NOLA, Fritz, or used Totem Hawk - Want Drama


Looking at speakers for an 8' X 14' sun room with a large opening to the living room. Really enjoyed ProAc 2 speakers a while back. I moved to larger speakers, and want to downsize.

Most important aspect of presentation is drama - sitting on the edge of the couch, waiting for the next twist or turn in the singer's voice. Mesmerized by the music NOT minute details.

After doing some looking around, three speakers stood out in my range (1,000-1,500): NOLA Boxer, Fritz 7, and Totem Hawk (not much of a "downsize" here). Probably need a new amp (I do still have a Cairn 30 Watt integrated).

So, if you've had a moving experience with any of these, let me know what amp was being used. If I'm missing any "must" auditions, let me know.

Thanks for looking!

Michael
128x128leahy
I auditioned both the Nola Boxer and the Fritz 7 at the same time (both during their return trial periods), and I returned the Nola Boxer.

I read substantial praise on both, and if either speaker was reviewed, it seemed like the reviewer always said whichever of the two they happened to be reviewing, was *the* bookshelf to get.

Anyway, after having both in-house, honestly, I liked the Fritz 7's a lot more. The Nola Boxer's have a tipped up treble that really fatigued me; my ears would be kind of fatigued after a few songs, and honestly I couldn't "get into" the music. Due to the treble the overall image seemed to be "whitewashed" as well, if that makes any sense at all.

The Fritz 7's, on the other hand, are more neutral towards the frequency spectrum, and lean towards warm. The lows, mids, and highs are all very well integrated to the point where you don't really pick out the individual lows, mids or highs; you focus on the overall sound. Also with these speakers, they really pull me into the music somehow; it gives me that urge of "just one more song" to listen to, late into the night; whereas with the Nola's I was hearing music, but it didn't draw me in to keep listening. I mostly listen to vocally based music, and I'll say I love vocals on these things.

Also, just as a side note, I believe the Fritz Rev 5 which I was also considering at the time, has the same revelator mid/bass driver as in the Totem Hawk, except the Rev 5 has a soft dome tweeter as well.
Thanks for the input so far. Can't go wrong with a 30 day trial... If anyone new chimes in, what are your thoughts on Triangle Cometes - 30th anniversary? I really have liked Titus and Zerius 202 from the past...