Polk LSi9 and some Totem Mites
So today I compared my Totem Mites to my LSi9s for two channel music listening. My LSi9s were hooked up to a Outlaw 7125 via a Harmank Kardon DPR 1001 reciever, and I used both the reciever and the outlaw to power the totem mites.
I have had my LSi9s for a few years but have only had a decent amp for a few days now, and they are really quite awesome with good amplification. Great bass response, big full warm sound... there are plenty of reviews on here about them. I watched some action scenes with the new amp today and it sounded fantastic... far far superior to my old reciever. I really couln't be happier for home theatre, but, this was a two channel music test, so onto the totems.
The Totem mites were completely different... but, they really blew me away. Truth be told I never really understood the whole imaging discussion until about 5 seconds after I started listening to the Mites. They create this wall of sound and you pick out where every sound is coming from, which I just was not able to recreate with my LSi9s. Removing the grills may have helped, but that could be my imagination. Sound quality wise they were not nearly as warm as the LSi9s, but were certainly not harsh or bright in any offensive way.
I bought the Mites for a new living room 2 channel set up while my LSi speakers go into a home theatre room for movies. I went with the Mites over the LSi7s for the two channel, and now I must say I am really glad I did. They don't have quite the same volume or bass as the LSi7s or 9s, but they have a very clean, incredibly imaged sound that is really amazing.
I have had my LSi9s for a few years but have only had a decent amp for a few days now, and they are really quite awesome with good amplification. Great bass response, big full warm sound... there are plenty of reviews on here about them. I watched some action scenes with the new amp today and it sounded fantastic... far far superior to my old reciever. I really couln't be happier for home theatre, but, this was a two channel music test, so onto the totems.
The Totem mites were completely different... but, they really blew me away. Truth be told I never really understood the whole imaging discussion until about 5 seconds after I started listening to the Mites. They create this wall of sound and you pick out where every sound is coming from, which I just was not able to recreate with my LSi9s. Removing the grills may have helped, but that could be my imagination. Sound quality wise they were not nearly as warm as the LSi9s, but were certainly not harsh or bright in any offensive way.
I bought the Mites for a new living room 2 channel set up while my LSi speakers go into a home theatre room for movies. I went with the Mites over the LSi7s for the two channel, and now I must say I am really glad I did. They don't have quite the same volume or bass as the LSi7s or 9s, but they have a very clean, incredibly imaged sound that is really amazing.
My Iron Man training/charity blog.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900.
Post edited by lanion on
Comments
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I've heard lots of good things about Totem. How do the Mites stack up price-wise to the LSi9's? Were you able to get sufficient low end for 2-channel by adding a subwoofer?
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I just got a little more serious and ran a Cambridge Audio 540c to a headroom micro amp used a preamp (careful not to turn it up too high and blow everything up) directly to my amp, and the Polks disadvantages did go away by a bit, so perhaps they are just much more demanding speakers.
The Totem Mites go for $600 - $800 based on finish.(www.totemacoustic.com)
They are really very comparable to the LSi7s on the used market since both go for about $350 on audiogon. I didn't comapre against the LSi7s just because they are wall mounted right now and would have been a lot of work to compare them well.
The Mites can go down pretty low (50ishHz with proper placement... but heavy emphasis on proper placement), but they are very tiny compared to the LSi9s and even the LSi7s. (I will post a pic in a bit), and certainly won't go as loud. I have a pretty cheap sub and it filled in well enough, for what thats worth...My Iron Man training/charity blog.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900. -
"Wall of sound"??? That doesn't sound right to me. A good speaker should provide good depth placement of instruments as well....i.e. 3-D. A wall is 2D. Maybe its just a matter of semantics...
I have heard Totem Sttafs and those were awesome...seen the mites but never heard them...maybe I shoulda....System 1: Martin Logan Vantage, Rotel RC 1070, B&K Reference 200.2, Music Hall DAC 15.2, Yamaha 2300
System 2: LSi15 w/db840, Marantz SR8400, Rotel 1080, RM6800 (C&S), Sony X2020ES
System 3: LSi7, Yamaha SW215, Music Hall Maven, Music Hall MMF CD25 w/627opamps
System 4: RTi100, Harman Kardon AVR 230, Panasonic DVD -
Yes, that would just be semantics. I just meant the speakers seemed to *completely* dissapear.
At some point I read the Staffs were quite similar to the Mites in most regards (Staffs of course go lower), so it is probobly not too different.My Iron Man training/charity blog.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900. -
I havn't heard the Staffs. I've just read about them being somewhat similar is all.
The Mites are the only Totems I've heard. They fit in my budget. At some point I will either get some Sttafs (Forests if I am ridiculously rich somehow) or the totem storm subwoofer as an upgrade.My Iron Man training/charity blog.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900. -
Sean, my memory fails me here as I wasnt paying close attention....this was before I understood/experienced differences that a source/amp/pre/wires can make. Before getting my LSi15s, I thought that CD players were pretty much the same and amps are only slightly different. I seem to recall that it was a Adcom CD player and I want to say an NAD integrated....but not sure. The equipment was considered to be "value" components....i.e. the lower ones in the store since I could not afford much of anything at that store...Definately not the top shelf stuff at the store and the Sttafs where that impressive...just too small for what I needed. I also heard various Energy towers but pretty conventional, nice speakers, much like the RTis. Sorry bud. I know you have been struggling to get a good equipment match for your Totems.System 1: Martin Logan Vantage, Rotel RC 1070, B&K Reference 200.2, Music Hall DAC 15.2, Yamaha 2300
System 2: LSi15 w/db840, Marantz SR8400, Rotel 1080, RM6800 (C&S), Sony X2020ES
System 3: LSi7, Yamaha SW215, Music Hall Maven, Music Hall MMF CD25 w/627opamps
System 4: RTi100, Harman Kardon AVR 230, Panasonic DVD -
so you ended up keeping the Sttaf over the Hawk? what were the reasons?My Iron Man training/charity blog.
HT:
32" Sharp LCD. H/K dpr 1001 to Outlaw Audio 7900 to Polk LSi + Paradigm Studio center. Hsu DualDrive ULS-15. PS3/Wii. Outlaw 7900. -
Zero wrote:
2+2,
I thought you Asians had good memories? hehe
Thanks for doing your best to recollect the experience!
We DO have awesome memories! I see Sean is trying to ruffle some feathers... :mad:
... jk!
Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
