Totem Hawks - my impressions


I just acquired a used pair of Hawks this week and am extremely impressed with them. They have significantly more presence in the low end than my Joseph Audio RM25XL speakers and the mid-range is just magical. They have an immense soundstage, too. They don't seem to be very sensitive to set up and sound fine just a foot away from the rear wall. They are easy to move around given their small size and weight. They do need a lot of power to make them sing, probably at least 100 wpc, I would think. In my 40 years in audio, these are the best speakers I have ever had in my listening room at their price point. Oh, one other thing. With their "claw" feet, they are quite top-heavy and thus unstable on thick carpeted floors. I am getting outrigger spikes that will greatly increase their stability and mass couple them to the floor, which will no doubt improve their performance. Very highly recommended speakers!
whitestix
I picked up a nearly new pair of Totem Hawks for about $1500 and it's money well spent. The midrange and soundstage really come alive with my system. 
Aren't they great?  I am in the process of setting up a secondary system with my hawks, positioned to form a 6ft equilateral trangle. I have not found an integrated yet, but it will be tube-based.
Owned all of the classic Totem lineup over the years...and many other Uber brands.  They are special indeed.  I found myself desiring an even more dynamic footprint with even less compression at high volume levels while trying to retain the openness, soundstaging and physicality of the Totem’s.  On a dare, I took a pair of JBL 4429’s on loan for a trial, fully expecting to return them after a quick listen.  Days turned into weeks, months and now over a year later...they just have mesmerized!  Coltrane comes out on stage at the Village Vanguard and I can sense the room, smell the smoke and almost taste the whiskey 🥃 being served.  He is there in full 3D with the most full sized, warm buttery smooth midrange I have ever experienced.  I can crank it up to live levels with zero compression or aggression...soundstage is Maggie size yet physical and dynamic.  Usually I can find a major flaw after a year and then begin looking again, but this time I’m hooked.
Gosh.  I just checked out these  JBL 4429.  What an ugly speaker.  seriously.  And then you look at the price, $5000?  For someone looking at Hawks, that just about doubles the budget, no thank you.  I'm sure they sound great, but for most the price and the WAF makes them a nonstarter.

At at the $5000 price level, I'm sure there is a lot of competition, and hopefully better looking competition.  Sorry to be such a downer, but that's my honest reaction...mind you I also do have a smaller listening space.

As for me, I'm considering getting a 2nd pair of Hawks.  My pair would be fine in the theater system, but they sound so good I've got them in the 2 channel set up instead.  But now the theater, with a Rainmaker center and Totem Lynks for the rears, doesn't have a pair of totems to match color and timbre.  Maybe I should go big with a used pair of Winds...



Loved the Totem’s but I love music more than just looks...the 4429’s compete with the Wilson WP 6’s and B&W 802D2’s I had awhile ago.  I also dig the retro 60’s vibe which reminds me of one of the most beautiful sounding speakers ever made, which is the Bozak B313’s:). Full sounding, detailed and superb dynamics...gets to the soul of the music without compromising on soundstage size or higher volume compression issues.