Pros and cons for loading Totem Forest

My neighbor loaded his Forests. The bass really improved - tighter response and more solid extension. But his room is small so the bass quality plays a large role. If you have a big room, the change might not be so significant.

He didn't want to have loose shot in there but the hole to feed it through is small. So we doubled up some panty hose and filled them with shot and fed them through the hole. That way it was retrievable at sale time. It worked out rather well but was a hassle.

Arthur

the totem sounds fine without, and not worth adding the extra weight. it will effect a resale. if you do load, don't use lead.

First, I got just the opposite feedback from Totem when I owned my Forrests and Arros (no longer own either). FYI - they stated that kitty litter was a good alternative to sand and or shot, or kitty litter/sand combo. I ran both pair unloaded for a couple of months and then loaded both. Both models improved by being loaded. Primarily the result was in better bass impact and possibly a couple of hz. in frequency range - thought this aspect is debatable. I can tell you the difference between being loaded or not was a significantly bigger difference than having the beaks on or not!

As for resale value? I don't see how this would impact that at all. It can easily be removed upon time of sale. If the buyer is picking them up, he/she will probably want them emptied, but will gladly take the expensive shot (by the way, I did not use lead, but a substitute that I purchased at Gander Mountain for safety reasons - moderately expensive though).

Of the speakers I sold, one was a pick-up and the other shipped. I did not have too difficult of a time "getting the lead out". The pair that was picked up was seen by the buyer as having added value in that the shot came with the speakers. The other buyer stated he had every intention of adding shot as he was moving up the Totem line and agreed that loading them is prefered!

Just out of curiosity - how and why does lead affect resale if it is removed?

Incidentally, on someone's suggestion, rather than sand (which tends to attract moisture) I used kitty litter to load my Forests. Don't laugh - it smells nice, does not contain or attract moisture, and can easily be poured/ vacuumed out at sale time. I was able to get maybe 7-8 pounds in each speaker. It did tighten the bass.