Totem Forest Speakers.....

odd.
Place them facing straight ahead (no toe-in) and your ears should be close to the height of the tweeters. I know you know this, but just in case.

This may not help much but my forests went from good to great when I leveled them: the tweeters were slightly pointing down because the floor is not perfectly leveled. Put a couple of steel discs below the feet, problem solved.

Check the placement posts, they may help.

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