AAS - Meadowlark program - June 23, 2002
The June 2002 meeting of the Atlanta Audio Society
was held and hosted this month by the able staff of
the Audio Alternative shop on Indian Trail Road in
Lilburn, just 2 miles east off of I-85. Our featured
speaker was the founder and top designer of Meadowlark
Loudspeakers, Pat McGinty. Our host for the afternoon
was shop owner Alan Jones, whose shop carries both
new equipment and a very large selection of used equipment.
He also has a technician on staff that can repair reel-to-reel
tape decks along with other equipment.
Alan introduced Pat McGinty, who then gave us a brief
history of Meadowlark. It was started in 1994 as a "garage" business.
Alan’s shop was one of the first to carry the
Meadowlark line, and it was also a "garage" operation.
Meadowlark (and Alan’s shop) have grown since,
and within the last six months, the company moved its
factory from the San Diego area (where it was expensive
to operate) to upstate New York, in Watertown. Ironically,
the day they loaded the trucks for the move was September
11, 2002.
In Watertown, Pat is now able to design his speakers
and build them the way he wants to, without having
to worry about cabinet subcontractors. His factory
now features computer-controlled wood working equipment
where he can tweak his cabinet designs and create prototypes
very easily. The first speakers that are the result
of the move are the "Swift" speakers, which as he said
he could "design only limited by his imagination".
He does use very consistent (and hence more expensive)
OEM drivers in the speakers, but they do their own
cabinets. He designed these speakers at an "entry level" price
of $995 per pair, so that he could showcase his design
philosophy.
Pat is a strong believer in "time coherent" speaker
design, which he told us is used only in about 5% or
less of speakers sold today. The speakers preserve
the timing information in the recording. He knows this
by measuring the wavelengths going into the speaker
at its terminals, and again measuring the sound as
it comes out of the speakers. The speaker baffle is
sloped, and the use of a first order filter keeps the "time" right!
There is also no polarity inversion. Transmission Line
cabinetry is McGinty's primary design focus.
The speakers also use Pat’s BASSIS design (patent
pending), which extends the low frequencies by using
a transmission line that makes the impedance rise (instead
of fall as it normally does) as the music’s frequency
goes lower. This idea came to him at 1 am on a Saturday
morning, and by noon the next day he had a working
prototype. The speakers are a very easy 8-ohm load,
and are rated at 89 DB. Because of the pending patent,
Pat could not go into any more detail on this design.
The BASSIS design is especially applied to the new "Swift" 2
way T-Line loudspeaker showcased herein.
We then listened to the speakers, and indeed they
sounded great. It seemed like much larger speakers
were playing, in all the frequencies and dynamics.
A variety of music was used, including a rare (for
the Audio Society) hard rock recording of Jimi Hendrix
live at the Woodstock Festival playing the Star Spangled
Banner.
The sound of the new "Swifts" was quite remarkable,
open, fast and producing convincing bass despite their
modest size. Quite an accomplishment for Pat McGinty
and a truly good value indeed. Allowing entry
level audiophiles to enjoy a true high-end product
at an affordable price (including nifty and stylish
stands).
The other equipment used included the new VTL 7.5
Reference two-piece tube hybrid preamp (first time
seen in Atlanta), Plinus dual power amps, and a Rega
Jupiter CD player. We also enjoyed vinyl on a ClearAudio
Solution turntable with a Benz Ace cartridge.
Yet another great program, and again our thanks to
all who worked so hard and traveled so far to put it
on! Also, our special thanks again to our host, Alan
Jones, and to our speaker Pat McGinty.
Respectfully Submitted,
Thomas Horner
Secretary, AAS
June 23, 2002
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