Totem Forest Speakers.....

you should describe exactly how you have the room arranged so folks can give more considered guidance. In other words, how far apart are the speakers? How far out from the wall do you have them placed? Where is your seating position?

Also, you should expect 400+ hours of break-in, though they should sound pretty damned good before that point, and indeed out of the box.

The speakers are about 6ft apart and 1 ft from the wall. So far this distance sounds the best. Totem recommends 100 to 150 hrs of brake in, but has it really taken that long for other Forest owners?

I stand corrected on the break-in - I was going on my dealer's recommendation when I bought my Sttafs - they said 400 hrs. They will probably get better after the 150hr point but they shouldn't sound bad before and indeed they should sound pretty damned good out of the box.

I suggest you move them out from the wall about 4-5 ft and start there. Then move them closer together/further apart and see what that does. In a 12x12 room that doesn't work so well that far out, but it will give you a reference point, then you can move them closer to the wall and see what happens, deciding where you want them. Totem says minimum distance from the wall is 1 ft, but while I don't have Forests, I find the Sttafs and Mani-2's need to be well out from the wall to sound their best. They sound bland only 1 ft from the wall. Also, have you tried them firing diagonally across the room? I have my Sttafs set up in a 11x12 room and that's the only way they sound good.

I guess you have seen Totem's FAQ Page for the guidelines on these parameters. There it is in case you haven't . . .

I think they are too close to the rear wall. Try the rule of fifths...divide the room into 5 equal spaces. Place the speakers at the first space, and your listening chair in the fifth space. This is a take-off on the rule of thirds-which is better but fifths is good too.). Good luck

I agree with experimenting with speaker positioning. Sometimes even a few inches can make a world of difference.

Now, I'm going to propose something that's probably unpopular on Audiogon. I'm very familiar with the Totem line, as I own the Hawks and used to have the Arro's. I actually find the Forests to be the least musical sounding of their entire lineup (the Arro's being arguably the most musical).

I would recommend giving them a little more time, but your description of sounding flat agrees with my recollection of how the Forests sounds relative to some of the other Totem speakers.

Good luck,

Michael