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Anyone spent time with the Totem Wind?

I demoed the Totem Wind today with a Carry tube amp and Vinyl (also used a logitech server with flac files). It was in a house and not a show room. The room was about 12x20x8 and the speakers were on the short wall about 3 feet out, 6 feed apart with no toe in.

They sounded pretty good but I was not wowed by them... and I wanted to be. The speakers did not seem to have any real faults. The highs, mids, and bass integrated well. They seemed tonally balanced. The sound stage was very wide with a large sweet spot. All in all pretty good speakers. But I just wanted more I guess.

I just want to hear other people thought's on the Totem Winds. If anyone has long term ownership I would love to hear what you think. Also if anyone has compared the directly to Thiel 3.7 or Wilson Sophia (or other good speakers) I would like to hear what you thought.

Also what are your thoughts on the speakers abilities to extract details in the bass(texture), mids, and highs?
james63

Showing 5 responses by james63

james63 OP
534 posts
 
Tpreaves,

Yes I agree but I have only heard these speakers in one room and system (and for only an hour). I am a believer that the room and system can greatly change the way a speaker sounds. My other issue is I have never used any of the equipment used in the demo with any other speakers. This makes the base line comparison very hard.

I have found that with very neutral speakers I am often swayed either way by the front end. All in all I am trying to sort out if the speakers lack a little brilliance or if the system synergy was just not to my tastes.
james63 OP
534 posts
 
The Cary tub amp was CAD 120S CAD 120S and I believe all cables and interconects were Audiokinesis.

I plan to give them another good listen before I write them off. l liked them much better than a lot of speakers I have demoed. He also offered me a knockout price! But as a like everyone on this site I am not good at price shopping lol...

I might just have to bring my own gear. Even though on paper his stuff is better than mine, I might just be used to the way my stuff sounds. The winds had good tone and were what many people call "musical". I tend to like a little more punch and forward presentation. I have seen amps drastically change the way the bass sounds and I have seen other equipment (preamps, etc) change the highs a good bit.
james63 OP
534 posts
 
Dgaylin,

Thanks for the input. That might just be the real truth. They just seemed like a really good buy at 1/2 the price of the other speakers I am looking at. But it might save me another upgrade down the road to just skip the winds all together.
james63 OP
534 posts
 

Maverick your system looks very nice and clean. Good looks and good sound I am sure.

What other speakers did you try before buying the Winds, and what did you like about the Winds better?
james63 OP
534 posts
 
Johnnyb53,

Your thoughts on the room set up mirror my own. I have an ok understanding of how the room was going to effect the sound. I also listen pretty quiet (70-75dB) compared to most people on this site. I feel my lower listening volume tends to minimize some of the room affects.

I would have liked to have the speakers a little wider apart and towed is a good bit but it was a very casual audition and I did not want to offend the dealer. The pair I was demoing had already been sold but not picked up...

But I had no handle on the equipment being used. Unfortunately I do not think the Winds are a normal stock item for that dealer (mostly lower end totems etc,) which explain the so so set up. I do have another dealer around though. If they have the Winds I will try and hear them with a more powerful solid-state amp next time.

Thanks for all the input, and I would still like to hear from anyone who has owned the Winds.
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