Do I have enough power?

Rossbernstein-
Yeah, I figured out my misread shortly after my post. What is it exactly about the Mani's that you find yourself not sold on? Just curious. At times I have issues with them, other times they're just perfect. That's very likely no different than any other speaker I might have purchased. They were by far the most challenging speaker I've owned to figure out how to drive, but that's probably because I wasn't hitting them with an amp of sufficent power. I did find however that it's easy to find retailers who will tell you that the amp they are selling will match wonderfully with the Mani's. They were, well...selling.
Jerry

I think Bggregory is on the right path.

Mani's I have heard of McIntosh amplification lead s me to believe the might trend towards being a touch bright with some amps (similar to my Dynaudio monitors) and digital sources. Not a good or bad thing inherently. Tube amp might sound good but would need to be beefy to always sound good in any room with any kind of music. I'd go with a beefy high current capable SS amp and tweak things from there using setup, ICs, pre-amp, DAC as needed until dialed in.

Jerroot,
The main reason I am not completely sold on the Mani-2's is only because I haven't been able to listen to them (my Totem dealer doesn't sell the model). I know some will say that you shouldn't consider a speaker without auditioning it first, but I already know that I like the Totem sound and given the things I've heard about them, I can only assume that I'd probably love them. However, not having a way to hear them still creates some inherent doubt. Additionally, I have heard some people say that the Mani-2's can be a challenge, just like you said. I'm looking for something with a strong midrange + midbass that can produce a great focused image. The Hawks seemed to satisfy those desires above what my Rainmakers can do, but I'm curious to know how they would compare to the Mani-2. How would you describe the Mani-2 sound, and what challenges did it present?

Challenges with manis:

1) right amplifier for best (not just good) performance with all kinds of music at target listening volumes

2) Need distance to walls for best results that justify the investment (not an unusual thing at all)

3) THey can sound a touch hot and less laid back compared to some lines, like PSB, for example in some setups, especially with some SS amps. Addressable via many common tweaks as needed though, nothing unusual there either.

I would love to own Mani IIs as a possible step up from my current smaller Dynaudio monitors if I could justify the expenditure. Maybe someday.

What kind of distance to the wall do the Mani's need to sound decent? That might be a problem in my room.