Totem Forest Speakers.....

Change the amp-- Krell is a brand that appeals to only some audiophiles...they have a tendency to be quiet "dry" sounding. I think what you are describing is possibly a uninvolved sound and lack of warmth. Look at these brands..

Plinius
Naim
Sim audio
Classe
Mcintosh

All the above brands have more of a "laid back" sound than krell. Dont get me wrong some speakers love krells sound because the speaker itself is laid back, and when you add a more aggressive amp, you can get a neutral sound. Totems are somewhat neutral-bright speakers. So amps that are neutral sounding or warmish sounding go will with totems. Also look at replacing your source. Brightness and uninvolved sound is sometimes caused by jitter. The forests are a VERY reveling speaker for your Yamaha CD player. Look at getting a Tube CD player that will be much more musical and involving such as a Cary or Musical Fidelity.

Remember one thing...Forests (as well as the other totems) LOVE power. You will need a separate or a integrade that has 30+ amps to fully control the forests bass.

As far as room placement, I think it can affect the sound greatly, but with out proper electronics, room placement will only matter to a certain degree. Once you know you have the electronics correct, then you can experiment even more with placement. But I dont think right now is a matter of bad placement. Just make sure that you have the forests at lest 2 feet from the back wall if possible with no toe in.

I told you what would happen:O)

To do list for Matt00:

Treat room with natural diffraction and sound damping materials i.e.., soft furniture, drapes or wall hangings, plants, wood furniture, carpet etc..

Get MIT cabling and power cords.

Put 2 to 4 inch blocks of wood under your components.

Use about 1/2 lb brass weight on top of you 400xi.

Get a Sony XA5400ES for $1099 street price.

Play music for a few hundred hours.

Be happy for the rest of your life:O)

OR...Listen to an endless list of well intentioned advice from people who think they know what they are talking about.

I have owned your equipment in various settings and have spent the time and money to determine what works and what doesn't. The 400xi is warm, sweet, extended and dynamic. The Forests are dynamic, bold, extended and detailed. The Sony offers state of the art playback for RB and SACD's at an extremely attractive price plus it has XLR outputs to take advantage of the Krell's prefered input connection. The MIT cabling and PC's will allow all of it to come alive in an organic and natural manner. Anyone who tells you anything different is full of ...well, you get the idea.

Sincerely,
Dave

Hi :Try to use tube amp.I using tube butter.Make my forest run much better.Also try to use better cables.

My Hawks' sound lack imaging and presence when they're just a foot from the wall. When there are no kids around to knock them over, I bring them out over 2 feet from the wall and it makes a HUGE difference. Accurate bass turns into real bass. The band and the singer set up around the room and I hang out with them. I have them a bit more than five feet apart. I'm still working with my set-up (it's in its infancy), but this one thing I've learned. And, like Dgaylin, no grills.