Meadowlark Osprey vs PMC OB1

declancd7q · « **on:** 12 Feb 2005, 07:52 am »

Today I compared the Meadowlark Osprey against the OB1 and was amazed how good they sounded.

The Osprey had more tone detail and very transparent/dynamic. It didn't see to have the same bass weight but the bass was excellent. Osprey were also more open/forward whereas PMC was a touch further back.
The Osprey are more exciting, serving details in front of you with almost electrostatic transparency.....and always in a good way.

OB1 handled details extremely fine and I didn't hear any restraint in the midband that would negatively impact enjoyment. OB1 was very honest with wide b/width and still musical.

Interestingly OB1 was driven by an Musical Fidelity X-150 integrated and X-series CD player....and it sounded very excellent though a smidgen more grip would give the speaker better authority. Still .... much cheaper than the Bryston pre/power etc.

I'd say the PMC scaled better with the midband/treble better able to build on the amazing deep bass. Play something like Mozart requiem...and the bass seems to originate deep in the ground, while the voices soar upwards.

In fact both are 3-way transmission line inspired designs and amazing with Bryston and the closest competition so far, even in price!

Anybody heard the Osprey or larger models of Meadowlarks?

gongos · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Feb 2005, 08:27 am »

I listened to the Osprey's before I bought my 626r's. The Osprey's seemed extremely lifeless and fat (sound not size) when compared to the 626r's. I wasn't really that impressed, especially for the price. When I listen to my 626r's it's like a band is playing in front of me. When I listened to the Osprey's it was like the band was in another room. At that price I'd look elsewhere.

declancd7q · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Feb 2005, 11:55 pm »

Both Meadowlark and OB1 needs proper run-in (150-300 hrs) before they sound right....what you observed with the Osprey is consistent to other people's remarks of how the speaker sounded initially.

Suspect both have rather stiff cones (necessary due to transmission line loading) and takes a while to bed-in.

gongos · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 01:32 am »

It was a used pair of Osprey's I listened to with 100's of hours on them.

Karsten · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 09:43 am »

Quote from: gongos

It was a used pair of Osprey's I listened to with 100's of hours on them.

There were a problem with the early Osprey x-over, I did not like them too much initially, however the x-over modification took care of the issues I had with them. All Meadowlark speakers take a long time to break-in, several hundreds of hours and they keep improving over a longer time.

Brg,
Karsten