Design Technology Overview:

The Kestrel is a time coherent, first order, transmission line. First order designs are the only type that preserve the original music's waveform and phase.

Though rare, especially in two-ways, first order designs are renowned for their spectacular spaciousness and naturalness. The transmission line bass loading system produces a deep, powerful and articulate bass, and the braces that form it stabilize the cabinet to defeat panel resonances. The baffle is slanted back for precise acoustic timing, and is elastically decoupled from the cabinet to further reduce

resonances. The frameless grille causes no reflections and simply slips over the diffraction free baffle. All crossover elements are of excellent quality and are mounted in a separate subenclosure to minimize microphonics.  The result is a system that is remarkably coherent, clean and quick.

Since we introduced the Kestrel in 1995 it has received much critical acclaim as the 'speaker to buy' at its price point. All of this success is owing to the Kestrel's sublime musicality. Our little bird has the kind of 'bark and growl' bass that you just 

don't expect in a speaker of this size, but beyond that, the Kestrel delivers the emotion of the music in a way that is rare at any price. If there ever was a 'fatigue free' speaker this is it. Kestrel owners report enjoying long hours involved listening. This is truly a music lover's speaker.

Kestrel is very easy to place, and creates a superb soundstage with very little fussing. Also, they are rather tolerant of less-than-great front ends. The Kestrel is the perfect introduction to the high end because they can really make music with modest electronics.

Many happy Kestrel owners have upgraded to Shearwaters and Herons during the past year or two, but few have parted with their Kestrels. This is rare in high end audio. More often, a speaker buyer's love affair with a new speaker begins to wane in a few short months, as he realizes that the emotional connection with the music just isn't there. Kestrel owners seem to be having the opposite experience - they're loving their speaker more and more with age, and buying up the Meadowlark line to get more of the good stuff.

Kestrel Specifications:

Dimensions: 36"H x 8"W x 9"D.
Driver Complement: One 6 1/2" cast frame mineral filled poly cone long excursion woofer, one 1" controlled dispersion fabric dome tweeter, both from Denmark.
Bass Loading: Transmission line.
Enclosure: Handmade in California of 3/4" MDF, and extensively braced. The lacquered baffleboard is 1 1/2" thick.
Crossover: First order electrical at 4.7KHz. The tweeter capacitor is a high grade polypropylene type. Inductors are heavy gauge hard drawn copper air cores. All connections are soldered. Entire assembly is mounted outboard in an acoustically isolated enclosure at the bottom of the cabinet.
Frequency Response: 38Hz-20KHz +/-2dB
Impedance: 8 ohms nominal.
Sensitivity: 89dB 2.83V 1M.
Internal Wire: D.H. Labs Silver Sonic.
Recommended Min. Amp Power: 10W
Finish: Rosewood, Ash or Ebony.
Warranty: Five years, materials and workmanship.

To download a Kestrel Owner's Manual please click here. (This makes a small booklet. Please print page 2 on the back of page 1 and page 4 on the back of page 3.)