Totem Acoustic Hawk Floorstanding Speakers

Totem Acoustic Hawk Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

5.5" extreme long throw woofer has non-resonant cone and dust cap, dynamic linear suspension for maximum airflow, and patented magnet system. 1” alloy dome tweeter has a flexible linear suspension and special low resonance chambered unit, <35Hz-21kHz ±3dB, 6 ohm impedance, 86dB sensitivity.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 15  
[Jun 14, 2017]
DVD
Casual Listener

Just want to say that the Totem Hawk Speakers are the best speakers I have ever experienced.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 09, 2017]
G. Macin
AudioPhile

I paid 2,995 the price is not 2,295 as you said.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Nov 20, 2016]
Mike Emery, SF
AudioPhile

I purchased a new pair of Hawks in 2014 from Frank Mauri at Harmony Audio Video in San Francisco. After 3 years, I still give them an extremely high rating. They are far more musical and far more convincing than other speakers tested in their price range (Dynaudio, KEF, AudioPhysic), despite their smallish footprint. I continue to marvel at the extent of bass response and overall tonality. (Please note that setup / room placement is important, even with the Hawks.) These Totems are speakers for every man, woman, and child. Bravo to Vince Bruzzese and the entire team at Totem. Recently I have begun to question whether the sound stage is sufficiently large for my 13' x 30' main room. To address this question, I intend to demo the Totem Forest Signature and the B&W Diamond 804, a considerably more expensive speaker. The challenge, of course, will be to find a better speaker within reasonable size limits and without spending at least $10,000. That endeavor may prove to be a fool's errand.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 18, 2012]
George Darling
Audio Enthusiast

My review is based on a house fire caused by an electrical short in the attic. I have full replacement coverage, and I called my stereo pro to modernize my system. My wife HATES the size of my past (toasted) equipment. This prior equipment is comprised of 25 years of consistent love of listening to music first, then understanding the importance of killer sound from good movies.

Prior to the fire, I had a Denon 5803 powering my Snell C/V front speakers, Snell center, and matching rear Snell THX speakers with a M&K sub. Loved this system.

I call my stereo guy, and tell him the bad news. (Good news to his company). My first Snells were the type E, two way speaker. No matter how much I spent on other Snell's, I missed the simple E series. My brother in law has them now, and they have given us over 25 years of service with just a driver replacement, and they sound great.

Paul at LMC tells me to get the following:
Marnatx 7005 7025 7055 amd tjeor 5005 universal player with the Totem Hawk towers, Tetem TAC in cealing 8" surrounds and a REL T9 Sub.

I have friends with killer systems, and trust me, unless you are cranking music, these Totem Hawks are one of the best speakers I've ever enjoyed. Clean with awesome staging. Best staging I've heard from a two way speaker, maybe the best I've enjoyed at lower volume's.

These are not high decibel rock and roll speakers, but play all my music with clarity. My daughters boyfriend put on a CD, and I heard some clipping on the driver, but it was loud enough prior to his hefty finger on the RTI Tc2 remote.

Love these speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 08, 2012]
Waroroses
AudioPhile

Not the most efficient, but these really sing. I use with a Pathos Classic tube hybrid and I feel like my listening room is a club with live musicians.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 26, 2011]
Phage
AudioPhile

I'm pairing Hawks with Naim Audio's Supernait integrated amp and the combination is stunning. The sound is coherent, clear and lively, maybe a bit dark when paired with Naims (just the way I like it). Bass is fast and controlled. It goes so beep that subwoofer is useless (room response is about 32 Hz depending the room of course). Some might say that response is slightly U-shaped meaning that mid range is somewhat less present compared to bass and trebles the way preferred often in the North-America (Totem in Canadian manufacturer). As acustom to Totems Hawks tend to disappear and the listening angle wide e.g. sweet spot listening in not mandatory. I listen to various kind of music ranging from rock to fast death metal without any problems.
Be sure that you won't place them too close to the wall or in too small room due to huge bass response and the placement of the response elements, I tried them in a small room and woke up room modes you wouldn't believe.
Overall they are great value for the money, design is very neat and fits to most living rooms (great WAF index). They are smaller in the real world than often thought by the pictures. If you have small children in the house, be sure to stabilize them with sand etc due to three-point claws (there are 3 metal ball under the claw and they are not the most stable floor standers unless filled for extra weight).

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 20, 2011]
Rassy
Audio Enthusiast

I bought the Hawks to partner a Plinius 9100, but soon upgraded the amp to the 9200. I have a Bel-Canto CD-1, Stereovox XLR cables, a Inspire Eclipse T/T with Rega RB1000 and Shelter 901 with a Whest Two phono amp.
I've used Chord Epic, and now Rapport speaker cables. All were bought second user or ex-demo.
Recently, I have had a revelation in the sound, and I can only ascribe that to the Hawks (and the rest of the system) "burning-in".
The imaging is superb, the treble is airy, the midrange crystal clear and the bass superbly taught for my liking.
I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Listening to Adele's 21 album recently, I did not realise how low they could go. Wow, she's in the room!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 27, 2011]
makker67
Audio Enthusiast

For 9 years I have been listening to a setup (Classe, Primare amplification) with B & W speakers (CDM7SE, Nautilus 804, 805 Signature, 804 S) but I always felt "something was "missing" but I could not put it into words.
A couple of months ago I visited a friend who had just bought a new set with Naim electronics and Totem Sttaf's. I was astonished by the brilliant sound (especially the fantastic bass response) of the configuration and I decided to look for Totem speakers for myselfl. I ran into second hand Totem Hawk's and decided to give them a try. Since the moment I hooked up the speakers to my components, I have diffculties to get to work and to leave the house for social and other activities. I am addicted to my Hawk's and even my wife is happy because she finds the Totem a much more acceptable piece of furniture, compared to the relatively big B & W's.
Totem is mij speakerbrand now. I don't think that'll ever change.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 28, 2010]
john horst
AudioPhile

I had a pr of forests and was never satisfied withe sound mid was sucked out a bit more than i liked so i changed them to simple first order x over. they were absulutley stunning after. came across these hawks as a fluke they had sagged woofers so they were only 300$ WOW I THOUGHT THAT I HAD HEARD IT ALL THESE THINGS MADE MY REFERANCE DYNAUDIOS SOUND CRUDE IN COMPS . I HAVE BEGUN TO REALY THINK THAT THESE ARE THE BEST SOUNDING SPEAKERS MONEY CAN BUYREPLACING THE SCAN SPEAK WOOFERS IS COSTLY BUT THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY AND ILL KEEP THEM FOREVER

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 06, 2005]
jmd59
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price to musicality: unbeatable at this price. Accurate musical reproduction across the spectrum. Incredible dynamic range. Bass- strong without being boomy. Treble- bright without being too sibilant.

Weakness:

Break-in time of 100+ hours may make you lukewarm to the speakers initially. MAKE SURE YOU BREAK THEM IN! Reveals downline mediocrity--these speakers deserve good amplification. Makes poor recordings more noticeable. Definitely enhances quality (or lack thereof) in the studio. Not really a weakness in my book.

I had been resigned to living with "ok" sound as there were seemingly no hi-end audio stores in the Capital region, until I found the guys at Oasis Audio, who allowed me all the time to really listen to what I wanted. I worked my way up from the Arrow and Sttaf to the Hawks, and was consistently impressed by the quality and integrity of the sound. I initially thought they would be out of my price range, but a month of listening convinced me that anything less would eventually be a waste of money. Of course, the source material is critical, and the Hawks will reveal failings all the way down the line. But pair them up with a good amp and cd player, and this is a system for the ages. Fortunately, I was able to latch on to a SimAudio I-5 LE and Nova LE before they sold out the limited production run, and am now enamored of the system. Critical to the entire experience was having the patience to let the speakers break in. After a week, they seemed to open up, and a couple weeks later, they "bloomed"--I know that sounds cliche, but I have no other way to put it. CD's that had gathered dust for the past decade have new life, new sound, new meaning. Stunning is too mundane to describe the sound that comes from this small(ish) speaker. Sizzling highs, deep lows, and superb imaging. Although not a huge fan of War, popped in Cisco Kid for a spin and was blown away. Superb imaging and separation let me pick out every instrument on the soundstage. And talk about rediscovering my old CD's: Steely Dan's seminal AJA sounds brand new, with nuances never heard before--Walter Becker fingering the fretboard; Steve Gadd's drumming on the title track sounds somehow more present, more personal, more inspired than ever before. You can hear the immediacy of the strokes, including the decay of the cymbals and the rimshot midway through his drum solo. Vocals are a real treat (listen to Fiona Apple, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, all superbly recorded, and see what I mean) but instrumentals are incredible also--if you think you've heard Brubeck before, listen to him on a Hawk!!! Definitely a speaker for the music lover, the Hawk defines the quality of speakers in this price range. I am giving an overall rating of 5 based on the fact that I have yet to hear anything in the same category for the price. But then again, IMHO the same can be said for any Totem Speaker. Kudos to the entire Totem team for making exceptional quality the minimum acceptable standard.

Similar Products Used:

Allison CD 9 Vandersteen Audio C2

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 15  

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