Replacing Forests???

What are the problems with the Forests?

Jh2os,
If you are anyways going to use 2 Dreamcatcher subwoofer, why not go for the Rainmakers?
I have auditioned to the Rainmakers and Hawks, but not the Sttaf. The dealer was using the NAD pre/power combo to drive the Hawks and I thought they were very nice sounding speakers than the others I had auditioned till that date. The Rainmakers were being driven by NAD C352 and were pretty neat sounding. Small footprint but large/musical sound.

I've owned a pair of trouble free Forest for about three years now and love them. I did however have some trouble with the pair of Totem Signature One's I had previous to the Forest. I'm interested in hearing in more detail what kind of trouble you experienced and Totem's response to your issues.

I don't have any suggestions, but have some questions (!). What happened to your Forests that you had to replace them 3 times in six months? That seems like a lot. Also, how well did your I-5 drive the Forests (I have an I-5 and am considering Totem shopping, too). Finally, what did you prefer about the Sttafs relative to the Hawks in your prior demo's. thx, walkman

Jsbail/Walkman - Well, with my first pair of Forests, one of the wire coils inside of the speaker had broken free in shipping. While setting them up, I heard something 'clunking' around inside the cabinet. I took the binding post cover off and saw that the wire coil had broken free of the tie wraps that had been securing it. I was nervous that that coil may have bashed something else inside the speaker, so I never played them and easily exchanged them for another pair.

Then about a month or two later, while listening my left speaker started making a scratching noise on low bass notes. Upon further inspection it seemed as if the woofer was blown. I sent this back to have the woofer replaced - again easy to work with, just time without a speaker.

Speaker came back, sounded good. Now 3 weeks later, and it is now the right speaker in my system and that same scrathy noise is occuring, exactly as before. So, I am just tired of having to worry about it and going another direction.

Totem and my dealer have been great, just having this many things go wrong in such a short span of time has me soured on these speakers. I have previously owned Tabus and Arros for extended periods of time with no issues whatsoever!

Walkman - The Hawks never pulled me into the music that way other Totem speakers have - I'm not sure if it's the speaker, or just the systems synergy that I have heard them on???

Dwhitt - I am a fan of that Totem sound. I could go with another line. They also carry Krell speakers, but could acquire other lines for me as well. I have liked the SOnus Faber Grand Piano home in the past. And I just recently heard the Dali MS5 for the first time and loved it, but that is in a whole other price class!!! Any suggestions for other lines I should consider? I am a big fan of Totem and have always found them to 'stand out' in their respective price class.

Milpai/Rbstehno - I prefer a floor standing speaker to a monitor, but maybe I should investigate those suggestions as well???

Maybe I need to give the Hawks another shot???