Totem's "Hawk" and "Forrest":How Hi-End Are They?

I had a pair of Forests for a while. I thought they imaged well and were fairly dynamic, and they look fabulous. I found them a touch reticent in the midrange and very slightly harsh in the treble, though, and for the acoustic music I prefer the Forests weren't quite right. They were broken in and I used them with a Rogue 88 amp. I should add that my room at the time was quite bright, and that in a better-damped environment I think the Forests would sound more balanced.

I want to thank all the members who contributed to answering my questions; your input is very helpful in evaluating the compatibility of the Totem speaker with my set-up and room size. Best regards to all for a prosperous new year! Jim

Jim,

I owned a pair of Rokk's for a while, damned nice monitors they did a lot of things right for a very reasonable price. I heard the Totem Hawks at the Montreal audio show and man did they sing! Then I went to CES and the sound was less than stellar to say the least, but I'll write that off as a bad room. All in all the cabinetry is gorgeous and the sound is very very good. Vince is also a real gentleman and passionate audiophile.

I've had a pair of Forests for aprox. three years. Had originally broken them in with a B & K AVR202 reciever and was very pleased with the results. Found that their reputation for producing exceptional bass response was well deserved, only once I added a pair of Odyssey monobloc amps. This change yeilded a huge increase in bass response, and woofer control. These speakers will most definately reward you for any upgrades made elsewhere in the system, which I feel makes them high-end. Overall, I've found them to image very well, and be extremely dynamic when driven well. Since we'd moved about 6 mths. ago, I've set the system up in a much larger finished basement. Am now approaching the woofers limits as far as their ability to move an adequate amount of air. Went to Rogue Magnum monoblocs on top of Odyssey Extreme monos on the woofers(how's that for well-fed!) recently and these speakers are awesomely resolving and dynamic. First-rate cabinetry makes these a speaker you can live with easily. My wife has never expressed a problem with them because they look so good and are not huge, physically. I may need to go to a larger, multi-driver design, soon though.

I spoke with a Totem dealer recently about these two models. I was told that they both sounded good, but the Hawk could not be driven to the same levels as the Forrest. He said people would demo the Hawk and end up cranking it up because they were impressed with the bass response. This had caused the speaker to blow more than once.

In a nutshell, the Hawks can't handle the higher volumes. Depends on how you'll use them. Good luck.