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Replacing Forests???

OK, I am looking for some friendly advice. After going through 3 pairs of Forests in a 6 month period, my dealer is allowing me to trade them back in for full value towards another speaker set-up. I am a HUGE fan of the Totem sound, and have never had problems with Totem before these Forests.

I have owned the Tabus and Arros with great results. Moving to a larger space forced me to move away from the Arros and up the Totem line. I had longed for the Forests for a long time, but the problems I've had with these in the short history of owning them has me throwing in the towel with them!

This is a 2-channel music/HT set-up powered by a Simaudio i-5. I am thinking of going with one of the following 2 options:

Totem Sttaf with 2 Dreamcatcher subwoofers

(or)

Totem Hawks

Although I think I am more partial to the Sttaf sound, as I have never been 'wowed' with the Hawks on the gear I've listened to them on (Naim/NAD - both bad; Ayre - pretty decent, small hotel room set-up), I would love to hear people's opinions.

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
jh2os
baroque_lover
102 posts
 
Grakesh,

You have been mulling this decision for quite some time now. Why not go down to a dealer and make a judgment of you're own? You will always be pulling at you're hair "wondering" if you don't listen for yourself.
jh2os OP
244 posts
 
Grakesh, I will happily post my thoughts. The Hawks have to be ordered, so it may be a bit until I get the chance to compare?
grakesh
84 posts
 
Baroque_Lover,

What you said is right....auditioning makes most sense to make a decision. Un-fortunately dealers close to my place do not carry Hawks and Staffs. I will have to drive atleast 450 miles one-way to listen to Hawks. I am willing to do that and just waiting for the right weekend. As you said, I will not buy a speaker without listening to it.

Thanks
Grakesh
jh2os OP
244 posts
 
Currently have both the Hawks and the Sttafs in house right now. Letting the Hawks 'burn in' over the week and hope to do some serious listening this upcoming weekend.
alo
25 posts
 
My mom picked picked the Sttafs over the rest of the Totem line up for 3 reasons.

1. looks. no silver claws (she thought they looked obnoxious) and still pretty small.
2. lacked the ultimate clarity of the Arros, but in turn had a broader and fuller range. Can play pretty loud.
3. Much better bang for the buck than the Hawks/Forrests.

My personal observation is that they sound good at all volumes, can be driven with pretty low power (she's usiing 60w), and are very easy to get into. Probably the best all around compromise you can get out of $1400 of speaker.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing your decision.
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