Totem Sttaf

Your exactly square room might pose a significant challenge for you, and perhaps room treatments would be your best use of funds to improve things.

That said, the Staafs can image very well (although the Arro's really are the imaging champs in Totem's lineup). They key in my experience, though, like the Arro's they really need tubes to sound their best. (Fortunately, it doesn't have to be expensive; the best mating I've heard with the Arro's, for instance, is the Jolida 302b.) And spend some time fine-tuning the placement of the speakers relative to the listening position.

They aren't the last word in bass extension, as you mention. A sub really is needed here, but that could also be said for the majority of monitors that you are comparing to the Staafs.

It's been a while since I've heard the Staaf's, but I don't recall their midrange being a problem. That said, if you like the sound of your LSA1 monitors better, then you've answered your own question as to which you should keep.

Michael

I think I forgot to click "submit" on my previous post, so apologies if this is a duplicate.

Donjr: My amplification is a Yamaha A-S2000 solid state, but I also have a PrimaLuna Prologue Two integrated that I haven't tried yet. My room is small and gets very hot in the summer with tubes. I'm actually probably going to sell the tube amp. The Yamaha has a very natural, smooth sound with great soundstage depth and width. I could hear this very clearly with the LSA1's. As for Harbeth, my dealer does carry these, but the model you mentioned only goes down to 75 Hz, so they would need a sub without a doubt. I managed to get by on the LSA1's without a sub, but the bass was definitely still lacking. Those go down to 42 Hz.

Sufentanil: I do have sound panels that I purchased several years back. They have made a huge difference in the room. As for the tube amp, I am yet to try my PrimaLuna, but that is not an option for me in the summer, since it heats up the room very quickly. The bass on the Sttafs isn't completely lacking to my ears, it's just not clean bass. There also seems to be a suckout somewhere in the lower mids/upper bass that makes things like piano sound like they have no foundation.

I'm trying to get my dealer to let me audition some Golden Ear Triton 3's in my room. The fact that they have an adjustable built in powered sub makes them possibly small room friendly, but I won't know for sure until I hear them in my room.

the key to Sttafs is set up. They must be out from the wall, and the distance between them is also important. In my experience the Sttaf's image is huge extending well outside the speakers and in some cases past the walls. They need to be at least 3' into the room to be optimal. Also, the distance between them should be fairly narrow - maybe 6' at most. Totem's web site has these parameters for all of their speakers.

Are you auditioning them in your 11x11 room? I have a pair I'm using in my office (it's actually a 12x12 bedroom) and they sound great there. The bass is fine. This is my second pair and I have used them in a larger room - ~ 14 x 22, and needed a subwoofer there.

Bdgregory: Yes, this is in my 11 x 11 room. I have them 24 inches from the back wall. The right speaker is about 2.5 feet from the side wall, and the left speaker is further away from the other side wall. I can get exact measurements once I'm home.

The dealer told me these showroom demos have about 50-75 hours on them, but could these not be fully burned in yet?

Jwglista-
I wondered whether your Staffs were fully run-in while reading your original post. If my experience with Totem Forests is anything to go by, I'd expect things will improve over another 50-100 hours. The bass on the Forests was mostly MIA when I first got them. That is no longer the case. What does the Totem site say about breaking in the Staffs?