Rainmakers vs Hawk

Has anyone used the hawks for movies in addition to music. I was going to buy the hawks until I talked to totem and they said that you had to crossover to a sub at 60hz to protect the Hawk's woofer. I don't have a sub and so that was the end of that. Although, I guess I could have just bought a cheap sub for movies if I was really worried about hurting the speakers. I guess I am just interested in other peoples experience.

I've listened to both the Rainmakers and the Hawks. In fact, I had the Hawks in my HT system for a couple years. The Rainmakers have a surprisingly full sound for a speaker of its size, but does so with mid-bass exaggeration and some degree of congestion with louder passages. The Hawk is a much better speaker, with both better clarity and LF extension. In Totem's lineup, I like the Hawks and Arros best.

I used the Hawks in my HT system, without a subwoofer, to good effect. No real complaints, except I felt that Totems center channel speaker I was using wasn't as articulate as I'm would have liked. So I went with all PSB for my HT. Ive never heard of problems using Hawks with HT, BTW.

Hope that helps.

Michael

I own the Rainmakers and have done a direct A/B comparison with the Hawks. If my budget allowed for it, I would have definitely chosen the Hawks over the Rainmakers as they have a much more pronounced mid-bass, which I personally find very enjoyable. However, the Rainmakers are a really great overall bookshelf speaker and there's nothing technically wrong with them. In my opinion, it really comes down to your budget. If price is not an issue, the Hawks are better. I just didn't think they were better enough to justify the large price jump. One thing that is worth adding, is that both speakers are very picky when it comes to the amp you pair them with. I'm using an NAD c375bee which is fine, but I've also listened to both speakers with a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum (int tube amp with 90wpc) and the difference was drastic--much more lively with a huge soundstage and fantastic imaging. Once I can afford it, I will upgrade to tubes.