Totem speakers

Nuno Baptista posted:

What I´m saying is that Totem Mite is 10 or 12 years old, unlike  B&W CM1 s2 is a brand new model. I´d never heard Totem, but comparing Mite with CM1 I can say that CM1 uses new technology, if that matters for you.

What has age of the design got to do with the sound of a speaker?

Yeah, I can't see where the basic technology of loudspeaker design has advanced considerably over the past 50 years. Tweaks have been inserted no doubt. Unless you're looking at ribbon tweeters, BMR drivers, and (at a stretch) bottom porting it's all simply marketing of the latest modifications to existing design. Electrostatics have been around for 60 years and there are plenty of full range speakers on the market.

[@mention:13533848859433010] to some extent I agree, however what has changed in that time is improved manufacturing techniques, and improved materials allowing more accurate transducers as well as the prevalence of computer aided design software and computer simulators allowing the development of better and more accurate designs. There is also better and increased understanding of how loudspeakers work and how to improve their effectiveness in  environments, (dynamics, phase, distortion, pitch, dispersion etc) there is a constant drip drip of innovation and development in the AES library on loudspeaker innovation. Loudspeakers are very much more an advanced technology compared to decades ago, although their physical representations look as I agree with you  similar.

Simon

I agree with Simon, however the developments overall have been in the form of evolution over the years, with some manufacturers having advanced more/sooner than others, with, perhaps, individual manufacturers advancing fastest in their earliest years, so you might see more significant changes in, say, PMCs speakers over the past 20 years than ATC who have been around a lot longer. 

So speakers from 5,10,15 or whatever years ago do not necessarily sound less good than new ones today, other than possibly compared to the best ones from the same manufacturer, and a very good speaker from even earlier may still hold its own quite well today, if not of course as good as the today's new equivalent.

Christopher_M posted:

Or for that matter, the CM1 S2s? (Forgive me if this has already been answered, I may have missed it).

C.

I did the right thing, that is to listen. Now I can see that the 705 is a better speaker than my Epos.The next step is to listen the Totem. Yes, I can listen the CM1 with my amp.Whit your feedback, now I know that Totem deserves a chance.

What I really liked B&W was the punch. My Epos are musical and easy to amplify, but they don´t have the B&W´s punch. I think this is personal preference ...

NUNO BAPTISTA

My new speakers are Totem SKY stand mount speakers (6 weeks old and now fully broken in) on totem stands.

The sky's are balanced, controlled, and very easy to place dispute them being rear ported, vocal clarity is outstanding, base is very strong for a speaker this small, detail and clarity again is outstanding, the only area the sky may fall short is with "Hard Rock & Metal", each instrument has its own space with great clarity and dynamics, above all the sky's are very musical and easy to listen to for long periods of time.

I would highly recommend a visit to your dealer for a demo and if you like what you hear then the one caution i would give you based on my own experiences with Totem speakers is the importance of a home demo.

Edward

Would anyone be using Totem Beaks on this tread? I would be curious to read the latest and whether they would be worth on non Totem speakers, say on ProAcs..

Chag -

Chag... posted:

Would anyone be using Totem Beaks on this tread? I would be curious to read the latest and whether they would be worth on non Totem speakers, say on ProAcs..

Chag -

Quite a large bill for four beaks...

G

Not if you buy them S/H.

Chag -

I use them with Totem sttaf and yes It gives a better imaging, focus, 3D. Highs are more clean.

Same result with Verity audio Tamino on my First system but at lower degree. If Your listening is more on back-groung type, it's not a must, buy music. See it like fine-tuning.

Jean Eric

Chag... posted:

Not if you buy them S/H.

Chag -

'...large bill...' - beaks

G

To hear the Totem I have to go Lisbon, 200 Km distance  where I live.

Nuno Baptista posted:

To hear the Totem I have to go Lisbon, 200 Km distance  where I live.

Well, when you want a chance to hear different speakers, you often have to travel, as not all of us have dealers selling all brands nearby. LAst time I went speaker hearing it took 48 hours, over 800 miles of driving, two ferry journey, a hotel stay - and that was just to assess 5 contenders. 200km is only maybe 2-3 hours' drive, each way, which doesn't sound bad in the context of buying subjectively significant gear.

Nothing wrong with Lisbon. I would say: enjoy your day in Lisbon. Audition different speakers and have a great dinner somewhere.

Nuno Baptista posted:

To hear the Totem I have to go Lisbon, 200 Km distance  where I live.

It's not really that far, the shop's owner is a very nice man (as you surely know) and you'll probably enjoy some good weather like today: sunshine and 18ºC max.

Maybe you'll end up buying different speakers, but this way you won't have any regrets...

Ardbeg10y posted:

Nothing wrong with Lisbon. I would say: enjoy your day in Lisbon. Audition different speakers and have a great dinner somewhere.

... and go listening to some authentic Fado in the Bairro Alto.

Chag -

People might only think 'why is that guy dragging his amp with him' ...

And you can also demo the CM1 S2s here, Nuno.

Has anyone here listened to Totem's Element Fire? They're admittedly bigger and have a higher price point than the Mite, with the 7" Torrent driver. I've auditioned them twice on a SN2 and NDX. The first time, I was impressed but felt I liked the floor-standing Ariel Acoustics T6 better. The second time I listened to the Element Fires, I was blown away. Found myself smiling several times at their sound. I'm looking for a speaker upgrade for my NAC-N272 and NAP 250 DR and am wondering if you've listened to these Totems, what you thought. 

I have Element Embers here, as well as a pair of Metals. They really like power, even the little Embers would be stretched a little thin on a SuperNait. Haven't heard the Fires, but if they're anything like the Embers they take a long time to run in. They should be right at home on a 250 though. Also, I find that unlike the rest of the Totem range the Embers like to be closer to the wall. 

But they're a great little speaker, although I must say I always lean towards the non-element series floorstanders, the Forest Signatures being a stand out in the range.  

J Saville posted:

I have Element Embers here, as well as a pair of Metals. They really like power, even the little Embers would be stretched a little thin on a SuperNait. Haven't heard the Fires, but if they're anything like the Embers they take a long time to run in. They should be right at home on a 250 though. Also, I find that unlike the rest of the Totem range the Embers like to be closer to the wall. 

But they're a great little speaker, although I must say I always lean towards the non-element series floorstanders, the Forest Signatures being a stand out in the range.  

Thanks for the reply. To my chagrin, I did not listen to the Forest Signatures despite the fact they had some demos in stock. They are beautiful. I guess I got fixated on the new Torrent driver in the Element Fires, which they were really praising.  The dealer is quite a distance away, but I'm going to have to set aside time to listen to them next time I travel.

2WheelsRBetter posted:

J Saville posted:

I have Element Embers here, as well as a pair of Metals. They really like power, even the little Embers would be stretched a little thin on a SuperNait. Haven't heard the Fires, but if they're anything like the Embers they take a long time to run in. They should be right at home on a 250 though. Also, I find that unlike the rest of the Totem range the Embers like to be closer to the wall. 

But they're a great little speaker, although I must say I always lean towards the non-element series floorstanders, the Forest Signatures being a stand out in the range.  

Thanks for the reply. To my chagrin, I did not listen to the Forest Signatures despite the fact they had some demos in stock. They are beautiful. I guess I got fixated on the new Torrent driver in the Element Fires, which they were really praising.  The dealer is quite a distance away, but I'm going to have to set aside time to listen to them next time I travel.

Over on the avsforum.com in the speaker forum and the totem owners thread there's a guy BigAl that has the Forest Sig and Fires. He almost always has the Fires setup rather then the Forests. Perhaps he can give you insite into the 2 speakers.