Totem's "Hawk" and "Forrest":How Hi-End Are They?

Jim,

I owned a pair of Rokk's for a while, damned nice monitors they did a lot of things right for a very reasonable price. I heard the Totem Hawks at the Montreal audio show and man did they sing! Then I went to CES and the sound was less than stellar to say the least, but I'll write that off as a bad room. All in all the cabinetry is gorgeous and the sound is very very good. Vince is also a real gentleman and passionate audiophile.

I've had a pair of Forests for aprox. three years. Had originally broken them in with a B & K AVR202 reciever and was very pleased with the results. Found that their reputation for producing exceptional bass response was well deserved, only once I added a pair of Odyssey monobloc amps. This change yeilded a huge increase in bass response, and woofer control. These speakers will most definately reward you for any upgrades made elsewhere in the system, which I feel makes them high-end. Overall, I've found them to image very well, and be extremely dynamic when driven well. Since we'd moved about 6 mths. ago, I've set the system up in a much larger finished basement. Am now approaching the woofers limits as far as their ability to move an adequate amount of air. Went to Rogue Magnum monoblocs on top of Odyssey Extreme monos on the woofers(how's that for well-fed!) recently and these speakers are awesomely resolving and dynamic. First-rate cabinetry makes these a speaker you can live with easily. My wife has never expressed a problem with them because they look so good and are not huge, physically. I may need to go to a larger, multi-driver design, soon though.

I spoke with a Totem dealer recently about these two models. I was told that they both sounded good, but the Hawk could not be driven to the same levels as the Forrest. He said people would demo the Hawk and end up cranking it up because they were impressed with the bass response. This had caused the speaker to blow more than once.

In a nutshell, the Hawks can't handle the higher volumes. Depends on how you'll use them. Good luck.

I just had a very nice visit with Galen Carol in San Antonio and had a brief listen to the Totem Hawks in an inexpensive system, Jolida integrated,Audio Aero Prima cdp,with Nordost cabling. I believe power cords were from Shunyata( I can't remember as I looked at three different systems)I was very impressed with the sound out of the Hawks,extremely wide and deep soundstage,very nice focus of a female vocalistin center stage,overall very musical and engaging. Galen is a Totem dealer and has both the Hawks and Forrest.Both speakers were out from the wall a few feet and were floor-standing. I was very surprised to see so much sound coming out of these diminuative little speakers.You can contact Galen at www.gcaudio.com.Highly recommended.As friendly and helpful as they get in the high end of dealers.

I have a pair of the Hawk and I am enjoying every penny out of my $2000 spent for it. I do not listen to high volume sound so I don't think I will damage it with my 120 watts/ch Rotel 1075. I auditioned the Hawk twice, and the sacond time I walked out of the store with a pair. I think you will have to listen to them yourself, and take your own music. Some speakers that I see get great reviews don't sound as good as the Halk, to me. I listned to a pair of JM Lab Cobalt and they were no match for the Hawk interms of warmth, and musical imageing. I don't know how they would do against the JM Lab Electra. The Hawks are worth your time to stop by a dealer and to before buying any speaker, no matter what price.