Replacing Forests???


OK, I am looking for some friendly advice. After going through 3 pairs of Forests in a 6 month period, my dealer is allowing me to trade them back in for full value towards another speaker set-up. I am a HUGE fan of the Totem sound, and have never had problems with Totem before these Forests.

I have owned the Tabus and Arros with great results. Moving to a larger space forced me to move away from the Arros and up the Totem line. I had longed for the Forests for a long time, but the problems I've had with these in the short history of owning them has me throwing in the towel with them!

This is a 2-channel music/HT set-up powered by a Simaudio i-5. I am thinking of going with one of the following 2 options:

Totem Sttaf with 2 Dreamcatcher subwoofers

(or)

Totem Hawks

Although I think I am more partial to the Sttaf sound, as I have never been 'wowed' with the Hawks on the gear I've listened to them on (Naim/NAD - both bad; Ayre - pretty decent, small hotel room set-up), I would love to hear people's opinions.

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
jh2os
I think I'll remain sub-less as well. I like to keep my system as simple and uncluttered as possible!
Sub-less is more often than not the way to go for 2ch audio when one owns speakers of that quality. As I like to say, better restricted yet outstanding low end than muddy lower bass. In my book, there is nothing worse than a low end out of control or not well integrated. For HT, it is always interesting to have the extra 20-35 Hz bandwidth to watch Terminator!
My Avalon Studio Pro are "limited" to 34 Hz but trust me, it seems that they go much lower and bass is so tight and defined than I do not know how much I would have to spend to get the extra 15Hz missing below that of same quality.

A question for you Jh2os: have you listened to the Mani-2? I never did but their specs in the lower register make me wonder if they are not the real gem in the Totem line.
I listened to them a long time ago, when I originally got the Tabu. They were impressive, but at the time, the Tabu just had some 'magic' that drew me into the presentation more - I think it was part of it's unique capacitor-less design? I am not a bass freak, so giving up the last couple of octaves for a presentation that pulled me into the music more was an obvious choice! I have grown to prefer floorstanding speakers, mostly due to the aesthetics, so I never reconsidered them or gave them another serious listen.
Jh2os,

Did you get a chance to listen to Hawk and Staffs > Would highly appreciate your feedback

Grakesh
OK, I had a chance to give a little listen between the two this weekend. In my system and space, the Hawk brings a lot to the table - more presence, fuller sound, more precise imaging and tonal accuracy. In movies the dialouge was more audible and the soundstage was better fleshed out. There is a tinge of data retrieval that the Hawks seem to have that is borderline 'etchy'? I don't know how to describe it, but there seems to be this constantly in-the-background, kind of almost ready to appear sibilance, but it never does happen - it's like you think it's coming, but it never gets there? I don't know how to put words to it, just something I picked up. Odd, I know. ;)

During the test, listening to the Sttafs next to the Hawks they just couldn't keep up. Both in audiophile ways and simply in filling the room with sound. At lower volumes they sound superb, but as the volume increases this is where the Hawk clearly pulls ahead. In a smaller space at lower volumes I would be a much harder decision, possibly leaner in favor of the Sttaf for me? I know I listed above all the ways the Hawk is superior in 'audiophile' ways, but at low volumes the Sttaf is just damn fun to listen to! I think leaving all the audiophile stuff aside, I simply enjoy it's presentation more.

Anyway, the Hawk is clearly a winner but at the same time I am wondering if this is the system for me? It still doesn't draw me in like my cairn/primaluna/arro system used to, but that was in a 9x11 room. I am now in a 3500 cubic foot room and need more volume to fill the space. I think the Hawks in my room could still use more power than the i5 has to offer?

Just when I was thinking I was nearing the end of the road, I find myself reconsidering my whole system again. I am just longing for the system to put a smile on my face the way the previous music system did - where I can sit back and enjoy and not worry about a thing! Maybe I am just burnt out on listening too critically too much recently? Maybe still frustrated that neither of these are the Forest sound, but that is no longer an option for me? I don't know?

I'm sure this post wasn't of much help, just telling you where I'm at....