Bass of the Meadowlark Osprey

Hi. I own the Osprey and they do have amazing bass. However, they require the full 200+ hours before the bass begins to really open up. Room placement and acoustics is also important. Although the Osprey are fairly efficient( I believe 88db ) I feel they need an amp with lots of current to sound their best, particularly for deep and powerful bass output. I initially had two integrated amps driving them and had mixed results with them. I first had the Plinius 8200 Mk 1 and the bass was excellent with lots of current,providing great depth of bass. However, the overall sound was a little too dark for my tastes and the high end was a wee bit rolled off for my 50 year old ears. I then experimented with a Simaudio Moon I-5 integrated and everything went into reverse,lots of high end( excellent cymbal reproductions) and not enough bass. I recently took a gamble and sold both integrateds( I want to mention that both integrateds are extremely musical and for me if I could combine the best features of each that would be the ultimate integrated) and decided to go back into separates. I just ordered an Odyssey Extreme stereo amp and Tempest preamp, so I'm hoping this will be my dream set-up. I would imagine that the Plinius 8200 Mk II might just be the right integrated amp( if you rule out tubes and hybrids) as the Mk II version has a better high end extension as well as a bigger power supply for even more current. The Plinius also needs a good power cord and the Osprey( being time and phase-aligned) like the very best speaker cables. I am currently experimenting with some Acoustic Zen Satori and Stealth Premier II cables. Anyway, good luck in your search and I hope you enjoy your Osprey.

Don't know if this would help any, but I have the Shearwaters and they are similar to the Osprey, but only a two way. The bass, driven by my Classe CAP-80 is tremendous...its wonderful and Sherod is right, it takes a long time for the Meadowlark to start singin...

There are lots of classe amps up for sale.
best of luck.

I would love to hear about your impressions of the Osprey after they are broken in. I am currently in the market for a new set of mains and they are on my short list to audition. My amplification is a Sonic Frontiers Power 2 SE and my room is only 18 X 15 X 8. I think that they would be a good match for Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, Classical et al. but I will have to see. Too many speaker options in this price range!!!!
Greg

I want to thank everyone for their replies - I am playing my Osprey's at least four hrs a day and hoping that at some point the bass will start to fill - I kept my Hsu sub just in case!
I owned the Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III and they had plenty of bass although I am happier with the Osprey at this point - plus they look a heck of a lot better. I'm considering the Jolida integrated hybrid (1501) to drive the Osprey's.
Thank you for the comments and recommendations.

I heard the Ospreys at great length and lack of bass never came to mind. Actually I was very impressed with that spectrum more than anything else(fast,detailed,deep and tight). Top notch bass!

I just received a near new pair of Ospreys less than one week ago (about 40-50hours). My initial impression is that the sound was just plain poor. My wife and I knew that they took a lot of time to break in but we were not sure that we could stand to wait that long. My Montana SPIIs were better in nearly every way. However with about 25-30 hours of loud music (when not at home) the sound is improving rapidly. At this point the bass is still not very deep but the quality is improving. On some music the sound is very good already. I will try to update my impressions in about 2-3 weeks. Thanks, Nita

Alright, I own a pair of the Osprey's and let me EMPHASIZE I broke in my speakers at moderate listening levels... loud talking levels, however not shouting... I say this due to the fact my pair easily required 5-600 hours before the bass started to flesh out under the 45-50 Hz range. As for system matching I have a Unison Research Unico (NOS Mullard input tubes) coupled with a Jolida JD-100A (NOS Bugle Boy tubes) cd player. All cabling is Synergistic Research, with all going through a Balanced Power Tech BP-3.5. The Osprey's are nothing short of glorious. The finesse, detail, natural timbre, harmonics, dynamics both micro and macro... I have owened Thiel, Martin Logans, Soliloquy, Dynaudio, and the like. These will be here to stay... However, if you are looking for floor shaking bass, these may not deliver, they do go deep and are acurate, articulate and correct in timbre, they may not rattle your windows if that is more important than all around sonic integrity.

By the way... anyone esle get any custom woodwork done on their Ospreys? I went with the Pommele Sapele sides with a Mahogany Baffle with Walnut stringer... they look good. Let me know if anyone wants picks...

I last reported my experience with the Ospreys on 7/28. After about another 150hours the sound is getting very good. The bass while not particularly deep yet is very fast and musical which is nice combination. Overall the sound is improving in every way with much improved smoothness and imaging. Overall an impressive transformation but again requiring about 250-300 hours to bring this about. Placement with this speaker is wider than I have used in the past with minimal toe-in. I am also placing them closer to the wall than usual but I am not losing the imaging that tends to happen with some speakers. Overall these are turning out to be what I was hoping for though I hope the bass does get markedly deeper. At this point they blend with my subwoofer better than any other speaker I have had.