Totem Hawks - my impressions


I just acquired a used pair of Hawks this week and am extremely impressed with them. They have significantly more presence in the low end than my Joseph Audio RM25XL speakers and the mid-range is just magical. They have an immense soundstage, too. They don't seem to be very sensitive to set up and sound fine just a foot away from the rear wall. They are easy to move around given their small size and weight. They do need a lot of power to make them sing, probably at least 100 wpc, I would think. In my 40 years in audio, these are the best speakers I have ever had in my listening room at their price point. Oh, one other thing. With their "claw" feet, they are quite top-heavy and thus unstable on thick carpeted floors. I am getting outrigger spikes that will greatly increase their stability and mass couple them to the floor, which will no doubt improve their performance. Very highly recommended speakers!
whitestix

Showing 4 responses by chrisr

Aren't they great?  I am in the process of setting up a secondary system with my hawks, positioned to form a 6ft equilateral trangle. I have not found an integrated yet, but it will be tube-based.
So 4 years later than you, i acquired a used pair of hawks.  
I have the exact same impression... 20 years in audio and this is perhaps the best pair of speakers (read compromise) i have ever had.... And i heard b&w, vandersteen, magnepan, dynaudio, rega, and more i forgot.  Very highly recommended.
Yes, bass response, clarity, soundstage, transparency.... 
So what bookshelf or tower would you recommend to get deeper into the music @whitestix? 
I wonder how the new SKY (tower and bookshelves) compare to the Hawks.. .higher level of transparency?