Hi there, I've never heard the Meadowlark. But I own the 2ce and I really enjoy them. I too live in a smallish apartment...my listening room/living room is about 20x15 and they work fine. If you read this site, you'll see that I'm not alone in liking the Vandy. The soundstage is very nicely presented very forward sounding. The bass extension is very good and I don't think that you'll really need a sub because the Vandy's are more than enough to get your neighbors' pissed off at you.
Vandersteen 2ce vs. Meadowlark Kestrel
I have narrowed down my speaker choices to these two model as a start in quality speakers. I want a speaker with the 1st order crossover and time coherent design. I live in an apartement right now so which speaker would be a better choice with the following factors considered: 1) can be incorporated into a smaller room apartment sized (difficult setup is a big factor) 2) biggest soundstage, dynamics, imaging and the ability to dissapperar behind the sound 3) which one will be better suited to build a future home theater around (important for my decision!) 4) running with solid state amps 5) will be adding a sub either vandersteen or rel 6) listen to most current music and movie soundtracks (jimmy buffet to van halen suit my taste) Compare the two and opinions if there happens to be another speaker brand that might be ok. The only other model I have thought about even though it is not of the same design is the PSB stratus bronze Thanks, Dillon