Request advice-need "brighter" speakers than Totem Hawks

Zamdrang:
Thank you for weighing in on the Dali Royal Towers. I was initially engaged by them because of their highly refined look, having never had a chance to listen to them. I have also had difficulty finding reviews online because they are getting pretty "vintage" as far as their age goes. I really appreciate your thoughts, and indeed, may act on them. 

Update for others following this thread: 
Having switched to near field listening while doing tests, and using only my left (undamaged) ear consistently from speaker-to-speaker, I am perceiving that the highs are coming through, and maybe

1. I am not listening to good sources (music CDs and CDP), which accounts for a lack of clear highs,
   
2. The combination of Simaudio Moon P-5/W-5 and Hawks may be over-softening my high frequencies too much for my particular needs,
   
3. Swapping in the Creek Evo 100a has some effect in the direction I need, but having to crank the treble all the way (or nearly so) doesn't seem to be a very "audiophile" solution, and I still miss some highs. 
   

This has led me to contemplate the following possible actions (I am thinking to implement 1 or 2 of these ideas, not all three--costs are a factor. :

(a) switching to different speakers (as noted above the Dalis come to mind, or the  Thiels which a number of you kind people have mentioned as likely able to meet my needs,

(b) switching to a brighter amp/pre-amp combo. My experience with the Creek has led me to believe that the integrated amp market has come a very long way in a good direction since I switched to all separates, 

(c) getting into a better source (a disc player with music server capabilities, for example. Any suggestions along those lines would be most welcome. I am a total noob (as my kids say) in this realm of gear. I am especially interested in hearing about gear that delivers top caliber sound quality without breaking the bank. I am aware that music servers tend to be expensive.  I have a dedicated MacBook Air (2011 vintage) available, if that helps. 

Thanks again to all who have advised me on this issue. I hope to hear from you on these questions. 
Best,
-Bruce

The issue for you is that a high-end digital source will reproduce music faithfully. That means an accurate presentation of how the music was recorded. It will not provide you with more highs, and if the highs are more extended they should sound more refined than an ordinary CDP.

Thiel seem like a possibility for you, but I think i read that they are redesigning their speaker line, not sure.

So, Lowrider: point taken. 

Maybe I should be asking
"what's a great integrated amp or pre-amp with 'wonderful' tone controls?"

B 

Update:
So, I had the amp (Sim Audio Moon W-5) maintained, diagnosed by some pro techs. There were some minor fixes, but nothing major wrong. The tech commented he had rarely seen such a well-built power amp. Sonically, his work translated to a minor improvement, but nothing along the lines of what I had been looking for. I subsequently found a couple of good buys on equalizers on eBay, and went for it (lots cheaper than a McIntosh pre/amp solution). I ended up with a dbx 1231 graphic eq, and an Ashly PQ-26 parametric. Both are pro-level gear (studio). The dbx arrived first, and it clearly made a difference, but the difference I got was an improvement, but not understated/subtle/natural sounding. Some harshness/fatigue/artificiality was present. Still, I considered this a promising step forward.

The Ashly PQ-26 was another story--significant differences were possible without incuring harshness or over-brightness. Wow. I still need to get the parametric eq dialed In a bit, and I wish it had "shelf" settings, but again, wow. Natural-sounding improvements are the hallmarks of a good parametric, and the Ashly did not disappoint. I put the Ashly between the power amp and the pre. It’s amazing. Recordings of music I love, but which have serious sonic quality issues were improved greatly. I’m really getting what I have been seeking at this point. I’ll either sell the graphic eq, or put it into another system in a different room. The Ashly is a keeper. Ran as much of the cabling as possible through balanced cables (Audience 24se and totem). I am deeply pleased with results so far. The Hawk speakers are responding beautifully.

Before trying the eq approach I read a bunch of cogent threads, so I established preferences before buying. My insights:

1. Eq is ok for meeting my particular needs--some hi Freq. hearing loss, and the quality and nature of my many recordings (CDs) have huge variation, suggesting some eq may be appropriate at times, and the Ashly has hardware bypass for purists.

2. For any eq gear intended for audiophile use, choose pro (studio) gear over consumer-grade gear. The I/O options are different (1/4" TRS instead of rca), but the balanced (XLR) option provides wonderful sound.

3. Parametric eq gives more control and has far less of a negative impact on fidelity vs graphic eq.

4. Though I thought about "tuning the room" with the eq, I decided to go with my ears over quantitative analysis via an RTA. RTAs give you a balanced/flat sound at one point: where you put the mic. I often listen from several spots in the room, so the RTA route made little sense (there seems to be some consensus in the forums on this--I agree strongly). The Hawks are also designed to be good for listening from multiple positions in the listening space, from what I’ve read.

5. I spent a lot of time on cabling, using swapped cables as expensive tone controls. Mistake. I needed to achieve big differences in hi freq. sound, and an eq gave me what I needed to achieve this, surprisingly, without destroying the quality of the listening experience, for example, by introducing harshness, overly bright highs, or quick-onset listening fatigue. Cool.

Thanks again to to all who advised me on this issue. Please feel free to comment/reflect on this development.
BH

Smart move on your part. Now you can begin to rediscover your music.