PSB - Stratus Gold(i) vs Totem Acoustic - Sky towers

This really comes down to personal preference and listening style, along with the size of your room.
A friend has the Gold i, and I owned the original Gold for 12 years. It’s a great speaker, and if nothing else, the i looks a little nicer with the slightly altered cabinet dimensions.
I’ve only heard Totems at shows; they are certainly no slouch either. 
So if both are excellent speakers, and both are rated at 88db efficiency by their maker, it comes down to how you listen...
The Gold i will undoubtedly play louder with less strain than the Sky due to it’s much larger cabinet and driver complement. If that’s important, make it a consideration. Same thing with room size; bigger rooms usually like bigger speakers.
The C372 seems to have enough power to drive either speaker- Stereophile’s review measurements indicate it does put out it’s rated power even into lower ohm loads.
Good luck. 

Room size may be the biggest factor to consider. My apartment is 650 square feet total. The room they are is a considerable portion of that and i thankfully have concrete walls with an air gap for sound deafening, but the Gold(i)s are massive from what I understand and perhaps just outright too big for the apartment all together. Still I'm going to have to at least give them a chance given the price difference. Thank you for your input sir.

Gold is old and Sky was better in first place .

Do you have any personal experience with either speaker Schubert? Also with a name like that I'd expect you to put a little less emphasis on something's age as a determining factor of quality.

For anyone interested I actually ended up picking up the Gold(i)s (only 880$ CAD - they did get ambushed by a cat but the damage is barely noticeable.) and will be comparing the two towers over the next few weeks before i eventually sell the Gold(i)s, simply because at about 4x the size of the Totem Sky's they are too gargantuan for my apartment.

Well my first impressions are a little bit different than I would have Predicted. My assumption was that The PSBs would not hold a candle the musical accuracy of the Totem SKys...I may be wrong about that.

On a couple recordings I heard details coming through the PSBs such as shimmering tambourines and maracas that I could barely notice with the Totem Skys, and that to be was an incredible surprise. The PSBs also bring a substantially deeper bass range to the table although that was to be expected given the immense size difference, and the 3 way system for PSB using a 10 inch woofer.

I am not ready top call it yet as it's still early in the game and there's also a factor of having a really tough time trying to find good position to test these...The PSBs are too massive to move around often and the Skys are stuck sitting on the outside, too far away from the wall to be considered good placement. Still i can't see that making the differencd when it comes to detail in the higher register such as the tambourine and maracas mentioned earlier.

I am very surprised by the results so far. Will keep updates coming, and hope to hear from some others and their experiences with either the Skys or the Goldis

Please update us as you enjoy music through both speakers. So much in this hobby/obsession is confounding and unexpected. I am a textbook example of 40 years of dashed expectations, so tread carefully, and emphasize the purchase of music you love over the equipment you covet. 

Yes I do . Both .

I recently bought a pair of PSB Goldis for $750. I’m very impressed with these speakers. My father also bought a pair of Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde which he paid $10,000 for. Listening to both setups I would say neutrality and instrumental tonality as well as detail are almost identical. The Audiovector’s sound stage was more refined as was my overall impression between the two, however the Goldi were more engaging. The bass response and sheer presence makes the Golds more involving. I did enjoy the refinement of the Audiovectors but for money, the PSB’s cannot be beat, not even close. My overall opinion is that the PSB’s may fall slightly short to many much more expensive speakers on the market but not by much. When it comes to value, the PSB’s are incredible. I believe the reason for this value is the fact that Paul Barton manufactured these speakers for over 10 years so there is still plenty of supply on the market, as well, they have rather bland and outdated look about them. The PSB’s prove that you don’t have to break the bank with the latest and greatest speaker design. I’ll be keeping them for a while. 

If you don't mind me jumping in here, I am the owner of Eminent Technology LFT8bs.  Great speaker but they are incompatible with my quicksilver M60 amps.  My tech whose opinion I greatly respect swears by the Golds and told me to seek out a pair at all costs - said the bass response is better than any subwoofer system he has ever heard. The original gold was reputedly better than the goldi, and there are a few i's  for sale near me - no original golds -so I telephoned psb last week and they told me there is no difference in sound quality at all - just the cabinet and crossover difference. Wondering if any of you have compared the two. 

I have compared the two- unfortunately in different rooms- mine, and my friend’s living rooms. They both sound great, and honestly, when I had my original Golds, I probably did not feed them amplification as well as they deserved. My friend’s Gold i version, in my opinion, sound better probably because of better electronics. Neither is a slouch, I’d snatch up either if available. They kick ass.

They do indeed kick ass. I’m feeding them 300 watts. They do everything really well. The only thing that could make them better and able to compete with a $20,000 pair of speakers is for the highs to be a little more airy. I’ve been able to achieve clearer detailed highs by using silver ribboned speaker cables and also a silver ribbon power cable to my amp. In my opinion, silver cables tend to add more details to the highs. The bass and mids are already phenomenal with these speakers. When you’re able to put them in front of a really transparent system, you’ve got a match made in heaven. You should definitely pick up a pair. 

Thanks. Are you familiar with my speakers - the eminent technology LFT8bs?  If  do purchase these I hope they are an improvement over those. I was also considering perhaps speakers such as Salk or Fritz.  Since I would be purchasing them without hearing them with my electronics I would like to hear from those that have compared these to as many other speakers as possible.    

I appologize for taking a year long hiatus from the forums. I completely forgot I made an account here. Just in case anyone was still interested at all here's my two cents.

 I've been living with the Stratus Gold(i)s as my mains in my dedicated 2 channel system since this discussion and I can't be happier. I'm still also impressed with the skys and how they can offer some competition in many respects but it's clear that the PSB Gold(i)s are a cut above and for the record I have heard from my dealer and other Gold owners that there isn't any sonic differences between the two designs. I've been in contact with PSB for a few things and they said the only difference with the design is it made wives cringe a little bit less due to being slimmer haha.

In terms of it's performance as it relates to the sky, to put it simply and cut to the chase they're completely different speakers. The PSB takes what I feel is a modern approach to pure clarity and detail. Accurate, clean, articulate. Absolutely no compromises when it comes to presentation in the most life like way and this comes down to even things like the mid range driver being up high giving mid ranges than larger than life feeling they are being imaged by drivers with space between them. A clear winner if you're looking for large scale presentation. 

To put it bluntly, the PSB Golds will rock you with a sound that seems as big as what you're actually hearing. This is probably mostly due to the 10inch woofer being involved in the low mid range as well. Having a pair of those bad boys in stereo is also the reason why these towers do not need any help from a sub unless you are literally trying to get sub 20Hz frequencies. With a -3db response curve at 31 Hz (as stated by PSB) These things deliver a bass experience that can shake the house given the right media. Fans of electronic music, modern 5 string bass players or synth bass rejoice.

As for the totem skys. As I said a completely different speaker made with different goals, and it knocks every one of those goals out the park and them some IMO.To get it out of the way, no they aren't a "better" speaker than the PSB Golds. If you can find a pair, and size is no constraint go for the Golds, but let's not discount the skys.

If size IS a factor, then IMO you'll be hard pressed to find a tower smaller that will deliver anywhere near as massive an experience as the totem sky. Again, it is a different beast with a totally different character. Rather than pure accuracy and crystal clear detail the totem has a slightly more vintage vibe... a papery quality if you will. That's not to say it isn't accurate and detailed in it's own respect. The sky shines light on plenty of wonderful information such as the airy tone in horns played softly and subtleties in singing voices, the nuance bite of a stringed instrument, and even the gritty low end tones of bass players whether acoustic or electric.

One cannot say these speakers are "colourless" rather these speakers are crafted and aimed at certain material IMO. They are an absolutely thrill to listen to when it comes to intimate music such as chamber music for strings, vocal recordings or acoustic recordings of any kind really. They do surprisingly well at presenting certain large scale media as well like classical orchestra, big band swing music and jazz of all eras. I listen to mostly funk/jazz/R & B fusions and I find the skys do an excellent job at bringing out all the wonderful tones and timbres of all the different instruments involved like percussion, horns, strings, vocals, basses, guitars, you name it.

Where I would suggest someone look elsewhere is if you are trying to get that lifelike presentation of a large PA system type of sound like you would find at a massive concert or even a bar gig if it's a Rock cover group (LMAO but true)...essentially I would say the easiest way to see it is if the music you love and the experience you generally want to recreate comes from Large 15 inch or Bigger PA systems or Huge Stacks of 3000W amps on 20 inch cabinets for just the lead guitar player then you'll probably want to look somewhere else to get that feeling... you'll get that from the PSB Golds.

That is not to say these speakers CAN'T present rock or other similar louder than loud genres well enough to enjoy but certainly that is not the intention of the totem sky. That being said if you are buying speaker specific to acoustic recordings I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a better option at the skys price point, regardless of size.

Considering size...if that is a concern for you.. that is REALLY where the skys are mind blowing. Time and time again I find myself turning back at the skys jaw dropped saying " No way, that low bass just came from THOSE towers!? Amazing!" and I'm not exaggerating I've literally said that to myself and at least once out loud in my own apartment. Admittedly they do not handle down to 36 Hz (the claimed range on totems website) with a response curve as flat as the PSBs but they still support the music with plenty of low end. It's downright phenomenal and outright surprising at times and I do listen to deep bass music to be clear. 

Tracks like:
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo - Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
In too Deep (feat Kiana Ledé) - Jacob Collier
Lift Off (feat. Rocco Palladino) - Tom Misch

all exhibit excellent deep bass that would only leave you disappointed if you're comparing things to something like the PSB Golds who reveal that the sky towers gradually roll off in bass slowly before finding their limits at around the 36 Hz. However they maintain excellent clarity and great control all the way down to that limit and bring in enough low end to make it seem full, present and supportive to the music. In no way do I feel like I'm really missing out on bass when listening to the skys with no sub.... but I won't say there's nothing to gained by pairing them with a good sub.

So In conclusion, both speakers warrant praise for achieving what I feel are different goals for each pairs design. Either pair isn't going to be a bad choice but one can be a better choice depending mostly on A. the size you can accommodate and B. The media you consume.

I live in Southern California, and if anyone is interested in a "close to mint as a 25 year old can be", pair of PSB Golds, reach out to me. I am the original and only owner and they are in black ash. The tweeters were sent to Paul at PSB around five years ago for a check up, and they have been boxed and in storage ever since. And yes, they are as great as all have stated!