Totem Hawks - my impressions

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.

Owned all of the classic Totem lineup over the years...and many other Uber brands.  They are special indeed.  I found myself desiring an even more dynamic footprint with even less compression at high volume levels while trying to retain the openness, soundstaging and physicality of the Totem’s.  On a dare, I took a pair of JBL 4429’s on loan for a trial, fully expecting to return them after a quick listen.  Days turned into weeks, months and now over a year later...they just have mesmerized!  Coltrane comes out on stage at the Village Vanguard and I can sense the room, smell the smoke and almost taste the whiskey 🥃 being served.  He is there in full 3D with the most full sized, warm buttery smooth midrange I have ever experienced.  I can crank it up to live levels with zero compression or aggression...soundstage is Maggie size yet physical and dynamic.  Usually I can find a major flaw after a year and then begin looking again, but this time I’m hooked.

Gosh.  I just checked out these  JBL 4429.  What an ugly speaker.  seriously.  And then you look at the price, $5000?  For someone looking at Hawks, that just about doubles the budget, no thank you.  I'm sure they sound great, but for most the price and the WAF makes them a nonstarter.

At at the $5000 price level, I'm sure there is a lot of competition, and hopefully better looking competition.  Sorry to be such a downer, but that's my honest reaction...mind you I also do have a smaller listening space.

As for me, I'm considering getting a 2nd pair of Hawks.  My pair would be fine in the theater system, but they sound so good I've got them in the 2 channel set up instead.  But now the theater, with a Rainmaker center and Totem Lynks for the rears, doesn't have a pair of totems to match color and timbre.  Maybe I should go big with a used pair of Winds...

Loved the Totem’s but I love music more than just looks...the 4429’s compete with the Wilson WP 6’s and B&W 802D2’s I had awhile ago.  I also dig the retro 60’s vibe which reminds me of one of the most beautiful sounding speakers ever made, which is the Bozak B313’s:). Full sounding, detailed and superb dynamics...gets to the soul of the music without compromising on soundstage size or higher volume compression issues.

Okay, here’s the thing, At least as I see it.  The Totem Hawk is priced point is $3500 or so.  That’s a lot of money for most folks.  

I'm sure there are 10 or 12 pairs of speakers that at the $5000 level, are better than the Hawks.   They better be, don’t you think?   Who would buy a 5k speaker and brag about it being worse than the Hawk?  No one I know.  But for $5k, it should be a terrific looking speaker.   It should sound amazing AND look amazing.