Arcam Receiver adequate for Totem Hawks?


I power a modest surround setup with an Arcam AVR300, 100 watts per channel, all 7 driven. I biamp the L and R fronts.
I am considering Totem hawks, but am concerned about driving them with the receiver. Perhaps I would be better off with Totem Sttafs? I do have a small subwoofer to supplement bass. For stereo music, I just use the L, R fronts, plus the sub if necessary.
Thanks.
jh1923

Showing 1 response by akg_ca

Search the threads and use you will see a plethora of posts emphasizing the need for high current \ high watts ("grunt") amps for Totems.

I had both the Forests and Arros simultaneously in a prior system.

In brief: both needed the grunt, and the Forests only opened up to their maximum when they were fully bi-amped in the top all ARCAM FMJ system.

The ARCAM receiver ( and just about every receiver) lack the high current output and requisite power supply to do the Hawks justice. The watts alone in the ARCAM AVR are meaningless and regrettably won't get you there by a long shot.

If you like the Totem sound and you are going to drive them with your ARCAM AVR, then step down in their product line for a much better system synergy.

PS the Totems also crave silver plated speaker cables like Chord Rumour, Chord Odyssey, or Totem's own Tress cables ( the latter being near clones of the Rumour).