joseph vs maggie vs proac vs spark

i hate when people throw new products into the mix (i.e., ignore your question), BUT i almost bought the joseph 22's two weeks ago, but then heard the meadowlark kestrel hotrods at the last minute. they have fantastic imaging and a smoother sound, particularly for female vocals -- and cost almost a grand less:) (list = $1500). you should definitely check them out. apparently, a lot of people prefer the kestrels even to the shearwaters, which is what i originally wanted to hear. the maggies are a totally different ball of wax. can't comment on the proacs or sparks.

i forgot to mention that i ordered the kestrels (haven't received them yet, though).

I know many people rave about the RM22si. I bought a pair and had them for a month in my home. They were bright and very hard to listen to. I tried different cables, amps and interconnects with them and couldn't get them to sound even close to good. They sounded thin and congested. I traded up at the dealer I bought them from and bought Aeriel Acoustics. I also demoed a pair of the Kestrel Hotrods that Mateored spoke of. I can say without a doubt that they are much nicer than the Joseph Audios. They have a richer sound with unbelievable bass. They are a great deal at $1500 retail. I don't like the finish on them though. The veneer is not great and chips easily. I do think that the Shearwaters are better than the Kestrels, and you can probably get the non Hotrods for about $2250. They will give you the same full sound and are more refined. I don't have a lot of experience and am struggling with my setup, as you can see by my post, but I do have experience with the Kestrels and Joseph Audios. It's not even close. I also heard the Audio Physic Sparks and they sounded good in the listening room, but they are bright and detailed speakers that I think I would get tired listening to. Good luck

Room Size? The Proacs are gorgious sounding speakers with no low end whatsoever. In a small room they have image space and warmth that is second to none (and they can be driven by some wonderful low power tubes to make them even better!). In a medium room or larger they must have a sub, so their cost to listen to goes up $1K. The Magnepan 1.6qr are planars. You love planars, or you don't. No box speaker can give you the sound stage a planar does. As far as planars go, Magnepan is the standard others are measured against. For $1500 the 1.6QR will give you a sound stage that is big, rich and coherrent,clear and all without being loud. The more power the better.