Dreamcatcher update

I have found the Spendor A5s just about the most problematic and least convincing of all the Spendors.  I agree with the problems you identified: loose bass response and rather bloated in the mid bass, lacking overall detail and clarity, and just not getting to the spirit of the music.

Having SP2s myself I was most disappointed with the performance of the A5s when I heard them at a demo (for other equipment).  I'm sure the Dreamcatchers are much more satisfactory for you for the reasons you have identified.

Alan,

Nice post. Great that you could replace a multi-driver floorstander with the smaller, simpler Dreamcatchers and find more. IME, Totem speakers excel at delivering musicality and speed with overall tonal balance, especially with Naim gear. Plus you get cabinets with superb fit and finish. Enjoy!

Not being up-to-date, I had to Google 'Totem Dreamcatchers'. Look quite like slightly oversize Linn Kans.....? A simple, 2 way IB design....?  Which is absolutely fine - less, may well be more, in this case. A more 'Naim' type of speaker, perhaps.....?

This is a very interesting post. I was using Dreamcatchers some years ago and found them a bit bass shy. They are now serving as the front speakers on my 5.1 setup. However, you have made me realise that I might have suffered a bad bout of wheeltapper's hammer. 

You see, I ran them from my old Naim combo and this had problems. I upgraded and have a 202/200 with non-Naim power supply running Dynaudio Focus 160s. I have experimented with an old set of Epos ES14s, but never the Dreamcatchers. Could it be that the Dreamcatchers were not the problem at all?  I can feel an experiment coming on. 

The dreamatchers I auditioned were rear ported but could get quite close to the wall, just not against it. Hugely entertaining with a lot of different types of music but probably not for bass hounds and they didn't fair too well with solo piano (too coloured so maybe Kans are a fair comparison).

Hey, so I played around with the Dreamcatchers last night.  Sorry for anybody wanting a fairytale ending as they did not really work on my system.  The midrange was almost excessively forward, while the top and bottom ends were almost muted in comparison.  It proves how system matching is important and my Dynaudios do not suffer the same effects. That said, they cost 3 times as much and so it was not exactly fair.  Could I, at a push, live with the Dreamcatchers?  Sorry, not with my amplifier.

Thanks for your replies gentlemen,

So NJB you tried your experiment and now you know !  It does go to show though how some combinations work and some don't.

Your 202/200 is obviously superior to my modest 122x/150x so it seems like  the dreamcatchers are not good enough for your system, I bet it was an interesting experiment though. I am  by no means an expert on things Hi-Fi but I do know when I like the sound of something and for me the dreamcatchers have settled into my system nicely and are making me want to play my music more so I'm happy.

One more point...I've never heard any Naim equipment higher up the ladder than my CD5x/122x/150x/flatcap2x so I can only imagine what other members systems sound like !

Regards,

Alan.

Dreamcatchers are the most tremendously engaging speakers, and their size does make them very room-friendly. However, I am surprised at them being just 1.5m apart - you must be listening quite closely, maybe 2m away? If you're further away I'd expect them to sound a bit confused at that distance apart. In our dead-sounding, large foyer we used to have them about 2.5m apart, and in the (7.5m x 5m) demo room, something like 2m apart, maybe a smidgen more.

Regards,
Frank.

Frank,

Interesting...the room I have them in is 5m x 5m give or take a few centimetres and at the moment they are 1.5m apart. You are correct in saying I must be listening from about 2m away. This is the set up I found most suitable considering how the room is furnished. Maybe if I could move things around I would be able to experiment more with positioning and see if they perform even better if they were further apart for example. I'm happy with the way they are at the moment but it would be interesting to find out.

Regards,

Alan.

NJB posted:

I was using Dreamcatchers some years ago and found them a bit bass shy. They are now serving as the front speakers on my 5.1 setup.

yeti42 posted:

Hugely entertaining with a lot of different types of music but probably not for bass hounds

All to be expected from a small bookshelf rated to 57 Hz. 

FWIW -  when the Dreamcatchers were introduced Totem also had a Dreamcatcher subwoofer in their line, since discontinued, so a speaker intended for a 2.1 system. Four or five years ago I listened to Dreamcatchers. As Frank said "tremendously engaging". I opted for the floor standing Sttafs for their deeper/greater bottom end balance.

DBS-Al posted:

One more point...I've never heard any Naim equipment higher up the ladder than my CD5x/122x/150x/flatcap2x so I can only imagine what other members systems sound like

Alan,

IME, Totems love power. The bass command and overall presentation only gets better, though I guess that's the case with most speakers. When I went from the original Nait XS to a SN2 my Sttafs presented greater cohesion and welcomed the extra grunt. All that said, you seem content with your current set up, so maybe resist the temptation for any kind of upgrade