Hawks vs Model one sig.

the model 1 is an excellent speakers. had it for years in a 12 x 13' room. i did eventually team them up with a rel strata III sub because when i had to play at low volumes, the bass was pretty lean and using the sub allowed for full sound at all levels. the hawks are also very nice that will give you more bass, but not as clean sounding as the model 1's. i eventually sold all my totems and went to all totem mani 2's. if you want a model 1 but want more bass, this is the speaker for you. i preferred this speaker over the more expensive winds. if you go with the mani's, you will need a more powerful amp, say a good classe or macintosh 200+ watts with a lot of reserve power. even if you stay buy the model 1's or hawks, you will still benefit from a good powerful amp. your current classe is too small for the model 1's or mani's.

I have Plinius gear sa 250,sa102 and 8200 so either is good
9100 or the 9200 long term the 9200 will be better because it will drive bigger speakers if you ever decide to upgrade your speakers. I also have own meny totem speakers
Shamans,Winds and the Forests all have great sound and detail with each one I get better depth and bass. I have owned model ones,Mani 2's and Hawks and sold them all.
Model one no sound stage and bass,the mani 2's had the base but it was missing something which I couldn't quit put my finger on it and the Hawks are just plain lousy.
I asked the owner of Totem why the Hawks where so bad and he told me that the drivers in the Shamans,Winds and the Forests are not same they use in the hawks.
the system I would recommend is the 9200,forests and MSB dac http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1230234039&/Msb-link-iii-Upsampling-DAC-Pr
and analysis Plus cables and you will have a sytem for the next five years until you upgrade

robertbrown - i disagree with you on a few things. the model 1's are an excellent speaker with tight bass in the right room. even the arros (which i also owned) have amazing bass for the 4" woofer. as for the mani's, they are not missing anything. i even asked vince from totem if i should move up to the winds and he told me to stay with the mani's. when i met him at a show and listened to the winds, he was right. for a mix of ht and audio, the winds would be my choice, but for audio, i'll stay with the mani's.

since you state that some of these speakers are lousy, (which the hawks are not), and the mani's are missing something, i would have to guess that these issues are from something else besides the speakers. either your room, speaker positioning, or front end electronics. i have never heard of anybody indicating that totem speakers are lousy.

I agree with you Rbstehno My son has had great success with the model one's and the sound stage is just amazing. I would love to Audition the hawks before buying them but no dealer in NC or Virginia has a pair in stock. They all carry the Arros wich I should audition but my heart is telling me to go with the hawks.