Totem speakers

C J T

A co worker yesterday said he just bought a new system and I told him I bought the RTi12's. He told me I should have bought Totem speakers.

I love my RTi12's and they match my rears, centre and sub, all Polks. No complaints at all... I have never heard of Totems. What are they like?

dcarlson

Top notch, IMO.

sowen010599

Their high end 4-way speakers (like the Wind), are very, very good. But, the 2 driver setups, like the Forest, Hawk, etc., sound cluttered in my opinion. I think it was probably because they have to much box and not enough drivers. Maybe asking too much from a single 5 1/2" to be a mid and a woofer. They are quite good at low volume but tend to loose composure as you crank them up.

dcarlson

I'm not a cranking type of listener and the Hawk's sounded nothing short of great for the price and outstanding for the size. I heard them on a Jolida CDP and 60w integrated. The Winds are up there in price.

2+2

totem staff sound great!!...and those are the only floor standing speakers comparable in price to RTi12s. Awesome speakers but yea, they are small. great for smaller rooms but for larger rooms and volume, your 12s would be better imo....

MikeCamp

Those are some ugly arse speakers.

gatemplin

Originally posted by MikeCamp
Those are some ugly arse speakers.

Hardly. All the Totems have very high guality enclosures. They look and sound beautiful and use very good drivers. They are in a different league from RTis.

brettw22

Originally posted by C J T
A co worker yesterday said he just bought a new system and I told him I bought the RTi12's. He told me I should have bought Totem speakers.

I love my RTi12's and they match my rears, centre and sub, all Polks. No complaints at all... I have never heard of Totems. What are they like?

Color me frustrated.....

I'd suggest you return everything you've purchased and start actually looking at things and stuff BEFORE you buy again.

It's CRYSTAL clear that you don't trust yourself, so anyone elses opinions are automatically overwriting yours. If you want to spend all of your time second-guessing yourself, so be it. It's just frustrating to watch.

VR3

I am just waiting for him to encounter a Bose fan

MikeCamp

Originally posted by gatemplin
Hardly. All the Totems have very high guality enclosures. They look and sound beautiful and use very good drivers. They are in a different league from RTis.

That's your opinion. They still look fugly to me. As to being in another league... I'm happy with the league I'm in. My system: polks, velodyne SPL-1200 Series II, and my yamaha all add up to a beautiful sound... very tight and clean. I have no complaints.


I also like to spend time outside my house and If I had to look at these all day I'd really spend more time away from my theater system.


UGLY!!

C J T

Brett.

What part of "I love my RTi12's' " and "I have no complaints" didn't get through to you.

I am asking a simple question. Thanks , smart ****.

michael_w

Man those are wierd looking speakers.... I havn't seen that model before but I guess the lower end ones aren't quite as wierd and have a little more of a classic box shape. Then again they are sort of in that category of so wierd they are kind of cool? I guess in my books I could care less what a speaker looks like.... I'd rather it look like crap and sound great than have a speaker thats all beautiful but sounds bad. (although I'm not saying that I don't enjoy a good looking speaker) I am curious what those sound like with their sort of monolith shape.....

brettw22

Originally posted by C J T
What part of "I love my RTi12's' " and "I have no complaints" didn't get through to you.

I am asking a simple question. Thanks , smart ****.

You've been popping off questions for so much equipment that I can EASILY see you contemplating buying the Totem's, or that because your friend mentioned them, you thinking you may have bought an inferior product.

If you like your speakers, WHO EFFIN CARES what your friend thinks?

The way you've put most of your threads/posts it's as if you trust everyone except yourself, so if I misinterpreted that in this one thread, my bad......

VR3

One thing about those higher end speakers, they look ugly as sin online, but once u get to see them in person....you just drool...

The Wilson Audio X1 is the perfect example, looks like something out of gladiator but in person... :eek:

LittleCar_w/12s

Truly I find this one interesting too, finally someone spared some wood and space and put a full woofer in a full-range cabinet, and it's actually smaller than a mini-fridge As for these, even my wife says the weird one above looks cool... and that's an odd moment... I fugured she'd agree with fugly man up here
These below are the shamans...

dcarlson

I showed a Totem brochure to a lady friend and my buddy's wife. They both like the looks, although the Wind are little on the wierd side I'm sure they look great in person. The exact words from my buddy's wife was that they were all gorgeous. The next time I saw her she was all interested in when I was getting the Hawks. She's usually not all that interested in my audio endevours. I think they look nice but a tad on the short side. But... For me the next time around for speakers it'll be a combo of looks and sound and the Hawks are all about sound.

The Totem lineup mostly all use different drivers talored for a specific sound and price point. Instead of using the same driver throughout the entire lineup like Polk and B&W does. Don't get me wrong, I understand trickledown technology but I like the idea of a specific driver for a specific application rather than simply adding drivers.

MikeCamp

Those things look like something someone built in their garage. I never liked the idea of a speaker with a woofer in it either. Hence the reason I stayed away from the LSi series with the side firing 10" woofers. If you like boomy bass then its all you. I prefer a tight sounding setup and leave the bass notes for the subwoofer to handle. Sealed subwoofer at that.

Originally posted by dcarlson
The Totem lineup mostly all use different drivers talored for a specific sound and price point. Instead of using the same driver throughout the entire lineup like Polk and B&W does. Don't get me wrong, I understand trickledown technology but I like the idea of a specific driver for a specific application rather than simply adding drivers.

Same drivers through the whole line up? What are you talking about? Take a look at the monitor series and the RTi series. Totally different drivers. Look at the materials being used.

dcarlson

Originally posted by MikeCamp
Same drivers through the whole line up? What are you talking about? Take a look at the monitor series and the RTi series. Totally different drivers. Look at the materials being used.

Ummmmm... That's exactly what I'm talking about. 3 different lineups with a total of how many models? Using 3 drivers and 3 tweeters and subs. All monitors use the same, all RTi use the same and all LSI use the same. They just add more drivers as you go up in line. Sorry if I wasn't totally specific about it but I thought it was pretty obvious. :rolleyes: B&W is even worse when it comes to sharing drivers. Don't get me wrong, that's not all bad either because you can get better quality drivers into cheaper speakers that way.

Those things look like something someone built in their garage. I never liked the idea of a speaker with a woofer in it either. Hence the reason I stayed away from the LSi series with the side firing 10" woofers. If you like boomy bass then its all you. I prefer a tight sounding setup and leave the bass notes for the subwoofer to handle. Sealed subwoofer at that.

If I could build speakers like that, I certainly would. Boominess isn't necessarily caused by the subs. Power, placement, the room and a complimentary set of quality components have more to do with it. I know my Polks tightened up as I upgraded components and cables.

It seems you're taking this much too personally. I do own a full set of Polks.

gatemplin

The Totem lineup mostly all use different drivers talored for a specific sound and price point.

You're right. The Wind looks like it uses a Seas 27TAF tweet with HiVi Research mids and a Vifa woofer. The owner of Totem picks drivers he likes and he thinks sound complimentary and puts them together.

I still think they look beautiful especially in person, maybe because I am a DIYer and I aspire to make speakers as nice and classy looking as that.

MikeCamp

Originally posted by dcarlson
Ummmmm... That's exactly what I'm talking about. 3 different lineups with a total of how many models? Using 3 drivers and 3 tweeters and subs. All monitors use the same, all RTi use the same and all LSI use the same. They just add more drivers as you go up in line. Sorry if I wasn't totally specific about it but I thought it was pretty obvious. :rolleyes: B&W is even worse when it comes to sharing drivers. Don't get me wrong, that's not all bad either because you can get better quality drivers into cheaper speakers that way.

If I could build speakers like that, I certainly would. Boominess isn't necessarily caused by the subs. Power, placement, the room and a complimentary set of quality components have more to do with it. I know my Polks tightened up as I upgraded components and cables.

It seems you're taking this much too personally. I do own a full set of Polks.

Actually, I'm not taking anything personal. Never have never will. You have an opinion and I have one too. I thought I made that clear enough before :rolleyes:

The reason for using similar drivers in a line up is done for system tuning purposes. Thats the reason it's a known no, no to mix and match speaker systems. example: Polk fronts, kenwood center, and paradyme rears. I personally wouldn't want my woofers all mixed up. You want a matched system.

I also stated that those totems look like crap. That's my opinion. They may sound real nice. Still doesn't change the fact I personally think the are fugly. Easy as that.

As to your boomy bass comments. True, I agree with you. There are a lot of factors that can cause boomy bass. In my opinion, adding 10" drivers to a midrange front speaker setup isn't ideal. The typical 6 1/2" or 7" drivers provide plenty of midrange bass. A quality subwoofer should handle the rest. Once again, my opinion. Nothing personal here

Mjr7531

Originally posted by MikeCamp
...As to your boomy bass comments. True, I agree with you. There are a lot of factors that can cause boomy bass. In my opinion, adding 10" drivers to a midrange front speaker setup isn't ideal. The typical 6 1/2" or 7" drivers provide plenty of midrange bass. A quality subwoofer should handle the rest. Once again, my opinion. Nothing personal here

I remember my grandpa telling me when an 8" midrange and a 15" woofer was the norm, funny how the times change, eh?

TheReaper

Originally posted by Mjr7531
I remember my grandpa telling me when an 8" midrange and a 15" woofer was the norm, funny how the times change, eh?

You forgot the 3" tweeter

LittleCar_w/12s

Ahh. the days of huge rectangular enclosures that looked nice, though they were large. Personally I like that look. The Totems, however are very intriguing. It looks as if they separate the woofer's chamber as well. AS for matching components, just because they are all the same brand, doesn't mean they compliment each ohter. I think it's really neat that Totem actually finds the ones that match the best for each model.

Kano

The Arros.

I think they look great, could use one more driver though.

VR3

Why do they need more drivers?

2+2

those are beautiful!.. as to needing more drivers, I would agree if the speakers are to be used in a large room....the 2 ways fill a small to mid size room very nicely...sound quality of Staff being excellent.....but do sound a bit too small otherwise...