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Rega/Totem combo wow!

Was out of town for work last week and managed to stop into a hifi shop downtown after work one evening.  I forget the name of the place but it was right in Cincinnati (audible elegance i believe).  I had always wanted to hear a rega/naim amplifier.  Long story short, they had a rega brio and elex r hooked up to a pair of Totem Rainmakers (which is a nice compact speaker for my space) and I have to say that I was really impressed by the speakers even through the lower powered brio.  The gentleman switched from the Brio to the Elex to hear the difference.  And yes, there was a difference. The Elex provided more bass and a little smoother sound to my ears but both amps sounded superb and although the Totems are 4ohms, I was more impressed with the little Brio handling them quite well.  I haven't really heard many people talk about totem speakers on too many threads but like I said, there seemed to be a really good match there between the regas and the totems.  Has anyone else had a similar experience with these two brands playing together and if so what were your thoughts?
mgrec42
reubent
6,973 posts
 
@kalali - I had always heard that the Totem Arro had a big, full sound, especially for it's size. However, I had never seen them in person until recently. They are TINY! I was really surprised at the relative small size of all of the Totems. Really cool if they work for you. One of these days I'll have to sit down at my local dealers showroom for a listen.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
They really do sound big. If you have the room to leave a couple of feet of space behind them, they can create a nicely believable soundstage much bigger than you'd expect from their tiny size cabinets. Part of it is the element of expectation where the size vs. sound combination gets a bit distorted and somehow doesn't quite add up. We also heard the larger Forest model which was very musical but the Arros made a more profound impression on me just because I didn't expect as much. I think most owners agree that Totems in general do require good clean and moderately high power despite their size.
rackon
301 posts
 
Haven't heard Totem speakers in years but always liked them.

But I did recently hear the Rega integrateds plus the Saturn R CD player at a  dealer and was impressed - they were powering, among other things, GoldenEar Triton 3+. I liked the Saturn (and of course, the Isis, but that one's way beyond my reach) so much so that I'm keen to audition the Rega DAC-R.

I would think the Rega amps would be great partners for many British speakers.


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mgrec42 OP
12 posts
 
I've heard mixed reviews on the naim with totem. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to listen to the naim. Have you heard them both with the totem? If so what we're your thoughts as far as sonic differences? I've heard people refer to rega as a poor man's naim. Unfortunately for me, nearly 2k for an amp isn't cheap by any means
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