The Official Totem Acoustics Speakers Thread

[naturephoto1]

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.

That sounds like a long time to bring these to market. But, I could be wrong.

Rich

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

That sounds like a long time to bring these to market. But, I could be wrong.

Rich

Yeah I could be wrong too I'm just trying to report Info as it was reported to me but it could defenately be a shorther time than that.

I may have misunderstood I believe they actually take 2 years to develop a speaker but if this expected speaker has been worked on for the past year and a half well expect it to come out sooner than later.

[-DLS-]

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

Good to hear John - doing good myself.. Yah that would be cool to see the new prices if you do get'em.

Pretty cool that they're putting something between the Forest/Wind Gap. I have no doubt it will be worth it's asking price!!

Take care John!

[Johnny Vinyl]

For anyone interested...here is a pair of Totem Sttaf's in Cherry finish for $1,260 CDN.

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/detai...herry_finisht/

John

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by John72953

For anyone interested...here is a pair of Totem Sttaf's in Cherry finish for $1,260 CDN.

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/detai...herry_finisht/

John

I must say very tempting but not ready yet to spend 1200$ at once I will saveup who knows I liked what I heard of the Staff a bit warmer then the rainmaker but what if I like the bass so much on the Hawk I might just go Hawk Rainmaker combo since the Rainmaker is a tremendous bookshelf.

I'll see when time comes to upgrade.

[BigAl87]

I finally got to listen to the Hawk, what a piece of art this is.

All Totems are so it,s not a surprise. I found the Hawk to be quite neutral and defenately brighter than the Sttaf which really is my favorite Totem so far because of it versatility.

Neutral but very natural sounding and a low end that will make you tremble . My goodness the level of detail was tremedous and each strings that was pulled from the accoustic guitar were precisely put in evidence by the Hawk. The bass was very deep but never overpowered the highs, in some occasions I felt as if it was lacking a bit of mids compared to the Staff, this last one felt a bit more linear but smoother in the upper end.

The speaker is well balance in the lower and upper end but could use a little more mids but what would be the purpose of building identical sounding speakers. Totem is targeting different buyers from model to another and because the price is higher they really don't qualify them as being better or superior speaker then the Staff à 1000$ cheaper.

They will fill a room quite large and reproduce amazing detailing when paired with Arcam Amp.

In conclusion the Hawk did impressed me with it's extreme detailed and a bass that can rock but overall the warmth of the Staff and yet great details makes me lean to it, Man John your speakers are great.

BTW John, I spoke to the manager owner of the store I went to today and he told me that don't have a release date for the new speaker yet.

He owns a pair of Forest and really loves them and he said that they are the ones that sound the closest to the Staff. At 4000$, it could be the ticket to your happiness uneless your taste evolved alot. They will fill a bigger room of course and because of the Aluminum dome tweeter they are not as forgiving so a really good amp is a must, I don't think you would have an issue with your TT .

Just a hint Totems Demos their speakers at the factory with Arcam I will look into the the FMJ A18 at 1200$

As a heads up FYI I had mentionned that I saw the Mites in redfire and assumed they were using upgraded cabinets with stronger bracing and revised X-over, well the fact is that they are exactly the same as the Mites but name the Mite Design and unlike their big cousins the Wind Design Compared to the Wind they use same cabinet and X-over as the Mite, only the fnish is painted High gloss red or blue with a clear coat for 300$ more, Wow I find it a little expensive to be a little exclusive.

Olivier

[BigAl87]

Great review here on the Rainmaker HTsetup with Thunder sub.


Rainmaker HT Review

[callas01]

So Oliver, here is what was sent to me about their speaker impedances... in the Hawk/Rainmaker line.

Hello Steve,

The minimum and nominal impedance of the rainmaker are both 4 ohms
Rainmaker center minimum 6ohms nominal 8ohms
Hawk minimum 5 ohms nominal 6 ohms
In terms of our personal showroom use we use arcam electronics to great success


TOTEM

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by callas01

So Oliver, here is what was sent to me about their speaker impedances... in the Hawk/Rainmaker line.

Hello Steve,

The minimum and nominal impedance of the rainmaker are both 4 ohms
Rainmaker center minimum 6ohms nominal 8ohms
Hawk minimum 5 ohms nominal 6 ohms
In terms of our personal showroom use we use arcam electronics to great success


TOTEM

Our 6 or 8 ohms nominal assumption was wrong.

Well good to know, looks like you need to get Rhett old AVR

I have been saying this all along that they demo Totems paired with Arcam and this is what I heard them on a FMJ38 integrated 2 channel amp. 105wpc

[aces high]

Has anyone compared the Arros or Staffs to the PSB Imagine T's? I sold my Paradigm S1 v2's this week and now need replacements. I'm using the Marantz PM8003 to drive whatever speakers I choose. Eventually I will replace the Marantz with something better when I finish my HT, in the mean time I'm using some Paradigm Atom Monitor v6. I'm looking for a small tower speaker that has a nice warm sound to it. I've heard the Rainmakers and Mite's before but would rather not buy stands again as I included the stands with the S1's. This system is 100% music with no subwoofer.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by aces high

Has anyone compared the Arros or Staffs to the PSB Imagine T's? I sold my Paradigm S1 v2's this week and now need replacements. I'm using the Marantz PM8003 to drive whatever speakers I choose. Eventually I will replace the Marantz with something better when I finish my HT, in the mean time I'm using some Paradigm Atom Monitor v6. I'm looking for a small tower speaker that has a nice warm sound to it. I've heard the Rainmakers and Mite's before but would rather not buy stands again as I included the stands with the S1's. This system is 100% music with no subwoofer.

I'm not sure if Callas could help you since I know he heard the Image but not sure if he's heard the Imagine which is a step up. I would assume they are different speakers one another, Already the Arro is quite different sounding compare to the Sttaf. Totem likes to build speakers for specific uses, Vince has something in mind when he develop a speaker for Totem.

May I ask you is it Strictly for HT?

I would like to direct you towards the Rainmaker in this case. I have compared this Bookshelf with the Staff, let me tell ya it's hard to tell which is bigger sounding sure the Sttaf extends lower but if you look at matching center channel in Totem lineup, the Rainmaker center will outperform the Mite-T Center hands down. The Mite T center is the matching center to the Staff mite combo, while the Rainmaker is the center to the Hawk Rainmaker combo.

Even for music the Rainmaker shines it's not the Sttaf but really is not to far off. I would qualify the Totems generally Dynamic compare to PSB usually more linear but I did not hear the Imagine.

[aces high]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

I'm not sure if Callas could help you since I know he heard the Image but not sure if he's heard the Imagine which is a step up. I would assume they are different speakers one another, Already the Arro is quite different sounding compare to the Sttaf. Totem likes to build speakers for specific uses, Vince has something in mind when he develop a speaker for Totem.

May I ask you is it Strictly for HT?

I would like to direct you towards the Rainmaker in this case. I have compared this Bookshelf with the Staff, let me tell ya it's hard to tell which is bigger sounding sure the Sttaf extends lower but if you look at matching center channel in Totem lineup, the Rainmaker center will outperform the Mite-T Center hands down. The Mite T center is the matching center to the Staff mite combo, while the Rainmaker is the center to the Hawk Rainmaker combo.

Even for music the Rainmaker shines it's not the Sttaf but really is not to far off. I would qualify the Totems generally Dynamic compare to PSB usually more linear but I did not hear the Imagine.

No this system is not used for HT at all, 100% music. It's in our living room and I have my HT downstairs in the basement. The Marantz PM8003 is a two channel intergrated amp, it doesn't even have any digital inputs. I'm looking for a small set of towers, I sold my stands with my previous speakers and would rather not buy any more stands.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by aces high

No this system is not used for HT at all, 100% music. It's in our living room and I have my HT downstairs in the basement. The Marantz PM8003 is a two channel intergrated amp, it doesn't even have any digital inputs. I'm looking for a small set of towers, I sold my stands with my previous speakers and would rather not buy any more stands.

aces high, Sorry for not reading your previous post completely as you mentionned that you heard the Rainmaker and that the system is for music. What I can tell from the Sttaf tho is that it is warmer than the Rainmaker and Extends lower, now Totems aren't exactly known to be warm but neutral speakers. The Sttaff is certainly the warmest of all Totems.

My question to you is what did you think of the Rainmaker.

I'm sorry I cannot help you more.

[aces high]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

aces high, Sorry for not reading your previous post completely as you mentionned that you heard the Rainmaker and that the system is for music. What I can tell from the Sttaf tho is that it is warmer than the Rainmaker and Extends lower, now Totems aren't exactly known to be warm but neutral speakers. The Sttaff is certainly the warmest of all Totems.

My question to you is what did you think of the Rainmaker.

I'm sorry I cannot help you more.

When I heard the Rainmakers they were part of an HT system, so I only heard some movie clips. I didn't get to hear them alone playing any music, for HT I thought Paradigms were better. I think I'll be trying some tube gear next, so that will give me a warmer sound even if the speakers aren't. I felt the Mite center channel was lacking compared to the Paradigm Studio series, the Paradigm ADP's wre also better than the Totem version. I like all my gear to match and the Paradigm subs were much better.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by aces high

When I heard the Rainmakers they were part of an HT system, so I only heard some movie clips. I didn't get to hear them alone playing any music, for HT I thought Paradigms were better. I think I'll be trying some tube gear next, so that will give me a warmer sound even if the speakers aren't. I felt the Mite center channel was lacking compared to the Paradigm Studio series, the Paradigm ADP's wre also better than the Totem version. I like all my gear to match and the Paradigm subs were much better.

Ok I get ya on this one Paradigmin an HT setup vs Totems could win so to speak no question about that honestly they certainly provide more impact but seriously do you intend to limit yourself to Totems and PSB. Why don't you consider Studios if you like the sound of the Digms.

Just asking. All depends what you are seeking for. I think you just take some time to audition as many speakers as you can with your own material. Dynaudio also like tube Amps.

I'm just Throwing ideas.

[callas01]

Aces,

I have heard the PSB Image T55 for a brief moment, they are pretty good, however they are not too different from Paradigm. As you know, the Mites have a little warmth as the Sttafs do, the Rainmakers I understand as I haven't heard them yet, but they are more neutral. The Imagines from what I understand have the ability to be completely unimpressive... here is what I mean. They are very linear and don't have the deepest bass. I read that they don't do any one thing great, but are a great speaker.... if that makes sense.

Understand that Totems overall design is to be decently dynamic without being bloated but very neutral sounding. This sound can be pretty revealing, but its something that people aren't usually familiar with, so its a little acquired.

Something like Oliver mentioned, the Dynaudios, they make Nuetral speakers as well, they aren't cheap however, which is why I am only considering their bookshelf speakers which for me are $1600 Excite X16s, but for $2100 they have the Focus 140s that have a big sound, a little warmth, in one review the reviewer moved out the 220 towers and just used the 140s.

I won't claim that the Focus 140s had the full gravitas of the Focus 220s, but, after a few days, I never looked back. The Focus 140s' sound was as pure—and their wide-open imaging just as precise—as the towers. I fired up the Alexander DVD again, and the smaller system's visceral, feel-it-in-your-guts sound was immensely satisfying. I'd go so far as to say that, in a cozy home theater, the Focus 140s will probably make more sense than the Focus 220s

IMO, for music, a more neutral speaker makes more sense, but that is just me. I think they allow for less colouration on the music and bring forth more detail, whether you like what you hear or not, they are more revealing and accurate sounding. There are some people that will say that they don't like the fact that the speakers are SO honest.

When I first heard Dynaudios, I could hear how the singer from Incubis didn't have a trained voice, you could hear the pitchiness of it. My Energys are pretty neutral, but they don't tell me all that. They aren't detailed enough.

I would audition the Totems again, and also try to find some Dynaudios. I would also suggest that if you want to have speakers with good bass and pretty good mid-range and highs that can be a touch forward, the Monitor Audios are decent speakers. Their mid-range isn't as quick and accurate as Dalis, Totems or Dynaudios but they are good speakers.

Oh, Focal Chorus 816V or 826Vs would be a good audition also. Dali Lektor 8s would be another good audition for a music setup, perhaps the Dali Ikon 7s also. Depending where you live, the Amphions are fantastic speakers also. Amphion is from Finland, but awesome, and have a very nice fun factor to them.

[Johnny Vinyl]

As the owner of a pair of Totem Sttaf's I can certainly echo the opinions, thoughts and obversations expressed by BigAl87 and callas. It's been quite some time since I last auditioned any of the Totem models or even other speakers for that matter, so I'll limit my own thoughts to a point that hasn't yet been brought up. That point is asking you about the type of music you enjoy.

Although they still perform admirably with hardcore rock n' roll, heavy metal and the like, that genre of music does not really bring out the best in them. All Totems excel at reproducing acoustic music and voices, female voices in particular, and this is where any of the Totems truly command your attention.

John

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by John72953

As the owner of a pair of Totem Sttaf's I can certainly echo the opinions, thoughts and obversations expressed by BigAl87 and callas. It's been quite some time since I last auditioned any of the Totem models or even other speakers for that matter, so I'll limit my own thoughts to a point that hasn't yet been brought up. That point is asking you about the type of music you enjoy.

Although they still perform admirably with hardcore rock n' roll, heavy metal and the like, that genre of music does not really bring out the best in them. All Totems excel at reproducing acoustic music and voices, female voices in particular, and this is where any of the Totems truly command your attention.

John

John is right bt if you like all kinds of music including accoustic and female vocalist it is stated on the Totem website that the Staff is the most versatile of their lineup and Having heard the Arro, the Rainmaker and the Hawk as well as the Sttaf with several kinds of music I can say that this true.

For Female Vocals the Arro would be #1 my choice .

All around I prefer the Sttaf and if you like something with alot of stand up bass in full range the Hawk is a must hear.

[aces high]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Ok I get ya on this one Paradigmin an HT setup vs Totems could win so to speak no question about that honestly they certainly provide more impact but seriously do you intend to limit yourself to Totems and PSB. Why don't you consider Studios if you like the sound of the Digms.

Just asking. All depends what you are seeking for. I think you just take some time to audition as many speakers as you can with your own material. Dynaudio also like tube Amps.

I'm just Throwing ideas.

I just sold my Signatures so I don't think I'll be going down to the Studio's, I've had everything from the Cinema's to the SIgnatures. I also have a 7.1 Studio v5 setup in the basement, so it's time for something different than Paradigm. It's not that I don't like Paradigm's, it's just that's all I've had for years now and would like to try something different. There was nothing wrong with the speakers I just sold ( Paradigm Signature S1 v2) in fact I quite enjoyed them. It's just time to branch out and see what else is out there. This system is used more for dinner music and for when we have company over or when making dinner etc. So it doesn't get really cranked very often, we just want something that sounds good at low to moderate volumes. There will never be a subwoofer in this system, so we need something that has descent bass but it doesn't have too be pounding loud bass. The other equipment in this system is the Marantz PM8003 intergrated amp (70w x 2 8 ohms, 100w x 2 4 ohms), Marantz 5003 cd player, Kimber speaker wire and Kimber interconnects. I bought this gear about one year ago so it will be staying for another couple of years. The budget for new speakers is $2000, I don't want to spend any more than that, hopefully a bit less but would go up to $2k. I have next week off, so I'm going to go listen to some speakers. What we have around here is Paradigm, Totem, B&W, Canton, Def Tech, Misssion, Tannoy, Energy, PSB and I think that's about it. One day I would like to try some tube gear in this system, but I want to finish my HT first.

[BigAl87]

Aces I hope you can find what you are looking for and for dinner music in 2000$ the Sttaf sure is a great candidate but you sure can find something else that you prefer. The key is to bring your material and audition, just trust your ears, they will tell you what you want.:

I think you have a decent amount of speakers you can audition and find something you like in there.