Totem Acoustic Forest Signatures

Short reply in brief:

FORESTs demand a lot of “grunt” to permit them to perform at their max.that means high- current and lotsa amps delivery. WPC specs by themselves mean nothing.

(1) pair them with high-current, high-end , solid-state amp only

(2) Do not pair them with tube amps

I owned TOTOTEM FORESTs before in a prior system . I simultaneously owned their ARROs, so I know their strengths and warts very well.

With the FORESTs, I had to upgrade the amp to a S/S bi-amped rig ( not bi-wire) with a high-end integrated amp paired with a matched spec stablemate power amp, just to get them to perform at their true max potential.

my BFF amigo audio friend borrowed them to test-drive them in his top strata high-end CARY tube amp system . In brief: just plain yuk! Comparatively, they were flat and lifeless until he pushed the volume knob to a 2 o’clock position on the volume knob . At which point they were quickly irritating, and predicating a dial-back to a listenable level. But alas, back to no dynamics, flat, et al and a poor match for a low(er) level listening

Choose wisely.

@scthom

Think MOON by SIMAUDIO . I had FORESTS in a prior system so I know their strengths and their warts very well. They are hungry power hogs that need a lot of current (amps) to get them to open up fully. WPC are meaningless… it’s necessary grunt provided  by amps. I bi-amped mine in mine to get to their max audio performance.

TOTEM and SIMAUDIO are both resident in Montreal, and use each others units to voice their products. TOTEM frequently uses them at the audio shows,

TOTEM even had their now discontinued AMBER model (pic above) about a decade+ ago, which was their own hefty beast integrated amp, that the ideal TOTEM drive partner in its time. It was a joint venture by TOTEM with SIMAUDIO, based on the SIMAUDIO platform, that was modded to TOTEM specs

Highly recommended.