Totem Arro Replacement

Motokokusanagi,  I’ve had around 10 different pairs of speakers in the past year and a half in this same listening room with the same equipment.  Those Contours were the most bass heavy speaker I had in this room and I’ve had Dynaudio Xeo 6’s and Infinity betas (2 10” woofers in each speaker) and neither of those overwhelmed with bass.  My room is about halfway treated.  I have Gik bass traps.  I’ve got 6 244 panels, 3 monster bass traps and then 3 panels that really only tame slap echo.  My set-up is straightforward.  Anthem I225 amp, bluesound node 2i.  Analysis Plus Oval 8 speaker cables (love ‘em), audioquest diamond hyperlitz rca’s, cullen crossover series power cable, porter port outlet.  No concerns regarding placement as this is a secondary bedroom that I made my dedicated room.  I have always pulled my speakers out really far from the walls.  I prioritize imaging and a clean sound over having fuller bass and not such a good soundstage (which is what I experience whenever I have my speakers closer than about 2 feet to any wall).  

Interestingly, The Arros have the best bass response in my listening room that I’ve had.  The cabinets are sealed off from the lower section.  The cabinets are reinforced as well and are pretty solid.  The bottom half is full of sand.

@erik_squires I was almost certain that you were going to recommend a speaker kit!  My hesitation with that right now would be that my setup would be down until I finished them and I am doing too much listening right now.

As far as Fritz, yes they look awesome.  Fritz and Salk have been the 2 smaller boutique brands that have been interesting me lately.  The only problem is my budget is tight right now with me being out of work.  I only have around $650 or $700 to spend at the moment.

With all that in mind, do I stay put and save more money?  Or do I switch to Ventos, Rainmakers, Sierra 1’s, Monitor Audio Silver 6?

The hardest part about this for me is that I like the sound signature of the Arros, I just want more volume and dynamics, not a different sound really.  I actually prefer the sound of the Arros over quite a few other speakers that I’ve recently had...

@motokokusanagi, 
I’m familiar with Atc and actuslly had some Scm7 v3 that were downright amazing; the only thing was bass output again.  There were certain songs where the kickdrum would overload that 5” driver.  I was hearing breakup / distortion on just the kickdrums on certain songs and at a very moderate level. I thought the drivers had been damaged but after e-mailing atc, their response was that I was just over driving the speakers.  But oh my gosh, I loved those speakers as well.  I was so in love with ATC’s sound that I have considered moving up to the SCM11, but I’d want to be certain that I wouldn’t have the same issue with fhe 11’s that I had with the 7’s.  I’m not a bass head but I do listen at higher volumes every once in awhile.

Anyhow, good advice and maybe I should just hold tight until I can spend $1k-$1.5k rather than going through a bunch of effort to make a lateral move right now.

Maybe I’ll just buy an upgraded power cord for the bluesound and another porter port for the time being.


@dave_b , thanks for the input!  Its good to know where you go after Totem speakers, not that they are an end all by any means.  I’ve been hearing about those JBL’s here on Audiogon quite a bit, enjoy!

@erik_squires , I think kits are a great way to get some really nice components for less than you’d pay buying new.  I’m going to build one someday soon I hope. I’d like to have a kit in addition to speakers already in my listening room so that way I can take my time with a kit.  I repaired and painted some Kef Qx5’s last summer and the paint job was a bear.  It took 2 weeks to complete all the prep, painting, sanding, etc but they turned out amazing.  Zero orange peel.  I’m a bit ocd when it comes to paint due to me detailing cars as a hobby.

@soix , Im in Colorado, so thats too far away.  I actually saw those yesterday.  Im not really familiar with the different models of Thiel but they have always caught my attention.  They come up used on my local c-list from time to time.  Thiels seem to get good reviews.  I like the fact that they are time and phase coherent!

Anyhow, I think I’m just going to hang tight until I can save up more money and buy something like ATC, Fritz, or Salk.  I’m trying to get some nice drivers and a nice finish so $1200-$1500 might be more realistic.

I’ve got great taste, just no money, LoL.