Nola Contender & Totem Forest comparison?

(1) have a peek at the SPENDOR D7s if you are looking at quality 3 way floorstander contenders.

WHAT HI-FI 5 STAR RATING:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/d7

extracted reviews comments:

• Massively detailed
• Exceptional dynamics
• Precise and articulate presentation
• Cohesive sound
• Deliver a huge sound for their size
• Unfussy nature

-- The finest Spendor speakers we’ve heard in years. When it comes to insight and precision, these floorstanders set the standard at this price

(2) higher up the food chain = REGA RS10s

I do not believe the Contenders would be a step up for you.

Akg - got it...check out Spendor.

Mg - message received.

Thanks to all.

Quite a diversity of comments here. I attended the Newport Beach Audio show in 2011, 2012 and 2013. I kept going back to the Nola Contender room again and again as it was doing music like so few other setups. The man in the room kept saying, "you again?". With an ARC CD player and integrated amp, the sound was simply phenomenal. For an $18k retail setup, only a couple of the 100k systems got my attention as this. Sometimes the setup man simply does it right. For $3500, I have yet to hear another dynamic speaker that comes close to this….not even close…not Spendor, not Harbeth, no the VR series….albeit with stellar components elsewhere required. I ended up buying the Boxers for my apt setup.

Ironically, one of the few other setups that knocked my socks off each time was the Totem speakers. The dynamics and clarity with mid-priced MBL electronics was simply stunning.

John

Yeah, the comments don't seem reflective of Stereophile's measurements, where Atkinson found slightly more mid treble energy. Certainly isn't a dull speaker. My personal experience is that it's quite detailed, in a musical way, not in a hi-fi way.
The most obvious, eye-bulging effect is how deep the soundstage is. That seemed to be the same observation one of TAS' reviewers found at the 2011 CES. Think it was J. Valin who said the soundstage was huge…if a speaker is "dull", it is not going to have a big soundstage, since that requires significant treble extension.