Totem Forest Speakers.....

To do list for Matt00:

Treat room with natural diffraction and sound damping materials i.e.., soft furniture, drapes or wall hangings, plants, wood furniture, carpet etc..

Get MIT cabling and power cords.

Put 2 to 4 inch blocks of wood under your components.

Use about 1/2 lb brass weight on top of you 400xi.

Get a Sony XA5400ES for $1099 street price.

Play music for a few hundred hours.

Be happy for the rest of your life:O)

OR...Listen to an endless list of well intentioned advice from people who think they know what they are talking about.

I have owned your equipment in various settings and have spent the time and money to determine what works and what doesn't. The 400xi is warm, sweet, extended and dynamic. The Forests are dynamic, bold, extended and detailed. The Sony offers state of the art playback for RB and SACD's at an extremely attractive price plus it has XLR outputs to take advantage of the Krell's prefered input connection. The MIT cabling and PC's will allow all of it to come alive in an organic and natural manner. Anyone who tells you anything different is full of ...well, you get the idea.

Sincerely,
Dave

Hi :Try to use tube amp.I using tube butter.Make my forest run much better.Also try to use better cables.

My Hawks' sound lack imaging and presence when they're just a foot from the wall. When there are no kids around to knock them over, I bring them out over 2 feet from the wall and it makes a HUGE difference. Accurate bass turns into real bass. The band and the singer set up around the room and I hang out with them. I have them a bit more than five feet apart. I'm still working with my set-up (it's in its infancy), but this one thing I've learned. And, like Dgaylin, no grills.

Your perception of the sound not filling up the room and sounds flat can be due to the room. As advised by some folks, some natural diffusion material such as RPG omniffusors can work wonders in your small listening space. I would look at improving the room acoustics first before working on the amp. If the system still sounds flat after room treatments then you might want to look at other amps that are more musical and able to give some midrange bloom or warmth. The KAV-400XI although extended and dynamic can sound a little clinical and lack some organic qualities some other amps possess.

You won't get any speaker to perform optimally in a room like that. There lies your problem.......

Shakey