Big Step Up from Totem Hawks? 10k Speakers?

Guys he said Big Step Up
Check into a pair of preowned Vandersteen 5As
Also a vandy dealer over 20 years

I thought I saw a pair of MBL 101e's here on audiogon a week or two ago for $17,000. No longer here, but maybe you could find another pair for a similar price, and stretch your budget a bit. I heard these at the rmaf this year and thought they sounded awesome!

Hi Ptm, I've came from a similar place. My room is a similar size to yours and I ran Totem Forest which I really enjoyed. With two youngsters not to mention their friends the Totem's were an accident waiting to happen given their light weight.

Some budget became available and I went for Kharma (see system pgs). I was staggered at the difference, greater transparency, more lifelike tonality and most importantly sounds/instruments take on greater weight making them sound more real and obvious in their placement within a wide, deep soundstage (assuming that info is on the disc).

As my system has evolved the speakers have revealed more and more, care taken with cables, support and most importantly placement have got me to a place where I'm very satisfied. I'm as happy playing music these days as I was searching for the next upgrade in the past.

Having had some experience with the components you run I'd expect the Kharma's would work and if at all possible they'd be worth an audition.

Truth of it is if you take the care to find a speaker in this range that synergises with the rest of your system you should come out the end very happy indeed.

Very best of luck with your search.

The Magico S1 is expected out pretty soon. Projected retail is $12.6K. I intend to audition it when it comes out. If you have the space, I would definitely suggest the Rockport Miras. They go for $8-9K used and they are fantastic speakers. Only thing is, they are pretty big compared to the Hawk, although not big on an absolute scale. The Magico looks pretty slim, so it would probably fit in the same space as the Hawk. While I'm here - have you listened to the Forest? Damn good speakers if you have the power and the room for them. Same with the Mani 2's - But you really need some juice for them.

I second Daedalus Athena, true works of audio art, but if you want to save half the $, the Selah Audio Tempesta Extreme is very close overall, albeit a bit different tonally. Both would work well with your room size and electronics.