proac d25 vs totem Mani 2

In the past, I drove Totem ARROs with a Cary CLI-80. in  a small apartment in San Francisco. They worked out well, but could have benefited from a sub woofer or powered bass. I sourced out a REL Quake, and that was an ideal setup at the time. I liked the ARROs, small, thin, construction was well done.

I moved on to B&W 805's and kept the little REL Quake, still have it.
I drive them with a pair of Marantz MA-24's and that setup suits me for now.

If I were to do it again, I would consider a pair of ProAc DB1, or KEF LS50's, I have heard both recently, and at that price point and size, they have very good sound stage, and grip the lower notes.

The Mani 2's are not a small room speaker.  You will be overwhelmed with bass.  That is of course you have sufficient and quality and power to drive them, which like mentioned above is a whole separate issue.

If you're looking at a stand mount Totem, Model One is probably where you want to be.

quanghuy147--

+1 on akg_ca's comment.

The Mani-2s demand power and will not perform up to their potential without it. You didn't say what you are using to drive them (nor what kinds of music you listen to), but if it's a relatively low power tube amp, I recommend that you do not do it. IMO you will not get enough low end control of the bass heavy Mani-2s. I finally ran mine with a pair of Rogue M-180's with KT-120's and they really sang, but that was the only tubed amp out of the 4 or 5 I auditioned that worked for me. They also sounded beautiful with both of my Class-D amps, a Bel Canto 300u, and a W4S-500, both of which have enough power as well as excellent tight bass control.

I ran my Mani-2s in a relative small room, but be prepared to do some experimentation with placement. They are a difficult speaker to tame, but when you get there the sound is fantastic for a speaker of this size.

I have heard the Proacs, but not in my space. I liked them, found them musical and not fatiguing, but overall they did not excite me.

That said, I've recently replaced my single-owner Mani-2s with a pair of Harbeths, and it's been on my list of things to do to get them up for sale here. Let me know if you have an interest and I'll move getting them listed to the top of my long to-do list.

Happy listening,
Jerry

I have owned a lot of Proac speakers. If you are looking for floorstanding Proac speakers in that size my preference on their models in the Response range would be as shown below:

Proac D 30r (this may be outside of your budget
Proac D 28
Proac D 2.5 
Proac D 25

The Studio 140 II is is about the same size and is also a good sounding speaker, but not as refined.

To my ears Totem's are a little more clinical compared to the Pro Ac.

But that could just be my ears 😊