Totem Forest Signature -or- Spendor D7

Don't forget the Beaks.

Please excuse the minor thread hijac - But has anyone heard the Forest versus the Forest Signature? I am considering both for an upgrade to my Arro's and the Forest is a lot easier to come by and, of course, considerably less expensive.

I'd be Interested in hearing what folks have to say as well. I have listened to the original Forest a fair bit. But a side by side report with the sigs would be very cool.

As long as we are hijacking - if you have the chance listen to the new Element line. They are really special.

I own the Hawks in cherry finish. I listened to demo Forest Signatures in the same room as with demo Hawks at a local dealership before purchase. To me, the Signatures sounded too bright. After buying and living with the Hawks for a few months I tried a dealer loaned demo set of Beaks. It was a learning experience. I had not realized how much treble energy is flowing around and atop the cabinet. The Beaks help bring it together so that there is less high frequency smearing (which I thought was sibilance). In retrospect the brightness I heard from the Signatures may have been that smearing. However, beside Beaks there is another way... Go to Lowes and spend $4 for a package of two 4.5 inch by 6 inch brown felt pads. Just lay (leave the backing on) a pad on top of each cabinet with the 4.5 inch dimension centered across the width and the front of the pad just back from the rounded front top of the cabinet. (I really like the workmanship of the cabinets!) The pad absorbs some of the high frequency energy and that smearing/sibilance is gone without damping out any airiness from the sound. Suggest you bring the pads to the dealership and listen with them laying atop the demo Signatures. (Oh, and my new Hawks took about 200 hours of playing to break in...)