The Official Totem Acoustics Speakers Thread

[Morrissey]

Not sure if this has been posted or not (if it has I apologize) but I came across a great article showcasing the Totem Factory in Canada Hi-Fi magazine.

http://www.canadahifi.com/Totem_Acoustic.php

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Morrissey

Not sure if this has been posted or not (if it has I apologize) but I came across a great article showcasing the Totem Factory in Canada Hi-Fi magazine.

http://www.canadahifi.com/Totem_Acoustic.php

Thats great info Chris thanks for posting that link I don't think anyone has posted it so far.

[-DLS-]

Originally Posted by Morrissey

Not sure if this has been posted or not (if it has I apologize) but I came across a great article showcasing the Totem Factory in Canada Hi-Fi magazine.

http://www.canadahifi.com/Totem_Acoustic.php

Pretty cool. Excellent quality control policy for sure!!

I recently got the PDF formats for the U.S. and Canadian MSRP's for the whole Totem line which reflects the latest March 2010 U.S. price increases. The files were to big to attach to this post so if anyone is intersted I can PM the list. It looked to messed up to copy and paste it here.

At least now the Canadian and U.S. MSRP's are a bit closer - much better for us Canadians since it is a Canadian product. Paradigm needs to do the same!!

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

Pretty cool. Excellent quality control policy for sure!!

I recently got the PDF formats for the U.S. and Canadian MSRP's for the whole Totem line which reflects the latest March 2010 U.S. price increases. The files were to big to attach to this post so if anyone is intersted I can PM the list. It looked to messed up to copy and paste it here.

At least now the Canadian and U.S. MSRP's are a bit closer - much better for us Canadians since it is a Canadian product. Paradigm needs to do the same!!

Mind PM me the prices you have cause here in Montreal I think we can get really nice prices. They can lower the price to what they already have in stock.

Not for special orders tho but you know they had some nice Sttafs in black Ash and Mahagony that they were able to drop to 1400$ instead of 1795$.

No transportation to pay they pickup directly at Totem from Vince.

[-DLS-]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Mind PM me the prices you have cause here in Montreal I think we can get really nice prices. They can lower the price to what they already have in stock.

Not for special orders tho but you know they had some nice Sttafs in black Ash and Mahagony that they were able to drop to 1400$ instead of 1795$.

No transportation to pay they pickup directly at Totem from Vince.

You got a sweet deal living there man. The cheapest I found Sttafs for brand new were $1500 last month in Edmonton. I'll try to send you the file. If it's too big them I can maybe break it down to the ones your interested in. The CAD price list is current from the last increase in October 2008. I was told there might be a slight increase by the end of the year.

edit: I tried to post it again here but I got this message:

TOTEM ACOUSTICS 2008 CANADIAN RETAIL OCT.pdf:
Your file of 53.9 KB bytes exceeds the forum's limit of 19.5 KB for this filetype.

I don't see a way to add an attachment to a PM. If you want I can e-mail it to you or copy and paste the specific prices you want. Sorry man.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

You got a sweet deal living there man. The cheapest I found Sttafs for brand new were $1500 last month in Edmonton. I'll try to send you the file. If it's too big them I can maybe break it down to the ones your interested in. The CAD price list is current from the last increase in October 2008. I was told there might be a slight increase by the end of the year.

1500$ quite decent considering the fact you are in Edmonton I think the dealer is giving you a great deal I mean when I say the dealer here in montreal pickup directly from Totem they really do the fatory is like 20 click away from them.

I wanted to audition the Mites at my closest dealer but did not have them in stock, they told me well just take an appointment we'll contact Totem and we'll actually go get a pair from them for you to audition on the weekend.

I mean That's how I get 1400$ vs 1500$

If you're still able to get a price of 1500$ and you like them for your 2.0 setup I suggest you jump on them unless you are not ready yet.

I myself going to wait another year and a half now before I do a move I will try to audition Dynaudio Focus and Excite as well to see if I like them better.

At the end if the sound is really close to the Sttafs then I will go for Totem because I want to encourage a Canadian Manufacturer.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

You got a sweet deal living there man. The cheapest I found Sttafs for brand new were $1500 last month in Edmonton. I'll try to send you the file. If it's too big them I can maybe break it down to the ones your interested in. The CAD price list is current from the last increase in October 2008. I was told there might be a slight increase by the end of the year.

edit: I tried to post it again here but I got this message:

TOTEM ACOUSTICS 2008 CANADIAN RETAIL OCT.pdf:
Your file of 53.9 KB bytes exceeds the forum's limit of 19.5 KB for this filetype.

I don't see a way to add an attachment to a PM. If you want I can e-mail it to you or copy and paste the specific prices you want. Sorry man.

Just PM me the prices for the HAWK, Rainmaker, Staff, Mites, and Model One Signature all in black Ash or Mahagony I believe those to Colors are thhe same price.

[-DLS-]

PM sent

[BigAl87]

Alright, I wanted to compare tonal difference between the Mites and the Rainmaker and overall performance. Unfortunately no Mites were broken in and the store had sold their floor model in mahogony just a month ago.

So I said to my self let's check this out next to the Sttafs. Bookshelf vs floor standers but anyways they have the similar frequency response 42hz to 20khz for the Rainmaker and 39hz to 22khz for the Sttaf.

Lets make this clear speaker were hooked up to an Arcam stereo Amp costing almost 3K and cd was playing on 2500$ Arcam SACD player which Totem likes to recommend.

First I auditionned the Rainmaker right when Phil Collins started singing Just Another Day in Paradise I was extremely impressed by the really wide soundfield those puppies provided, speakers sitting like 7 feet apart and me sitting 6 feet away from the speaker I felt like Phil was standing right there in front of me directly in the middle. The imaging is absolutely perfect.

I found right away that they sounded great, natural and drove some great bass with out breaking a sweat and no colouration what so ever. One thing I felt tho from what I remebered from the Staff that they were a tiny bit brighter but did not fatigue my ear at all.

Ater Discussing Totem history and with the salesman who was very openminded and knowledgeable about the product, we hooked up the Sttafs for comparaison.

All I can say is my ear did no trick me at all the Staff sounded warmer then the Raimaker but we are not talking night and day difference did not really feel the 3hz difference in the lower end I mean the Raimakers a truly terrefic bookshelves that I could get accustomed to, but I feel the Sttaf chose me rather than me choosing them.

The tonal difference between the Raimakers and the Sttaf is certainly alot less different than comparing the Staff to the Arrow, where the Arrow really shines is in the higher frequencies reproducing sound in a way that you would never expect (absolutely amazing for female vocals, you can here very subtile sounds in those soft dome tweeters that you don't hear with the Staffs nor the Rainmakers and I would say over 95% of all the speakers I ever auditioned.

All in all, great audition I did not go any further I mean I could have stayed there for a week just listening to speakers but botom line is that what Totem states that the Sttaf Mites Family is the most versatile of their speaker lineup and it really shows, Extremely hard to find a really weak point on them no matter what you Throw at em. I not Exactly sure if I can find a really weak point in the Rainmakers lol but I'll just say that I like the Staffs better because of the warmer sound.

Now John, for sure Rainmaker will blow the Mites in the lower end but I wonder how they really sound in the upper end? Would it be really close to the Sttafs if I'm taking them as surrounds?
I think they have a slightly different tweeter than the Staffs even tho they both use Soft dome.

So far I would still go with the Staff as my Fronts as I use my setup 50/50 and they truly sound natural and warm.

Funny I read a review on the Mites where a guy found em bright but that was before break in but some speaker tone down after a good 200 hours of break in.

Vince truly is an artist, he achieves exactly what he is seeking for when developping a speaker. He Actually takes the time to find the perfect timber match as well as finish match when they put a pair of speakers together, they will mark the speaker to go together before they get shipped out to a store. Yes it's a bit fossy but he feels that even with the same work put into speakers, it can end up with slight differences in sound.

I also plan to audition the Focus and the Excite from Dynaudio + some Dalis and maybe some of the Focal JM Labs lines of speakers.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

You got a sweet deal living there man. The cheapest I found Sttafs for brand new were $1500 last month in Edmonton. I'll try to send you the file. If it's too big them I can maybe break it down to the ones your interested in. The CAD price list is current from the last increase in October 2008. I was told there might be a slight increase by the end of the year.

edit: I tried to post it again here but I got this message:

TOTEM ACOUSTICS 2008 CANADIAN RETAIL OCT.pdf:
Your file of 53.9 KB bytes exceeds the forum's limit of 19.5 KB for this filetype.

I don't see a way to add an attachment to a PM. If you want I can e-mail it to you or copy and paste the specific prices you want. Sorry man.

Increase has already occured it was just at the beginig of this month, some speakers when up like 30$ for the Mites and the Sttafs went up 100$

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hi guys!,

Chris, BigAl, DLS thanks for your input. I don't know how I missed the discussion in the last few days.

I'm not surprised by the price increase as they've been holding steady for a number of years, and with cost of business and materials going up, it is almost to be expected.

If you wouldn't mind DLS, could you PM that updated price list .pdf? I'd surely love to have a look at it.

And Al, I agree with Totem in that the Sttaf/Mite pairing is a solid one and better than a Sttaf/Rainmaker one. Kinda strange I'd say that, as the Rainmaker oushines the Mites in pure performance. For someone who is a lover of bookshelf/monitors the Rainmakers are an excellent choice on their own. I should add though that the Mites have a better price/performance ratio, which makes them one of the best values around.

Thanks for the article Chris that appeared on the CanadaHiFi site. It's certainly nice to see that high-end speakers in Canada can be produced at home with a fair pricing policy. I'm also impressed by their quality-control standards.

John

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by John72953

Hi guys!,


If you wouldn't mind DLS, could you PM that updated price list .pdf? I'd surely love to have a look at it.

I think DLS has the august 2008 price list I went in store Yesterday the the price list had just been updated a few days ago. 1900 vs 1800 for the Staffs in Mahogony or Black, 825 vs 795 for the Mites and if I'm not mistaken 1195 vs 1100 for the Raimaker always in the Black ash or Mahagony.

Originally Posted by John72953

And Al, I agree with Totem in that the Sttaf/Mite pairing is a solid one and better than a Sttaf/Rainmaker one. Kinda strange I'd say that, as the Rainmaker oushines the Mites in pure performance. For someone who is a lover of bookshelf/monitors the Rainmakers are an excellent choice on their own. I should add though that the Mites have a better price/performance ratio, which makes them one of the best values around.

I think that maybe because really wanted to compare Rainmakers and Mites, And was considering 4 Rainmakers in my setup.

Where I wanted to get at was I was going to go with either Sttaf Mites combo or 4 Raimakers but I was not so clear about that.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

I think DLS has the august 2008 price list I went in store Yesterday the the price list had just been updated a few days ago. 1900 vs 1800 for the Staffs in Mahogony or Black, 825 vs 795 for the Mites and if I'm not mistaken 1195 vs 1100 for the Raimaker always in the Black ash or Mahagony.

Hi Al,

That's not bad! Like I said in my previous post, they haven't had an increase in price for some time.

John

[-DLS-]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Increase has already occured it was just at the beginig of this month, some speakers when up like 30$ for the Mites and the Sttafs when up 100$

Hmmm The Totem rep e-mailed me this list on 29 April, 2010 and didn't even mention that there would be an increase in May? So it seems about a 5-10% increase which is not as bad as some of Paradigms increases.

Originally Posted by BigAl87

I think DLS has the august 2008 price list I went in store Yesterday the the price list had just been updated a few days ago. 1900 vs 1800 for the Staffs in Mahogony or Black, 825 vs 795 for the Mites and if I'm not mistaken 1195 vs 1100 for the Raimaker always in the Black ash or Mahagony.

Yup the list shows new prices from October 2008..

Originally Posted by John72953

Hi guys!,

Chris, BigAl, DLS thanks for your input. I don't know how I missed the discussion in the last few days.

I'm not surprised by the price increase as they've been holding steady for a number of years, and with cost of business and materials going up, it is almost to be expected.

If you wouldn't mind DLS, could you PM that updated price list .pdf? I'd surely love to have a look at it.

And Al, I agree with Totem in that the Sttaf/Mite pairing is a solid one and better than a Sttaf/Rainmaker one. Kinda strange I'd say that, as the Rainmaker oushines the Mites in pure performance. For someone who is a lover of bookshelf/monitors the Rainmakers are an excellent choice on their own. I should add though that the Mites have a better price/performance ratio, which makes them one of the best values around.

Thanks for the article Chris that appeared on the CanadaHiFi site. It's certainly nice to see that high-end speakers in Canada can be produced at home with a fair pricing policy. I'm also impressed by their quality-control standards.

John

John How are things? All good I hope! Like Al mentioned and I wasn't aware of the price increase but did you still want the old list? I cannot attach a file through a PM since I tried with BigAl but if you still want the old list I can e-mail it to you. If so just PM me your e-mail and I'll send it your way.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

Hmmm The Totem rep e-mailed me this list on 29 April, 2010 and didn't even mention that there would be an increase in May? So it seems about a 5-10% increase which is not as bad as some of Paradigms increases.

He was at least aware of upcoming increase but probably did not know the exact date and those guys in montreal looks like they are connected 24/7 with Totem lol.

Yup The store i went to also holds Paradigm and told me they went up in fact all Manufacturers increased their prices.

THey Hold Canton and Def Tech as well and all went up.

He showed me the design on the new Studios and let me tell you wow they really are nice, Smaller foot print then Prvious model and they rounded the back part completely and apparently they have improved their sound once again but I did not audition them.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by -DLS-

John How are things? All good I hope! Like Al mentioned and I wasn't aware of the price increase but did you still want the old list? I cannot attach a file through a PM since I tried with BigAl but if you still want the old list I can e-mail it to you. If so just PM me your e-mail and I'll send it your way.

Hi DLS,

Things are good my friend and I hope with you as well. My local dealer is pretty good, so next time I'm there I think I'll ask him for a current MSRP list on the entire Totem line. If so, I'll post it here.

My interest right now is really peaked at a possible new entry between the Forest and the Wind! I'm gonna guess it'll be around the $7,500 mark.

John

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by John72953

Hi DLS,

Things are good my friend and I hope with you as well. My local dealer is pretty good, so next time I'm there I think I'll ask him for a current MSRP list on the entire Totem line. If so, I'll post it here.

My interest right now is really peaked at a possible new entry between the Forest and the Wind! I'm gonna guess it'll be around the $7,500 mark.

John

John, the salesmen told yesterday it's a certainty, the speaker is in developpment and should price around 6500$ to 7000$ depending on finish. The bass/midbass drivers should be angled slighly to the top as they explained to me and the tweeter will be facing straight ahead. It's expected to come out in a year and half or 2 years.

BTW Apparently Totem organized a contest to find a name to this new speaker I encourage you to participate, who Knows you might end up with a free pair of those and more...
I also had the chance to see the Mites in Redfire sort of like the Wind Design probably also using stronger bracing and different X-over and the price tag was 1095$ I should have taken a pic of it.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

John, the salesmen told yesterday it's a certainty, the speaker is in developpment and should price around 6500$ to 7000$ depending on finish. The bass/midbass drivers should be angled slighly to the top as they explained to me and the tweeter will be facing straight ahead. It's expected to come out in a year and half or 2 years.

I also had the chance to see the Mites in Redfire sort of like the Wind Design probably also using stronger bracing and different X-over and the price tag was 1095$ I should have taken a pic of it.

Nice! Did he give you an idea of how far away they are in terms of production or announcement?

John

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by John72953

Nice! Did he give you an idea of how far away they are in terms of production or announcement?

John

Not sure, he said they expect them to come out in around a year and a half 2 years Vince is actively working on it in trying to achieve exactly what he's looking for. He's an artist he likes take his time to dvelop what he's seeking for.

Maybe Next year who knows?

But I don't have further details.

Why not Call the them the Birds as they will sing. A totem is often takinb the form of birds bears and other creatures but since Totem Speakers can really Sing I would say why not?

[BigAl87]

Amazing review of the Arrow here.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/totem/arro.html