Upgrade rainmakers to hawks,clues,tekton or fritz?

Heard the "Clue" yet? I'm dieing to hear about them despite what Plato sayes about their questionable specs. Very interesting design approach with their close to wall mounting and all.

Eslaudio,
I have narrowed down my choices to naim XS and hawks or Red wine audio signature 15 and tekton lore-s. I have been getting great advice from Plato but I thought I would ask you again as you have had both in your system. I went to RWA and listen to the RWA/Teketon combo. There were a lot of things that I liked about it. On some music it sounded like you were there - really live. Tonally it was amazing especially with the vocals and the RWA amp was really great. I never really took note of distortion before until it was totally gone. However, on some cds I found it lacking in the excitement that I have heard with the totems and perhaps a little too smooth sounding. It could have been the room as the room that I have heard the totems in is much smaller. But I have also read a review on the part time audiophile site where he described the tekton's as less than forgiving with average recordings - "On the Grove, the high-res re-releases of the Smashing Pumpkins Gish and Siamese Dream are a wonderfully dynamic and exhilarating listen. On the Tekton, they’re a little tedious." - from part time audiophile. I was wondering if you had the same experience as most of what I listen to is pop and indie pop/rock and these bands are sometimes recorded under not the most stellar conditions.
Thanks.

Hello Jon,

I seriously doubt that the Totem Hawks, although decent, will be on the same page with the Tekton Lore-S when it comes to overall balance and purity of tone.

I have not heard the Sjofn Clue speakers, but took a look at their specs which threw up a couple of flags for me. One thing is that they are claiming that a woofer with a 4-inch diaphragm size and a tiny enclosure can play down to 28Hz (-3dB) with 87dB/watt efficiency. I find this spec highly doubtful even if room gain is factored into it. Also, it has a crossover to the tweeter at 2300Hz, which is in a very sensitive band of human hearing...

So considering these things and considering that the Lore-S has an 8-inch woofer, more cabinet volume, a much higher crossover point (at least 5kHz) and the Lore-S is 7dB more efficient (meaning it will work MUCH better with great sounding lower power amps), I'd still put my money on the Lore-S.

I have also had the Fritz Rev 5 speakers in my room for a few months and although I liked them quite a bit, they are not quite as transparent as the Lore-S or as extended in the high frequencies. Also their midbass was a tad overly ripe... at least in my room, which was not always a good thing if you know what I mean.

Milpai - I actually have tried them out with better amplification. I took them to my friends house who has the Hawks and we both agreed that the Hawks were in every way superior. Not saying that the Rainmakers are bad, because they are not, just that I prefer the sound of the Hawks. They go lower and they just seem richer sounding.

Esluudio - I think the amplification for the Hawk is the real issue for me. With the Lore-S I can get a new or refurbished red wine audio signature 15 for $1000(used/reurb?)-$1500(new)but with the Hawks I would have to spend significantly more on amplification. I am going to try and make it up to RWA factory as Vinnie, the owner, has some Lore-S paired up with his amplification.

Tomorrow I am actually going to listen to Sjofn's Clues at the NE rep home.

Thanks for everyone's response so far.

Hi all ! I own the standard Lore's and have never felt the need for a sub. They go very low and are very dynamic and musical . Cant comment on the other speakers . My speaker search is over .

I owned the Hawks for many years and currently own the Lore-S. IMO both are excellent speakers but with quite different tonal characters. The Hawks have excellent bass for their size, and actually go a bit lower than the Lore-S even though they are smaller speakers. I also feel the Hawks may be a bit more extended on top than the Lore-S, but only by a smidge. That said, the Lore-S are definitely the more balanced and neutral speaker--they don't emphasize any part of the frequency spectrum over any other. I always felt the Hawks tended to have a pumped up lower midrange in order to emphasize vocals, though this may be something you like. Also, the Lore-S are much more versatile in terms of amplification than the Hawks. I'm easily driving them with an 8wpc SET amp whereas the Hawks really need at least 100wpc and high current to shine. I don't believe the Naim 5i will cut it with the Hawks, and even Totem customer support said as much in an email exchange I had with them. For rock music I would give the nod to the Hawks if you're using the right amplification because of their superior bass performance and because they sound a bit less "smooth" than the lore-s. Of course, a sub in combination with the lore-S would probably make them a good rock speaker as well. For acoustic music such as slack key guitar, I believe the lore-s is superior due to its transparency and tonal neutrality. Best of luck in your search.

Jkontuly,
Question for you - have you listened to the Rainmakers with a good quality amp rather than the receiver you have? I am assuming that the Hawks and the other speakers you have listened to, must have been paired with a good quality integrated or separates. Before you move on from the rainmakers, make sure that you have given them a fair listening.
I am not saying that the NAD receiver or the other speakers are not worth upgrading. But I am suggesting a fair comparison, before moving on. Then decide, if it is worth upgrading. I was impressed by the Rainmakers some years back and I still believe that they are very good speakers in their price range. The Hawk is in a different price range.

Based on a friend's recommendations, I would add Nola Boxers to that list. Search the threads here for impressions. And the Fritz speakers are great.