Totem Forest Signature, Part 11
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| Posted on July 6, 2024 at 19:33:01 | ||
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Posts: 7652
Location: Bay Area Joined: December 11, 2000 |
Over the years, when it comes to P.E., audiophiles have appeared uneasy.  Behind the chainlink fence were our outdoor volleyball courts. The building in the back was our gym. The top floor had the actual gyms, while the lower floor held our locker rooms. In Spring 1987, I had Ms. Adams for P.E., during 2nd period. Immediately following 2nd period, I actually had Ms. Adams for Homeroom. Our Homeroom was not in the gym; rather, it was in the main building. Moreover, I was a Homeroom Rep. Thus, Ms. Adams would let me out of P.E. a couple minutes before the rest of the class. I would change out of my P.E. uniform, and meet Ms. Adams at the small office just outside of the girls' locker room. She wanted me to bring stuff to Homeroom, and start taking roll. The girls would change out of their P.E. uniforms, and file out of their locker room. As they passed by, those who knew me would high-five me. Some of the girls would pat me on the head, shoulder, back, or even butt; and giggle, "Perv!"  Our P.E. uniforms, consisting of a reversible shirt and short shorts, were not cheap. You tried to make a set last the whole school year. At the beginning of sophomore year, you'd buy a new set. My freshman P.E. uniform set was kind of tattered, warped, faded, and had shrunk. Nevertheless, I kept it in my gym locker, as backup. During that Spring 1987 semester, my friend Theresa also had P.E. (but a different class/teacher from Ms. Adams).  This photo is a different angle/perspective, of our outdoor volleyball courts and tennis courts. Behind the tennis courts was our muddy football field. In the distance, you can see San Francisco State. One day, Ms.Adams' class was on the outdoor volleyball courts. Theresa's P.E. class was on the football field. Shortly after my class had finished stretching, and was starting to play volleyball, Theresa walked by, seeking me. From shoulder to knee, she was muddy on one side. She asked if I still had the backup P.E. uniform in my locker, which I did. She nonchalantly shrugged that it wasn't necessarily the mud: "I'm bleeding out the wazoo." So Theresa walked with me into the boys' locker room. Nobody was in there. She flipped my old P.E. shirt from white to the plain red. Our mascot was the Indian. She mentioned that, since another high school (Wash) had an eagle as a mascot, "Our Indian needs a falcon or hawk!" Theresa turned her back to me, removed her muddied P.E. shirt, and put on mine. I returned to the volleyball courts, while Theresa skipped to the girls' locker room, so she could change her shorts, and stash the soiled clothes. After graduating from S.F. State in the mid-1990s, Theresa moved to Orange County, where most of her relatives lived.  In 2013, Theresa came up to the Bay for a couple of weeks. I hadn't seen her in years, and she and I went on a day trip to Santa Cruz. She yelled, "I forgot how cold the water is here!" At this time, an audiophile from the San Fernando Valley, Cesar, had spotted the Totem Hawk, in my blog. Cesar reached out to me, and said that he had the Hawk, but just couldn't get it sound or perform right, in his room. After exhausting more attempts at trying to coax more out of the Hawk, he gave up, and replaced it. Cesar has been reading these reviews of the Totem Forest Signature. He mentioned that, since his adult kids have moved out, he actually has space, for a Forest Signature. Like many others, he wanted to know how the Forest Signature and Hawk compare.  The Totem Hawk has boundless energy. Ironically, on popular music, this can be too much of a good thing. In fact, Cesar complained that he could never do long listening sessions with his Hawk. He'd get fatigued, and headaches could start. The Hawk has a smaller footprint, than the Forest Signature. The Hawk sits on three "Claw" feet. You have to make sure, not to run or bump into the Hawk, and tip it over.  Because of the way the edges are sealed, they are very ugly, on the Hawk. They do not match the color, grain, or texture of the veneer. Theresa laughed, "Wow, who lined it with Bit O' Honey?" If you come across used Totems, be aware that their edges, flat surfaces, and corners chip very easily. And these blemishes are very noticeable and ugly.  We threw lots of electronics and cables at the Hawk. One of the best was a system consisting of Simaudio's Andromeda CD player, P-8 preamp, and W-7 power amp. With the lively Andromeda setting the table, this was a bit too much for the Hawk.  Even more so than the Forest Signature, you are going to be tempted to use cables as tone controls for the Hawk. In general, looms from Cardas, Kimber, and XLO tamed the Hawk, better than Nordost, Synergistic Research, Tara Labs, and Wireworld.  Really educational, swapping the Hawk for the Forest Signature results in a significantly more stable sound. The FS exercises way more control over the imaging and energy. Not only is the FS less fatiguing, you don't have to work as hard, to "believe" what your system is putting out. Because of the control the FS exerts over the bass, listeners often wonder where you've hidden the subwoofer. The Hawk does not go as deep, or with as much conviction. When watching TV or movies, Theresa (who has seen and heard both Hawk and FS) appreciates the FS' "focus" of voices. She doesn't have to deal with the Hawk's "waviness" on voices. Theresa says that, overall, the Hawk "tries too hard to pump it up." In contrast, she says, the FS "lets it come naturally." Since taking receipt of the FS, I hadn't thought of Totem's old Hawk. It was only when Cesar re-connected with me, and brought up the Hawk. Cesar chuckles, "All these audiophiles. They try to jump over each other, to see who can be the biggest hater. But your friends. They're not audiophiles. And they've always gotten to be with you and all the sports and food and music and audio." Theresa is an interesting case. Her two brothers are significantly older than she is. They were born in Vietnam. But their parents had Theresa, here in the U.S. By the time I met Theresa in high school, her brothers were (a) still living at home, (b) deep into college, (c) working part-time, and (d) building up to move out. Since they had to go here and there, Theresa's brothers liked car audio. But they weren't averse to home audio. I was once over at Theresa's house, when her brothers didn't know what to do with a generic-looking black bookshelf speaker, which had four holes in the back. These were bi-wire sockets, which only accepted banana plugs. Little did I know then, that I would end up with Totems, which are bi-wireable. The Hawk would actually perform better, if driven by Simaudio's smoother and less extended (up top) 750D. The Forest Signature will fare better on Simaudio's older Andromeda, which sounds more alive, breathy, and sparkly, than the 750D. Like the grasp of a bird of prey, the Simaudio W-7 grabs the FS' midrange, and doesn't let go. During that 1986-87 school year, Theresa was, out of my small number of close friends, our least-bad dancer. Regardless of amp, there's something really organized and propulsive about the FS, which turns any audiophile into a dancing machine. Apparently, my spare P.E. uniform was not too big for Theresa. Yes, she did wash it, and return it to me. -Lummy The Loch Monster
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| RE: The more products you come across, the more comparisons you can do, posted on July 12, 2024 at 05:09:37 | |
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Posts: 11158
Location: NJ Joined: December 11, 2000 |
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