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Totem Forest or Acoustic Zen Adagio

Any Thoughts on which one of these speakers will work the best with my McIntosh MA6900. I have heard Totems before a few years back, but now that dearler is NADA! When he was there he had both the forest and mani-2 sig's in. I love them both but the forest just sounded a little smoother to me, not to mention cheaper. As for acoustic zen, I don't think I have heard or read anything negative about them, but I live in SC and have no where remotely close to demo. Any comments? BTW, I am considering upgrading to the MAC MA7000 which would add 50 more watts to the mix which probably won't make much difference. Thanks for all your input.
ltecyclist
audiomoose
1 posts
 
I just traded off the Mac 6900 integrated for the MC402 and C220 preamp - was running Spendor S9 speakers at the time -
I auditioned the Forest's just before I bought the Spendors 4 years ago...loved the soundstage and tight bass, but they were pretty set-up fussy. Now I own a new pair of Adagio's with the new Mac gear, and brother, you WON'T be disappointed! When they start breaking in (40-50 hours), it gets better by the hour...unless oyu're a bass-aholic (I'm picking up a Hsu VTF2-MKIII just for that purpose) you will LOVE your Mac with the Adagio's. I would recommend a little more power though - the Adagio's rated at 6ohm's...
rbstehno
1,431 posts
 
Abramsmatch - i have had the totem model 1's, arro's, and now the mani 2's. the model 1's are amazing. i never toe-in a pair of totem speakers. BRIGHT? not totem. i also like the hawks and forest. i was thinking on getting the winds but doing a demo between them, i will keep my mani's. as for the adagio's, they are a very nice speaker also. i have listened to them in a couple different setups and were very nice.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,306 posts
 
I think Digsmithd is giving good advice. I own the Forests and like them very much. I wish i could check out the Zen Adiogos...on the other hand, I hear magic every night with the Forests. When first installed I was concerned about a lack of bass. Digsmithd talked me through that. After an extnded break-in period (on the order of 200 hrs or so) they deliver an amazing amount of bass. I'm running a JoLida 502B amp. CDP and tubes greatly affect the reported HF "forwardness" of these speakers. A Denon 2910 mod'ed by the Upgrade Factory provides an amazing amount of air and detail. The move to JJ/Tesla KT88 sounded wonderful - deeper bass and overall smoothness. No harshness at all. Unfortunately, the JJ/Teslas were not reliable (I miss them). Am now running Penta Lab KT88 solid plates. Wonderful detail, improved sound stage & extended frequency...but on some recordings, a bit forward sounding (read that as "can be a little harsh". Vinyl? no such issues on my system...the Forests sound wonderful with a KAB mod'ed 1210Mk5G & KAB mod'ed Stanton. My 2 cents. You probably can't go wrong with either. If I had budget, opportunity and time...I'd check out the Zens. But I don't and I really love the Forests. If I were to make a change in my system, it would be for more power.
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