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Totem Hawk a underated "Jewel"

Is it just me or is the Totem Hawk the most underrated/underrepresented speaker in the Totem lineup? There seems to be few discussions on these little gems and I just want to tell everybody that my recent visit to a Totem dealer to demo the YBA Passion Integre yielded a surprise that I didn’t expect. That was of course the Totem Hawk (French-Canadian) hooked up to the YBA Passion (French) and YBA CD Integre utilizing Totem Bi-Wire Cable and Sinew Interconnect Cable. Absolutely flabbergasted with what I heard I consulted a couple sources and read what reviews were published on this speaker. The Audiophile voice did one review a while back and he quotes “Over all, the Hawks are more natural sounding than any other full-range system I’ve had at home” and he goes on talking about the Balance and Integration of the Scanspeak Revelator woofer and MB Tweeter, Overall I agree with all his assessments on the speakers and more. These speakers just sound “right” and I have much experience with the Forests and it is my personal belief that the Hawks paired with the YBA offered me more expressive communication and “PASSION” than any Forest setup I have ever heard. What’s so great is the system was so damn simple; no super exotic interconnects or cables. When people on these forums always talk about that “musicality” and that point they reach when the music communicates with the soul and nothing else seems to be relevant, that point of satisfaction, I experienced that today. I would also like to point out that that the reviewer was actually using Tara and Music Metre cables and had really poor results, so much so that he called Vince to ask what was going on, Vince sent him the Totem cables and he was startled with the magnitude of improvement, Totem apparently engineer’s all there cables to there speakers, furthermore they incorporate all there cables exclusively at shows and exhibits. I purchased the entire setup for a fair price, speakers are breaking in as I speak. Now, to what hobby should I take up now?

P.S. What is everybody’s thought on the Hawk vs. Forest?
slov_dream
jh2os
244 posts
 
I currently own the Arros and am moving up to the Forests - should be geting them in the next week or two! ;) I demoed the Forest and Hawks, and IMO the Forests just communicated with me so much more than the Hawks. I have heard the Hawks several times, on different gear and have never been particularly impressed with them. Maybe I just haven't heard the right combination yet?

However, if you have found sonic bliss - that's really all it's about! Just sit back and enjoy the music!
chayro
3,012 posts
 
Interesting. Vincent was demoing the Hawks at the NY show and I was wondering why not the Forests. He also told me that the Hawks would work well with 60 Watts or so, while the Forests really required more. He was using the Ayre integrated and CD player. I didn't listen that long, but they had incredibly deep bass. To me, they seem like they might be a very nice choice for an apartment system where the owner wants a full-range sound without getting too big or going to subs. BTW, he also showed the Mani 2 signatures, which were very impressive.
chazzbo
1,007 posts
 
Just to second Chayro without getting into full frety ("leave Audiogon"-my my!) but the Mani -2's (a dual coupled design?) are for those who want/need 2 way monitors are, to tell the unitiated absolutely bass monsters.Even if for a monitor they are a bit larger than mostmthey areb amazing in the low end.Maybe for mids or full spectrum I'd rather some of the Brit designs but if you want listen to techno and don't have space for sub (and have no neighbors) the Manis deliver the bottom end.
Chazzbo
mimberman
299 posts
 
Heh, reread my post and realize it could be misconstrued: I was only saying that if he's happy with the setup then why let all of us mess with his mind. I was kiddin', so no offense intended. I haven't heard a bad totem speaker yet, and the YBA is great stuff so have fun
mani_canadian
6 posts
 
Mimberman wasn't trying to be rude.

Anyways, I still feel the Arro, Forest, and Mani-2 are the "jewels" in the Totem lineup. I do own the Mani-2 but am considering going back to the Forest, as crazy as that sounds, the Forests just have that "magic" for me. John Atkinson did a follow up review this year on the Forest and spoke VERY highly of it.

Not to mention the gorgeous look too
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