Totem Owners....

Ok - well this is now 4 years later and my budget has grown somewhat. I was considering the staffs - but now think I will go all the way and eek out for a pair of the Forests.

I'm selling my Rotel 1052 (to my mother-in-law) and will use my Integra DTR 7.8 for a bit until I can get some more $ together.

I have my eye set on a Primare i30 after hearing the i21 several years ago. would you think that that would drive the Forests well enough?

Thank youi
S_

Bluecirclehead nailed it

I've had Arros and Forests; liked them ; but eventually sold them off
Why?
There are well-travelled threads on AGon about Totems requiring a lot of hi current grunt to make them perform at their best.
They can sound great with gobs of power (bi amping helped a lot) but IMO they are non optimal at low and medium level listening levels, particularly with soft jazz or classical music genres.
i found them fatiguing when run at their "best" which is at higher volume levels.

I had the Forest, Super 8 and Tamino in my system with tube and solid state Luxman and mastersound and Ayre gear. Tamino came out on top with soundstage, clarity,and most importantly musicality.

Totem's are one of the few speakers that excel at low volume dynamics AKg ca...you must have had a real mismatch powerwise:)

Septemous - I think that Primare at 100wpc would work. So far have only used tubes to drive Forests that I've owned since '07. Jolida502B could drive them but always thought it was a little underpowered. Got some 78wpc mono-blocks and that did it for me. Of course it isn't just the watts but current supply and other factors. Still got to think that well-reviewed ss i30 would have enough grunt. It looks like a nice piece. Hope you can get it. BTW - once I get another audio project completed, want to try and pick up an affordable ss integrated amp myself. Little change of pace from all tubes.