Detail, precision, imaging.....is "spooky" to borrow a previously used phrase. Deep, precise bass.

None

I feel very fortunate that I acquired the Hawk off Ebay for the price paid. The speakers were 4 months old and not even broken in. I am running as my front end Legacy Audio ultra mono block amps, the stream preamp, and a Rega Planet. Now, the mono blocks are definately overkill for these speakers. But, what I get is absolute deadness as far as background noise. If you don't know about the Legacy's they are designed and made by Coda, An ultra high end company. Th topography was designed by Bill Duddleson, the voodoo high priest of the Legacy line. Anyway.....the totem's are unbelievable....a two way system with a 5.5 hyper long throw woofer...how they sound as good as they do is unfathomable. The bass,...is very tight and focused, AND.....deep! The imaging is wide along with the dispersion. The speakers are full,,,,detailed and precise. Not designed for home theater I believe....a waste in my opinion! Home theater speakers should be good....but should be designed to play loud and detailed. Now, the Hawk's will play very loud.....but, why? If I want loud boom-boom bass I will by Cerwin-Vega's. These speakers are giant killers, better than the Forrest model....these speakers are just the right blend of design, characteristics of drivers, and.....a beautiful furniture grade cabinet. Buy them....

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Spooky imaging and sound stage

Without SAND they could tip

Well, here I go again. I only feel compelled to review something if it really moves me and goes beyond. Well the Totem hawk is that. I have had so many speakers that I would bore you going through them. These speakers are truily a marvel. They are fantastic in every way. I am playing them with 6 watt /channel single end amps and the sound is rich full and the sound stage and imaging is ghostly and real. If you want a speaker that will reveal and make you feel that you are there and with the highest WAF on earth. Small footprint and elegant finish. My wife told me to put them on the shelf so people can see them in the living room.

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Huge, wonderfully dense soundstage. A real sonic wonder. Superb detail, one of the best midranges out there, yet it digs down to just under 30hz! You can add a sub, but you don't "need" it. It's a light weight speaker - easy to move around when determining ultimate placement in the room. GREAT LOOKING in cherry finish.

Can tip over with little effort on carpeting.

This has to be one of the greatest two way speakers on the planet. It throws a tremendously large and densely musical soundstage! Totem talks about this model communicating the "soul" or essence of music itself. I agree. If you are looking for a fantastic sounding 2 way tower that looks great and transports you to a different place every time you throw a disc in your player, buy this speaker! It has fantastic detail, a glorius midrange, mid bass and surprisingly deep, bass down to around 29 hz! Yes, all from a speaker that takes up very little room. I just love listening to my system with the Totem Hawks - less pyrotechnics, but more quality and true enjoyment of music. I sold my highly prized pair of Snell B-Minors for this little two way wonder of a loudspeaker. Totem also makes a couple of very good sub woofers that pair great with the Hawks, but trust me, you won't miss not having a sub - that's just how great the Hawk is. I think it's Totems greatest effort and and although it may seem like a lot of money for budget minded audiophiles, like myself, it is an astronomical bargain, once you hear it, broken in. If you get a chance to audition it, be ready to buy. This speaker loves to be biwired and is a PERFECT MATCH for the Plinius 9100 - 120 wpc integrated amp. Be patient with the break in period. I left my system on 24/7 for a week and the speakers have broken in nicely after almost one month (about 200 hours of playing time). I was careful not to crank the Hawks too loud until it had a good week or two of solid use under it's belt. Now, a month later, it can play quite loud, but the special extreme long throw 5.5" woofer can get a little wooly sounding if pushed to extreme volume levels. Not to worry, it will play plenty loud to very, very satisfying levels for just about any discriminating audiophile. No other woofer I know of can do what this one does for its size. The build quality and finish is top notch and I was surprised when my wife left me a voicemail message that she really likes the look of these speakers. Guys, there is nothing more gratifying than great sound as well as a a system that your wife also likes! Yes, she likes them, even though they don't have grill covers! Rest assured, I will keep these speakers for a long, long time! Associated equipment: - Ah! Supertjoeb (upgraded) (tube) CD player with 24 bit / 192 Khz upsampler. - Plinius 9100 - 120 wpc integrated amplifier. - Totem Hawk 2 way loudspeakers. - Cable by Signal Cable: Double Run Biwire loudspeaker cable (8ft) with Analysis Plus BSM spades at amp side and Analysis Plus BSM bananas at the speaker posts. Analog 2 interconnects (3ft) with Bullet Plug RCA's and Magic Power AC cord (4ft) to the amplifier.

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open, true music. Spacial. Produces low frequencies (<50Hz).

none. Well, is an awful lot of money though, but worth it.

This Review is for the HAWK!! Looking for an upgrade for my speakers i have listened in four audiofile-shops. I was looking for speakers i liked, no matter what price. I found most audiofile-speakers very analytical and clean. The Hawk (maybe all Totems) is different to my opinion. It makes music sound fluent; the sound is almost liquid and still it reveals all the information that is given to them. Another reason why i bought this speaker is because it has full-frequency range. It also produces sub-bass sound. Most speakers i heard don't go much futher then, lets say 50Hz. This speaker digs deeper. I find this important, because i (also)listen to a lot of electrical music with slamming bass and sub-bass. For example Massive Attack. Last thing which makes this speaker special is its ability to make the music more 'spacial'. It looks like the music is not really coming from the speakers but the sound just 'emerges'. And when you turn your amplifier higher, you don't get louder music coming from a speaker, it feels like you get more music. I have these speakers now for 1,5 month and i am still very pleased. One last thing. This speaker is quite honest. When you hook it up to other equipment it really makes a difference what you hear. By the way, the price paid is in euro's

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