850 and krell FPB 300 very good also (no preamp).Pro ac like power so solid state is my choice.