Meadowlark Swift vs. Soliloquy vs. Concertinos

I honestly cannot comment on the Solilquy, but I do own the Swift's, powered by 2 Bryston 2b's and a Blue Circle pre. The biggest factor is room size and placement. If the room is too big, the Swifts will soound weak on the bottom end. I love the Swifts, actually one of the best sounding speakers I have ever heard (In the Price Range), they replaced a pair of maggie 1.6's the room was just to small to let the maggies breath. If your dealer can let you take a pair to try, it would be your best solution.

I have owned the Soliloquy 6.2's and the Meadowlark Ospreys (both next step up speakers in the line) and auditioned the 5.0's, the 5.3's and the swift in the past. I would say the largest difference if you stated you are mainly looking for acoustics and vocals, is that the Soliloquy's are going to "seem" a bit more forward and pronounced in detail and such when you audition them. The Swifts will tend to seem a bit more laid back and perhaps not as "exciting." I say this due to having lived with both manufacturers, and what caught me on the Soliloquy's up front as a bit more engaging eventually wore on me as not quite as natural once placed in my listening room at home over time. The Meadowlark's on the other hand, didn't tend to overly "impress" me in the store, as nothing jumped out at me, but after listening to them extensively in home for over a year, they have a VERY natural timbre, harmonic presentation and tone. I think this is mainly due to factors such as being time aligned drivers, first order crossovers, and transmission line bass. The bass is also much more articulate and tuneful due to the transmission line, and not as bloated in certain frequencies as I have experienced with Soliloquys. If the Meadowlarks are set up properly, they will soundstage like champs, vocals much more natural and pure than any speaker under $1000 should sound like, and tuneful bass that belies its cabinet. With that being said, pay attention that you aren't placing them in too large of a room. All of my experience was done in home with Unison Research Unico (80 wpc) on both the 6.2's and Ospreys, I did hear the swifts also with VTL integrated and the Soliloquys with a couple different integrateds (in which I can not remember for sure). I have no experience at all with the Concertinos to comment.

I have the Soliloquy 5.0's with the matching stands powered by the AR Complete. I love it. Its a perfect match. Have had them about a month. I had some initial issues with the Soliloquy stands (full mat pad was sucking out much of the mid-bass energy and warmth and made the midrange sound thin), but I've placed another metal plate on top (decouples?)and they sound just terrific.

My cabinets are last year's, but outfitted with the new drivers-crossover-insulation. The Sonic Room in Durham, NC bought up the old cabinet stock from Soliloquy and will have the factory build them up for you with the stands for literally about 1/2 price. Call Pete Sylvester about them. I'm still smiling....and loving the sound!

Chris

This htread is a bit old but I see a recent response! I have auditioned the concertinos and Soliloquy stuff. I have never heard the meadowlark line unfortunately. The concertinos are a distant third in that line up. I would actually think that a comparison between the Soliloquy sat 5s vs the concertinos is more appropriate, and the sat 5s win there too IMHO. Smoother, mid, highs, and lows more accurately reproduced, even bass sounds better with the Solilquy SAt5s although not sure how. The 5.0s are a different class and are a much better value than Sonus Faber Concertinos.

I will have to differ with Rysa4 on the Concertinos. I owned a pair and still regret selling them as I have a small listening room and acheived a "magic" sound with them. The Meadowlarks are nice too and will give you more low end. Again, the concertinos when paired with the correct electronics and wire, are wonderful and just seem to get the pitch "right" with solid imaging and soundstaging.

I sold my Concertinos for a pair of Tyler Taylo Reference Monitors as an ugrade. Honestly, I missed the Sonus sound so much, I sold the Taylos and now own Sonus Faber Concerto Homes with the adjustable stands.

The Soliloquys in my oppinion are okay but miss the mark when it comes to the total package. If you buy the Concertinos, feel free to e-mail me as I have a few tricks on setting them up. Good Luck!

Chris