Replacing Forests???

Walkman, you raise a lot of good points. I think either the Hawk or Sttaf paired with the Simaudio in a slightly smaller room woudl sound great. The Sttafs sound great at lower volumes, but to have that 'draw you into the music' that the Arro based system had, the system (in this larger space) simply needs more presence.

I think the Hawks may need a little more power to sound 'fuller' but at the same time maybe what i'll find is that I simply need a more room-filling speaker?

I don't know, I am just at a point of frustration at this point. I was happier with less $$$ wrapped up in gear a few months back and now I am here - more $$$ wrapped up but not neccesarily satisfied. Don't get me wrong, it sounds good but it just doesn't make me grin form ear-to-ear the way the Arro based system did. I did have the Arro based system in this large room breifly and it didn't perform the way it did in the smaller space. That is what prompted the initial upgrade. That and consolidating my HT and 2-channel systems into one 2-channel HT. I don't miss the 5.1 channel HT, but right now I am missing some magic?

I am hoping to get off this merry-go-round and just enjoy the music! ;)

Jh, I know you say you don't want to go with a subwoofer, but if you put a Rel Storm III (or equivalent) with either the Hawk or the Staff and doubt you'll be concerned with fullness. That issue will go away, and your soundstage will double in size.

. . . just a thought.

Jh20s,

Thanks for posting your audition observations. I appreciate it. I happened to see this statement in your posting "Maybe still frustrated that neither of these are the Forest sound,"...Do you mean staff and Hawks could not sound as good as Forest did ?

Grakesh

To me, when the Forests were working well, they would still be my personal speaker of choice of the 3. Just my personal opinion though.

Jh2os. I cannot blame you for having a "grin from ear to ear" standard. You achieved that level of sonic bliss once, and you have the darn gone right to achieve it again. I guess the rub is what kinda combo of gear is gonnna get you there. I dunno. From a selfish perspective, your lack of true sonic bliss is of interest to me since I have Hawks coming and have the same source and amp and even a similarly sized room (but my immediate listening area is smaller; typical apartment set-up). But then again, you are comparing your new set-up to something very different from what I have (small room, arro + primaluna + cairn).

I think something's gonna have to give: You will either have to give it more time, compromise your standard for being sonically content, or as many do, sell and buy something different. Only you can determine what you need to get back that thar grin, and I hope you do. Perhaps the subwoofer suggestion made above by the other posters would be one option (but I know you said you don't want to do that; nor I). Perhaps the other option is try the Forest again (very ironic given the title of this thread), but I can surely understand your hesitancy there cos you replaced it 3x. For me, if I were fed up with a particular product, I'd surely steer clear of the entire line (the "brand"), and you have not, so if you are comfy with the Sttafs and Hawks, it seems that you should also be comfy trying out yet another pair of Forests...

But maybe there's another speaker that you need? Something more sensitive and easier to drive for your big room so you can get that big sound? Maybe some of the smaller names that are frequently mentioned here like Tyler or Reimer? Food for thought.

I wish I could give you the silver bullet...