Question about quality of Meadowlark


There have been alot of post's concerning Meadowlark going out of buisness and waranty issues, etc.
I've owned three different pair of Meadowlark speakers. NEVER any problems or failures to operate perfectly everytime. Build quality was top notch.
I seriously doubt there have been very many Meadowlark speakers that quit.
Do prospective buyers really have much to worry about, given the price , sound quality, and the beautiful workmanship put into these speakers?
I'd like to hear from Meadowlark owner's and hear what they have to say instead of folks who automatically wave the red flag.
thanks!
shoe
Currently own Shearwater Hot Rods which are perfect so far. If my room was not so small I'd consider Blue Herons, the i series has my interest. I also have a pair of Kestrel Hot Rods with a broken binding post. I was trying to purchase the posts when Meadowlark went under. They still sound fine (I tie-wrapped speaker wire on post). One of these days I'll get a pair of replacement posts but I'm in no hurry.
It's hard to beat the value these speakers present on the used market!
I'm using Kestral Hot rods in my second system.
First with a Belles 150 SS amp,and now with a CJ MV 55
Tube amp.
They sound great with both amps, and I've had no problems.

If anything did go wrong, the replacement parts can be ordered, so I see no need to worry.
I own a pair of Kestrel 2's and was shocked to hear about Meadowlark. Does anyone have any idea what happened?

Lonny
My guess is they went under because their expertise is in building speakers, not running a business. There is a lot more to running a small business then just making a great product-regardless of whatever you are selling. I own a pair of Shearwater Hot Rods and enjoy them very much.
I own a pair of Ospreys and Nighthawks, and I still think that designer Pat McGinty had an excellent product design, cabinetry, superb quality sound and investment value before his company closed earlier in 2005. The speaker high-end of the market is indeed on the downside, as the home theatre market has taken over the hifi industry, with smaller size speakers and inwall speaker installations growing at the expense of companies like Meadowlark. In addition, I get the impression that neither Pat or his wife Lucinda were real "marketing or financial people" or had staff members to strategically target their company's direction, combined with the fact that their company was moved to Watertown, New York, (from San Diego, CA) with very little financial injection (under financed)obtained from the New York State industrial incentive program. Although that regional area provided Pat McGinty and his Meadowlark company choices for fine wood and cabinetry, as they were next to the Canadian border, their transportation costs on finished goods must have been extremely high in addition to their operational expenses, combined with the fact, that they utilized expensive drivers only manufactured in Europe, and the dollar vs. the Euro in the last 24 months had a disadvantage of close and to as high as 30%. That would certainly burden any manufacturing operation. In the end, the McGinty's should have learned a bit of marketing from the Orange County Bikers, as they are also in New York State, but marketed themselves to stardom via non-network television and by originally copying California bikes to achieve their marketing goals. The US audio speaker manufacturing industry has had many closings throughout the years, all mostly due to the failure of its management (usually the speaker designers)not having a marketing plan and the right people around them to help them execute them. Only Dr. Amar Bose has been able to accomplish that with tremendous success with a still privately held corporation selling in the billions every year. That's a true marketing success. The McGinty's should have adapted or copied from Bose Corporations history. In summary, I still think that Meadowlark has a place in the audio entertainment industry and that can be salvaged with the right marketing and management personnel. Obviously through their history, many people bought their Meadowlark products (like myself), and I just wonder if Meadowlark ever researched that fact as to it why's? Who were my end customers? Why did they buy my products? What are their demographics and psychographics? The many etceteras and the many why's give you the direction and a mission, many times to focus ahead of the curve. Just ask the P&G and the Colgate people about that. Anyways, I still think that Meadowlark was one of America's best speakers manufactured in the last 10 years. Now they have become a collectors item, much in the McIntosh realm.