Totem Hawks vs. Forest

ive heard both extensively...the forrest is better all around, but depending on your needs ie. if your willing to give up the lowest octaves you find the model 1 to the the best choice, mid-range and up it at least as magical if not more so than the above mentioned speakers, and would be perfect in a small room...also consider power requirements...the forests are very easy to drive in a small room 20-30 watts would be enough, the model 1 and hawks need considerable more 100 watts or so to work well.

Note that the Forest is Totem's most efficient speaker. I am VERY happy with 15 to 20 watt tube mono amps.

I used to sell totem and own the Forests. All in all the Forest is a significantly better speaker. The drivers have been changed a couple times from introduction, they now use a seas tweeter and ATI mid-driver. Harmonics, rhythm, and overall sound is better then the model 1 IMO. The only speakers that best it are the Mani-2, Wind, and Shaman. You will need much more amplification and better upstream components to extract maximum performance out of the aforementioned. I have my Forest matched up with a Simaudio I-5. Check out my system. The Hawks are nice, but the Forests are a considerable step up IMO.

i am also a totem speaker fan. all of the speakers mentioned are very good in their respectable areas. I have listened to the forest and hawks with my equipment and have owned the model 1's for my audio room, arros (for my den), and have upgraded both of those to mani 2's. the mani's are by far the better speaker of the 4 i listed. they have all of the advantages of the model 1's with a true bottom end. the hawks are very nice but give up the lower octave compared to the forest and the forests are easier to drive. with your classe 301 (300 watts and a very nice amp), the mani's would be my pick using the totem or target 4 pillar stands filled with sand or lead shot. the mani's and model 1's need a good powerfull amp to get the most out of the speaker. i would pick the model 1's over the forest or hawks for a more musical disappearing sound but you will give up the lower octave.
good luck

The model 1 is no slouch, but if your musical preference varies like mine, the Forest is the more flexible speaker. I listen to a lot of classic rock, new age, celtic, electronic, classical, jazz and the Forest never ceases to impress me. The Model 1 is superb on vocals, jazz, and acoustic…of all the listening tests, demos, comparisons when selling these speakers the forest always seemed to pull ahead in all departments.