Totem Forest or Mani-2 signature?


I am looking for a pair of Totem speakers that will work well with Bel Canto Ref1000 monoblocks.

So far I have only auditioned the Forest and Staff (with the Ref1000 too) but have not had a chance to try the Mani-2.

For those Totem owners out there, could you give me some suggestions? as how they compare and stuff... Thanks!
metronet

Showing 2 responses by bdgregory

I'm envious Rumadian, I wish I still had my Sttafs - I sold them when I bought my Manis.

. . . a few comments about the placement/and supporting gear comments above. I agree that Sttaf's can really be great if you dial them, but in my experience they're not at all hard to get placed and driven to sound wonderful. As long as they're not placed against the wall, they will be fantastic regardless. But if you take care in placement and complementary gear they keep getting better. After I bought my Mani-2s I ran the Sttafs in a thrown together system using a 18 w/c vintage fisher tube integrated (X202) and a cheap cd player. Everyone who heard them was amazed.

I also agree, the Sttafs don't need a lot of power, but can be better if they do. Mani's need a lot of power, but you'd be amazed how they sound with a 35 w/c Tube amp.
I drove my Mani's with a TAD 60 in triode mode - rated at 30 watts. They sounded wonderful, but were capable of only modest volume. This worked great for acoustic music - Jazz, Chamber, etc. Not a rock and roll set up though.