I haven't had those but I have had the Rainmakers and Hawks in my house - quite recently, too.
I went for the Hawks simply due to budget constraints at the time. I believe the Forests go for just north of $6k the pair? The Hawks were $3.2k if memory serves me correctly. The Forests have a marginally wider frequency range in the specs, but frankly I couldn't justify the difference in price when I auditioned both sometime early last year or late 2014. (I drove the sales guy nuts, but they like me there.)
I was happy with the Hawks - exceptional build quality and engineering, with pretty damn good bass reproduction given their modest size. I do believe you will find yourself seeking a subwoofer after a while since they were 32hz at the bottom - the Forests are 30hz I believe.
I will say that they aren't "rockers" - I now listen mostly to combo-based jazz, alternative folk, lighter fare than I did in my wayward youth.
I drove my Hawks with a Pass Labs X150.5 amp, and a Macintosh Mc275 Mark VI, as well as my vintage Pioneer SX1050 receiver. If I could afford them I would definitely consider their Wind series - which I have auditioned. Good manufacturer. Good luck!
I went for the Hawks simply due to budget constraints at the time. I believe the Forests go for just north of $6k the pair? The Hawks were $3.2k if memory serves me correctly. The Forests have a marginally wider frequency range in the specs, but frankly I couldn't justify the difference in price when I auditioned both sometime early last year or late 2014. (I drove the sales guy nuts, but they like me there.)
I was happy with the Hawks - exceptional build quality and engineering, with pretty damn good bass reproduction given their modest size. I do believe you will find yourself seeking a subwoofer after a while since they were 32hz at the bottom - the Forests are 30hz I believe.
I will say that they aren't "rockers" - I now listen mostly to combo-based jazz, alternative folk, lighter fare than I did in my wayward youth.
I drove my Hawks with a Pass Labs X150.5 amp, and a Macintosh Mc275 Mark VI, as well as my vintage Pioneer SX1050 receiver. If I could afford them I would definitely consider their Wind series - which I have auditioned. Good manufacturer. Good luck!