Best amps for Totem hawks?? please help

Abramsmatch,

You thought the A5 was boring with Totem speakers? Funny, that's the same way I felt about listening to the Bel Canto S300i driving the Usher Be-718 - Ho Hum, didn't ring my "Bel" so to speak. Which is also funny because that's the same brand of separates the reviewer used for his glowing account of the Be-718's on 6moons - WIERD! ARC is nice... Never thought the A5 integrated was boring - muscular yes - boring, no. Maybe the A5 integrated has a better internal pre-power match than the Modwright-A5 power set up you had? Surprising.

And while we are at it, you really think the Unico can drive the Hawks to their happy place? They seem to crave power in a way the other Totem columns both larger and smaller don't - why I suggested something with at least 120 musical watts into 8 ohms, and doubling that into 4.

Although I like Musical Fidelity products, I personally feel they do not make a great match with Totem gear. As always, each persons take will vary. I'll stand by my Blue Circle / BAT recommendation though. :)

I agree with Rumadian - the key is low damping factor. Hawks love amps with low damping factor. It just lets them open-up and gives them a huge amount of body.

IMO you need a stable damp, but the watts aren't hugely critical.

I've run Bryston (3B-ST: plenty of power, plenty stable) with Hawks and it sounded good, but honestly a vintage Sherwood S-8900 (top-of-the-line vintage receiver from the days when a top-of-the-line Sherwood was as good as Mac) with 60 watts and a much lower damping factor than the 3B-ST sounded amazingly superior. Anyone could hear the difference immediately.

Not really BORING per se-- as in slow and pokey or something. Just-- mechanical. Like "here is your music sir. Will that be all?" No-- please give me a bit of humanity will ya? "I cant do that Dave-- I can only reproduce what I am fed." Bryston (at least older bryston) was somewhat this way for me- but my little B60 and later my BP 20 pre both had more humanity in them than the big A5 did. Feel free to call it 'coloration'- I prefer to think of it as sonic engagement.
I only paired the A5 briefly with totem ones and the setup could have been better, so I speak primarily based on my experience with that amp paired with Proac response 1.5's (which incidentally I always preferred to the 2.5's I upgraded to-- I felt the 1.5's had more of a reach-out-and-touch-it midrange than the 2.5's-- which were balanced but not quite as present and at the same time invisible in terms of staging).
I am not saying the Bel Canto was a wonderfully warm and human piece of gear-- No - that for me at a budget price anyway is the original Unico- what a midrange on the totem arros I used to have (Audio Note front end didnt hurt either!) but the Bel Canto was certainly preferable to the A5 and sounded more dynamic at lower listening levels than about any 'normal' amp I've ever owned to boot (an especial selling point of Icepower amps apparently). By comparison, I enjoy the sound of Mccormack gear, but at lower levels the older stuff didnt quite come to life on my proacs.
Again- synergy with the proacs may have been at work here as the A5 is certainly not rolled off on top and the proacs are a touch tipped up. The Bel Canto amps were slightly soft on top- slightly tube like- and this no doubt contributed to their seductive symmetry.
As for power-- lemme tell ya- unless you're a man who loves big rooms and driving guitars, a unico SE will punch the hell out of any totem up to say, a mani. Those you'll need a blow torch or a small honda generator to play loud and long. Or a Krell.
But if the man is in say, a 14 by 18 room (reasonable) and values his hearing, I am quite sure 140 a side on the Hawks is plentiful.
Especially once you check out the Unico SE power supply- that thing is heavy!! Incidentally, I forgot to mention that via my arros, I did prefer the pace and rhythm of my Sim audio Moon I-5 - that thing was as fast and funky as my Nait 2 (and thats fast!!!) but it wasnt as tonally fleshed out and present.
Perhaps some of the new Sims, particularly the I-3 SE, with their supposed increased warmth without sacrifice of pace might be another option. (Brit press loves them to death).
Even if the man had said Forests instead of Hawks-- then maybe in a big room with hardcore heavy metal or Mahler-- the Unico SE wouldnt cut it. Hawks are about the easiest to drive though in the line and do the best at lowish levels as well, at least in terms of dynamics.
But how do I know? Talked to Vince Bruzzese about that one on the phone cause I had similar questions! For lower to med. levels particularly with amps under 100 a side or so, his choice is Hawks.

Bobrock initiated this threat by saying his 100W per channel SS amp was having trouble "driving" his Totem Hawks. Rumadian suggested among others the BAT VK300x and the Blue Circle FtTH integrateds. Mallardducks says they agree with Rumadian and that you need an amp with low damping factor to make them sing, and mentions success with an old Sherwood tube amp.

1. The Blue Circle and especially the BAT VK300x are not particularly "low dampening factor" pieces - and

2. while not sterile sounding by any stretch - these amps are not as bloomy or loose as an old Sherwood.

Mallardducks, you would have me believe that Bobrock's current amp (sic) has too much dampening vs not enough???

I have to accept on face value that neither of you particularly like the MF A5.5-Hawk combination, but I don't think you are recommending the same type of solutions???

I would heartily recommend pretty much any Blue Circle amp and the VK300x is also a great amp - both high quality hand crafted products but also both would be many bucks more than the A5.5, yes?

Not sure you can readily find an old Sherwood, but a used Mac like an old (or new) MC275 might fit the bill - then you need a preamp... or how about a pair of PrimaLuna ProLogue seven monoblocs?

I still like the A5.5-Hawk combination, at least I would give it a try and see for yourself. The MF is a pretty well balanced mix of authority and nuance for the money asked. Have you had a chance to hear it yet?