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Request advice-need "brighter" speakers than Totem Hawks

Hi All-
Love the community here; first time poster.
My gear:
i have a pair of Totem Hawks, driven by Sim Audio W-5 amp and P-5 pre. I listen primarily to Redbook CDs via a Marantz SA8005. Cables are all Audience AU24SE. I listen both through a modded Eastern Electric DAC (op amp upgraded, tube removed) and direct from CDP to preamp (teensy sound difference between DAC/no DAC, if any). My medium sized room is pretty dead sonically (carpet, textile window coverings).

My Issue:
The high frequencies are uncrisp, rolled off severely, muted, and just lacking generally, especially on contemporary works (jazz, rock). I don’t hear cymbals, hi-hats, or rich, crisp snare drums (yeah, I’m a drummer). Listening to my favorite disks is a deeply disappointing experience, Though classical sounds ok to fine. I am thinking that I need brighter speakers than the Hawks (though there are numerous folks who extoll Sim Audio plus Totem speakers, something is not right. I do have a bit of hi-freq. hearing loss from playing percussion for over 40 years (amateur), but I’ve heard a number of less expensive systems that sound better to me. My first thought is to go for a used pair of B&Ws (CM5s?) or Vandersteens (assuming good WAF on the latter) to swap out for the Hawks. I’m on a budget, but am not above selling some of the current gear to pay for the right equipment.

I would love love to hear some suggestions or alternate diagnoses/ideas. I am not limiting myself to speakers; I’ve tried a bunch of different cables to no good effect. Analysis Plus silver cables, for example, were a disaster with this gear, for example, FYI. Thanks in advance for any sage thoughts you choose to offer. -Bruce


bheiman
mb1audio
151 posts
 
" mb1audio: 99% confident the speakers are in-phase, but I will try your suggestion anyway. Will report back."

I'm sure you're right, but I've seen so many people make that mistake (myself included), I just couldn't help but mention it.

Have you tried any placement options? Toe, back tilt, how far apart the speakers are...?




onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,220 posts
 
The loudspeakers have less than 100 hours on them.

Thanks for finally providing that little piece of info.  Keep playing them until around 500 hours before making any equipment changes.  Play with loudspeaker and listener height plus toe-in until you think they sound the best they can.
beernut's avatar
beernut
297 posts
 
"Bright" brings to mind Klipsch. Klipsch lovers will call them "dynamic" which is ok. I've owned numerous pair over the years and liked them all to some extent. It may not be the speakers themselves as others have suggested. Placement, soon treatment etc. all play into the equation....
bheiman OP
27 posts
 
onhwy61: Wow. 500 hours? I could do that--the cost is reasonable at least :-). I was being a teensy bit conservative when I said 90-100 hours, previously. It is quite possible I have 100-150 hours on the speakers. I tracked time in use at the start, but failed to keep it up. 

beernut (and onhwy61): placement is something I have messed with quite a bit. It makes no major difference with this issue. Also, as noted, near-field listening does not sound any different than standard couch listening. I would add the Hawks are designed as somewhat "positioning indifferent," for the listener and speaker placement. They make a big thing of this in their marketing materials, and I find it to be quite true. The quality of sound changes very little with these speakers as I move them and myself around. 
bheiman OP
27 posts
 
All:
I recognize the burn-in issue is likely legitimate (though I have read of folks who loved their Hawks' sound out of the box). Ideally, I should stop posting, burn the speakers in for another 350-400 hours or so, then post results. I'll make that part of the process, but I will also try some of the other "low-hanging fruit" ideas that you have suggested. 

I just switched polarities on one speaker (mb1audio). When switched, the sound in the mids became super-forward (soundstage) and loud, while the low bass became muddy. Upper-bass became more forward in the soundstage, too. I did not notice much difference in the highs, if any. Possibly some of the mid-highs came out more volume-wise. Most of the highs still felt buried. The top end of the highs remained muted, for example. I switched back and forth several times to confirm my impressions. I conclude I had the speakers in phase alignment on my original setup. Whew.

Thoughts?

I will next reset the gear to take out all power conditioning and surge protection, per suggestion--this one is not immediately intuitive to me, but it's relatively easy to try.  Stay tuned. -B
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