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Anyone spent time with the Totem Wind?

I demoed the Totem Wind today with a Carry tube amp and Vinyl (also used a logitech server with flac files). It was in a house and not a show room. The room was about 12x20x8 and the speakers were on the short wall about 3 feet out, 6 feed apart with no toe in.

They sounded pretty good but I was not wowed by them... and I wanted to be. The speakers did not seem to have any real faults. The highs, mids, and bass integrated well. They seemed tonally balanced. The sound stage was very wide with a large sweet spot. All in all pretty good speakers. But I just wanted more I guess.

I just want to hear other people thought's on the Totem Winds. If anyone has long term ownership I would love to hear what you think. Also if anyone has compared the directly to Thiel 3.7 or Wilson Sophia (or other good speakers) I would like to hear what you thought.

Also what are your thoughts on the speakers abilities to extract details in the bass(texture), mids, and highs?
james63
dgaylin
255 posts
 
I have a fair amount of experience with the full Totem line, and have owned the Dreamcatcher, Rainmaker, Arro, Staff, Hawk, and Forest. When it came time to upgrade my Forests, I looked at the Winds but decided to go elsewhere. I think the Forest (and the Arro) at their price points are absolutely fantastic. The Winds are really good, but there are a lot of speakers that compete with them in that price range. In my opinion, there are speakers that outcompete them.
james63 OP
534 posts
 
Dgaylin,

Thanks for the input. That might just be the real truth. They just seemed like a really good buy at 1/2 the price of the other speakers I am looking at. But it might save me another upgrade down the road to just skip the winds all together.
blindjim
3,092 posts
 

On average, or generally speaking, units with higher eff ratings usually have more of that punchyness in them. Like ones from 89-90 db & up, versus 85, 86, 87. Generally.

I'd suspect, though don't know for sure, the Theils might be the antithesis of the Winds. The Sophias might be in the middle of them both, but now you aren't comparing apples to apples... given the prices of the Winds.

If you really feel the gear in place at time of the audition was/is superior to your own... you may want to reconsider a move into any of those other two aforementioned speakers as both are quite revealing units.

Better front ends make better speakers better.... lesser front ends make better speakers not so better. Great sound does not require great (expensive) speakers!

I guarantee it.
mordante
511 posts
 
I agree with Artmaltman. Most speakers that have a WoW effect often have exaggerated bass or treble.
rbstehno
1,479 posts
 
mordante - i wouldn't say that at all. if a speaker has a tilted up tweeter or a booming bass, those are usually turnoffs. IMO, it is the midrange, soundstage, the little things you haven't heard before, and the disappearing act that most great speakers do that have a WOW effect.
also, maybe it was the room that the winds were in that didn't do them justice. try putting the be-20 ushers in a 12 x 12 ft room, nobody will be impressed. also, the cary tube amp might not be able to drive the totem's. i have the totem mani 2's and using a low powered amp makes these speakers sound pretty poor.
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