"... that right there may be the root of your different experience.... but do have 2 other Totem speakers and enough experience with all sorts of gear to know that some combinations work better than others...."
NAILED IT!
I've had both the ARROs and FORESTs at the same time. They are fine kit, -- but arguably a tad finicky that are sensitive in that they excel with PARTICULAR hardware kit AND cables.
There area well travelled threads in AGON that Totems need a lot of grunt to perform at their max. In my experience, they only performed at their max when they were bi-amped.
Vis-a-vis cables, ARROS preferred -- (in my experience and I swapped in and out a lot of candidates)TOTEM's own TRESS, higher-end CHORD or higher-end ATLAS.(the latter was best in my kit)
Lastly, in our experiences, it is my understanding the older models wwere equipped with different speaker drivers (same ones from the company as the Dynaudios I believe ) than than the current models. IN my expereinces, there was never a less than optimal imaging sunject to the introduction of a bi-amping setup.
That you swapped in MLs with a marked improvements supports the premise that ARRO synergy with your kit appears absent and therefore ARRos are not your preferred choice.
Good luck
NAILED IT!
I've had both the ARROs and FORESTs at the same time. They are fine kit, -- but arguably a tad finicky that are sensitive in that they excel with PARTICULAR hardware kit AND cables.
There area well travelled threads in AGON that Totems need a lot of grunt to perform at their max. In my experience, they only performed at their max when they were bi-amped.
Vis-a-vis cables, ARROS preferred -- (in my experience and I swapped in and out a lot of candidates)TOTEM's own TRESS, higher-end CHORD or higher-end ATLAS.(the latter was best in my kit)
Lastly, in our experiences, it is my understanding the older models wwere equipped with different speaker drivers (same ones from the company as the Dynaudios I believe ) than than the current models. IN my expereinces, there was never a less than optimal imaging sunject to the introduction of a bi-amping setup.
That you swapped in MLs with a marked improvements supports the premise that ARRO synergy with your kit appears absent and therefore ARRos are not your preferred choice.
Good luck