Upgrading to Totem Mani 2's

No apology required Bdgregory. Your posts are very much appreciated and informative. I think what I’m beginning to get from this thread (and probably already knew) is that more is better with the Mani’s, but that I can get satisfactory results with my 9100 at least to start. In that regard your comment that “you effectively get a new set of speakers without having bought any” when you do upgrade your amp is an interesting analogy. My challenge in that regard is that if I do get the Mani’s how long I could wait until I got the upgrade bug again. But then I guess that’s what this hobby is all about. The bi-amp option using the 9100 and say the Plinius P8 is also something that I am looking into. I’m not sure if the gain of the two is compatible in a vertical bi-amp mode. If it is, it could be a very natural progression to follow.

Please let us know how your tweaking goes this weekend. Can’t wait to see what you’re planning for an on core!!

one clarification on the biamping. I asked Totem about vertical vs horizontal biamping. Below is their reply. Also notice their reply to my question about driving them with one CJ MF2100. The primary consideration if you biamp with your Plinius is wheather the sensitivity of the outboard amp matches that of the inboard. I would think you'll want to set up in horizontal biamp in any event. If the sensitivity isn't identical, you may be able to attenuate using pots.

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Hi Brad,

you have mentioned bi-amping your units

would this be done with 2 identical amplifiers ?

external amplifiers are not necessary as the internal crossover supports
this format

(on all our products)

It is important to remove the jumpers if you wish to experiment with
bi-amping

generally we have found the best results to be:

1) the more powerful amplifier of the two to power both speakers woofer
portion
(the bottom two terminal on each speaker)

2) the smaller amplifier to power the tweeter section
(the top two terminals)

we generally we don't recommend "vertical" bi amping due to the fact that
most amplifiers are not "identical" and will cause small discrepancies
between the two channels (even if they are the same model) different
production dates can yield slightly different variants

the Cj unit in question should yield very good results with strong power
delivery and very stable current into low impedance

take care,

TOTEM
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Thanks for the clarification. I misspoke. What I should have said was standard biamping using the 9100 for the mids and highs and the P8 for the bass. Still need to find out about the gain and rise time of the two amps. I've sent a inquiry to Plinius and I'm awaiting a reply.

Kind of an offbeat recommendation - Audire Otez will drive and control those speakers like very few others.

A blast from the past! I heard one of the Audire's years ago, not sure which one but it could have been the Otez. In any event, I'm sure it would do very well with the Mani's. My recollection is that they sound similar to Plinius. Are they still in business?