2. amps-preamps
  3. 1313364070

Powering Totem Sttafs and Rainmakers

Hi all,

Just bought Totem Sttafs and Rainmakers (I like 4 stereo speakers in one room, I also like floor-standing speakers on stands so mid-range is ear-level). But my Integra stereo receiver under-compels Totems and anyway the 8 ohm Sttafs & 4ohm Rainmakers will kill the Integra in time. The Nad C375BEE would feed the power hungry Totems and drive down to 2-3 ohms but is it worthless without a Niles or similar switcher? I use an OPPO DVD as my CD player but soon will likely run all my audio / video from my laptop + Moon DAC. Are there tube pre’s and solid state amps that pair well with the Totems that I should consider? Or another integrated superior to the Nad for the Totems? What about cables? Thanks in advance. -Scott
scottmoshen

Showing 2 responses by kbarkamian

kbarkamian
647 posts
 
You posted on a weekend during the summer. Maybe people had better things to do than sit at their computer?

Anyhow...

I never cared for the NAD/Totem pairing. No synergy to my ears. Several forum friends on a different forum emailed Totem for amplification recommendations and all were told NAD isn't a good match. Can't remember why off the top of my head, but it made sense at the time.

The Outlaw suggestion looks good, but I haven't heard it.

Arcam, Simaudio, and Bryston pair up pretty well with Totem too IMO. Not sure if you'll get a Sim or Bryston integrated with 4 speaker outputs, nor if you'll find one for your budget if they do, but the Bryston B60 can be found for your budget here. I own one and have nothing but great things to say about it.

A good speaker switch box can somehow regulate the load the amp sees with multiple speakers of different characteristics. Not sure on the technical reasons or how exactly they work, but it made sense when I heard it explained.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Milpai,

Totems no doubt benefit from some power. But what they really need is stable power in my experience. They need an amp that won't struggle with low impedance and difficult phase angles. If I recall correctly, Totem was saying NAD wasn't fast enough in it's power delivery. Perhaps it's damping factor or slew rate? I'm not a specs guy at all. No idea what those truly mean, even though I've read a definition.

The Bryston B60 has a good bit less wattage than an NAD 372. On a pair of Sttafs, the B60 smoked the NAD in an average sized room during a demo. Same with the Arros. If you're looking for SPL above all else, I'd imagine an NAD 372 would fare a bit better than a B60. However, the B60 powered the Totems to levels a good bit above normal in an average sized room without breaking a sweat.

Regardless of all that stuff, I can't really figure out why someone would use 4 speakers for stereo music in a room other than a huge open room. Makes no sense to me. Can't see how imaging, sound staging, etc. wouldn't be thrown off. 2 speakers that were designed for the amount of space that are properly placed should sound better than 4 speakers in a 2 channel system IMO.
More to discover