Totem Owners....

Allow me to chime in as a long-time totem lover. My personal fave is the Model One- always has been. Fantastic mids and incredible coherence not to mention doing all the audiophile tricks we love (sitting up and begging etc.).
I have also owned arros--- incredible! No box that small should sound like that! Fast as all get out and a huge soundstage.
My preference in terms of mids and presentation etc though was always for the model ones. So, after owning arros for a year or so-- I sold them and bought model ones. I then-- good audiophile that I am-- promptly sold my model ones like a month or so later.
But why oh why did i do such a thing if I love them so much? Well I'll tell ya-- the Model Ones (sadly) do not play dynamically at lower levels.
Even right out of the box before the ones were on stands (they were already broken in as I bought them used)-- when i hooked up the amp I could hear the incredible mid presence they have -- and this in my opinion, is what they outdo the arro on and for that matter-- most other speaks I have owned.
But for late night listening -- even with a goodly amount of power-- the Ones just cannot get it up. Vince at Totem himself told me he feels the Hawks are better low-level listening speakers-- but even THEY might not put singers in the room etc. with the same veracity as the model ones.
So it's about purpose-- a speaker may be a great thing-- and the Model One remains perhaps my favorite monitor... but certain things it wont do and playing dynamically at lowish levels is one of them. ATC's have this issue as well-- though to a greater extent, possibly due to lower efficiency.
Once I get a place where I can turn up the wick a bit, you can bet Model Ones will be in my speaker stable once again.
Hope that helps..

David

for me its the winds. these speakers just blew me away. The only problem is finding a dealer that has them. Since vince only makes maybe 30 pairs a year, and they dont really want them talked about because they cant meet demands on them. with that said, these are imo the best speaker he as ever made, but they are power hungry.

"Since vince only makes maybe 30 pairs a year, and they dont really want them talked about because they cant meet demands on them"

LOL You really beleive that?

That said, I do like Totems... One of the better and more consistent Canadian speaker companies.

I just made an upgrade from some warm finicky KEFs to the Totem Hawks. I auditioned a new pair and was very impressed. Very simple and transparent. I did feel like there was a lack of bass extension when I got the pair I bought hooked up. I actually made a break through last night switching the ICs from the pre to the amp, which opened the low end a lot more. Maybe the bass is just really accurate (a hugely subjective term) and I'm not used to it. I'm not ready to give my conclusion on them. I spent a lifetime listening to warm systems. So, I'm getting used to these before I decide it's what I'm looking for.

I'm trying to get used to hearing clothing, lip smacking, paper rustling and background talk that I'm starting to hear in the recordings. Yes, very detailed.

I picked these over Dali Ikon 6 and Vandy 1c's, which I also had liked. If I'm still on the fence about my choice down the line, I may try bringing a pair of Dali's in for an extended trial.

Can we ever know what to pick? A good deal helps the decision making.

Good luck.

Cutterfilm - If the Hawks are at all like the Forests, be patient. Bass wil come but as BlindJim wrote in another thread on a different topic, "...bass is the last thing to appear". When I first hooked up the Forests I was WAY disappointed in their bass. Not so now. They seem to sound better and better the more I play them. I'm thinking you might need 100+ hours before those Hawks come into their own (a guess on my part; Totem's site might have some pertinent info re break in hrs.). Hope you do enjoy them.