Replacing Forests???

Will do! I listened to them in an HT environment before at my dealer and they seemed to have no qualm about it - playing a LOTR DVD. It wasn't until I read that notice that it concerned me. I have an email in to Totem regarding the use of the Hawk in an HT environment, we'll see what they say...

Jh20s,

I understand that you dont have forests anymore with you for a direct A/B comparision. It will be great if you can relate to your recent audition of forests and throw some comparision points.

It is very disappointing to see such a disclaimer 'important notice' on a 2000 dollar speaker. I hope this notice is atleast in-reference to HT only and not for 2 channel. I am plannng Hawks for 2 channel use and may be as rear speakers in a HT.

Jh2os..Did you remember seeng any such disclaimer notice with Forests ? How did forests do in a HT set-up ?

Grakesh

So, Jh2os, how are you defining "moderate levels"...? I have a pair of Hawks coming to me in the near future and would like to make sure I treat them right. I don't blast my music anyway (rarely above 80db from listening position 8 feet from speakers), but would still want to not "overtax" them.

thx, - walkman

Beheme,

When you say "They are something special when associated with the right gear"...I am assuming you are referring to Totem Hawks. Are you saying Hawks - Cary SLI 80 combo is a good system synergy for 2 channel Music ? I had a chat with totem folks and they said Hawks being an already WARM speaker, they will have more system sunergy with a slightly NEUTRAL amp like Plinius 9200 (SS - 200 watts/ch). But Totems folks recommended Cary-SLI 80 and VTL IT-85 ( warm amps ) for more neutral sounding speakers like Forests. Can you please let me know what your experiences are with Hawks/Forests with cary SLI 80 and any other Amps for 2 channel music and HT.

Thanks
Grakesh

Grakesh,
The Forests did not have any red 'important notice' sheet with them. The Forest woofers may have failed (or became damaged) during an HT passage, but I am not certain of the exact cause of the woofer blowing? In 2 instances, during HT play the Simaudio i5 'warning' LED came on. I contacted Simaudio about this and their response that this is an indication of 'DC' at the output and to turn the level down until this did not occur. This could have damaged the Forest woofer, but at the same time the Forest woofer blew two different times, each time it was a different channel in my system - once left, once right AND once before the i5 was even in the system. The other speaker never had any issues, which led me to beleive that the 'warning' light was not the cause of the damage, there was something inherently wrong with the one speaker - otherwise, both would have had issues?

I do think, in a space the size of mine the Forest needs more power than the i5 has to offer.

Walkman, I haven't pulled out a db meter, but for the 24/7 John Pizarelli I've had the i5 set to '20'. While actively listening to music I have it set at '25', and while watching HT I haven't gone past '28'. I was imaging these levels are all well below 80db. I will pull out my meter and let you know though. When driving the forests, I usually listened to music at '25' and movies at '31'. Some movie soundtracks required going to '33' or above, although usually not an issue, it was at these levels the i5 'warning' indicator blinked.