Replacing Forests???


OK, I am looking for some friendly advice. After going through 3 pairs of Forests in a 6 month period, my dealer is allowing me to trade them back in for full value towards another speaker set-up. I am a HUGE fan of the Totem sound, and have never had problems with Totem before these Forests.

I have owned the Tabus and Arros with great results. Moving to a larger space forced me to move away from the Arros and up the Totem line. I had longed for the Forests for a long time, but the problems I've had with these in the short history of owning them has me throwing in the towel with them!

This is a 2-channel music/HT set-up powered by a Simaudio i-5. I am thinking of going with one of the following 2 options:

Totem Sttaf with 2 Dreamcatcher subwoofers

(or)

Totem Hawks

Although I think I am more partial to the Sttaf sound, as I have never been 'wowed' with the Hawks on the gear I've listened to them on (Naim/NAD - both bad; Ayre - pretty decent, small hotel room set-up), I would love to hear people's opinions.

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
jh2os

Showing 6 responses by baroque_lover

I say if you are not going to move up from the Forest you should look into the Sonus Faber lineup.
You should seriously look at Audio Physics offering.

The Tempo would be a REALLY nice match with the I-5.
Grakesh,

You have been mulling this decision for quite some time now. Why not go down to a dealer and make a judgment of you're own? You will always be pulling at you're hair "wondering" if you don't listen for yourself.
I love the look of the claws. So much so that I got them installed on my Arros. It makes the speaker look much classier and the Art Deco look contrasts nicely with the rich cherry wood.

I prefer the Arro's over the staff. Room size would be a factor though, if the room was large I would porbably consider the Staffs.

Jh2os, nice to hear you got the Hawks in you're room. Play around with different positioning when you listen. Glad you are letting them burn in first - it't worth it.
i sold Totem for 2 years and I can say without hesitation that Beheme comments towards the 'Hawk' driver being fragile is garbage. Type in Scan-Speak Revelator in any DIY community forum. I remember in early 2004 we had the Hawks doing HT duty in a 15x25 room powered by Bryston Monoblcoks and the Hawks performed without a hitch. Yes there are mechanical limitations, but this hogwash about them being "too fragile" for HT is simply not true.
So whats the plan now? I see you sold you're I-5. Are you atleast considering going back to Arro's?