Totem Forest or Totem Mani 2

The Mani-2 is by far the best speaker I have owned. The sound is just addictive. The bass is so powerfull yet
so tight (29hz). I don't know why Totem doesn't use the Isobarik design in their floorstanders. As they put it "The Mani-2 was designed to make a statement". I sugest
that you read the Stereophile review of the Mani-2 and then
go and audition both at your local dealer.

I did that, took Patricia Barber's "A Distorsion of Love"
cd, after playing tracks 8 & 9 I was sold.

Go for an audition and enjoy. Hector.

I've never lived with the Mani 2, but I love my Forest's. One thing to keep in mind is that the Forest is comparatively much more efficient and would be the better choice if you were ever interested in going the low powered amp route. Don't judge their sensitivity by the manufacturer's specs. The story is much more involved than that. I am using 15 watt tube mono amps with great results. Probably not a good choice for the tiny power single ended stuff, but very capable with lowish powered amps.

I also love the Mani 2 and have a similar monitor spec wise.I would buy this speaker since it offers the most bang for the buck and is truly musiacl in it's presentation. As far as power is concerned it may need a serious amp to drive it to a decent level, also this speaker deserves the best amp you're willing to afford.This is a speaker that you just may keep for a lifetime of enjoyment which is a statement to the Mani's abilities. Be prepared to buy some serious stands for it and some Sistrum speaker 003 stands to hear what it is capable of.If you choose the Mani then you are going deeper into the audio world,though your room deserves such a speaker.I think buying such a speaker is a worthy investment if you are willing to spend the time and money to hear what it is capable of-take care Dennis

the forest speakers are very nice but imo, the mani 2's are much better if you have the right amplification. if you have a smaller size amp, I would lean toward the forest because they are much easier to drive. (15 watts is way too small for the forest. when i talked to totem, they recommended against a 20 watt tube amp i was looking at for my totem arros). i traded up from a pair of totem model 1's in my audio room to the mani 2's with target 4 pillar stands filled with sand (got to be over 100 lbs each filled). i also traded up from the totem arros in my den to the mani 2's with the totem 4 pillar stands. i drive the speakers with fairly large monoblock amps and they have a very nice musical sound to them with deep tight bass, full midrange, and smooth extended highs. (btw, i tried hooking up the mani's in my home theater setup (yamaha rxv1 receiver) and the yamaha didn't have the power to drive them properly. they sounded very smooth but no punch, kind of lifeless in a way. this indicated to me the requirement of power that the mani's require.)
good luck

Thanks for your respons, that helpful.

Finally, I go to Totem Forest because they easy to drive, but Totem Mani 2 is still in my top list.
I will upgrade my preamp/power soon, after that i will buy Totem Mani 2 and bring the forest to my HT System.

Best Regards.

Be careful: The Totem Hawk is pretty hard to beat in the Totem family. You question should be easily answered by YOURSELF if you go to your audio store WITH your Hawks and do a comparison listening. You might even want to bring your amp and/or source. You can only ask so much from other people, but in the end, it will be your ears and brain that will do the enjoying.

i would recommend bringing the hawks into your home so you can listen in your room, using your audio gear, to see how you will like the sound. going to an audio store would not be a good comparison.
good luck!