What to upgrade from Totem Forrest?


Dear all,
It's been almost 9 years and I am tempted to upgrade my speaker. It's Totem Forest while it's a good speaker but I think it's a bit warm for my system which consists of: Sony XA-9000ES, TW Acustic 0.5 with Lyra Delos, and Lavardin amp.

My room is relatively small i.e. 4.5 X 5 meter.

Any advice on what to upgrade? budget is expected below 10k, I am looking for a natural and transparent but I don't expect to get electrostat though.

Thanks in advance for the advice
gondo101
Just did some googling and found one review at 6moons, Lavardin designer has created loudspeaker branded as Le Contoure.
However, from the review sems that the combination of Lavardin and Le Contoure created a bit warm sound that might be the desirable sound signature of its designer :( (which actually I want to avoid).

Any experience on Le Contoure speaker esp. Combined with Lavardin?
I would consider upgrading everything except the analog front end. Your room is not really small and your budget can be pretty good to get a great sound.
Forests are a terrific speaker, I ran them with 200w of solid state very happily. I upgraded to Kharma and was surprised how much more the Kharma's had to offer, quite a bit more expensive and a good deal more speaker. S/h mine would likely be in reach, 3.2s are said to be good but don't offer the bass depth 2.3s are capable of. I had a friends Lavardin IS in my system and it did a great job, didn't offer up anything like what my amps can but drove them easily enough and I'd guess an IT might work very well indeed.
Forrests are unique speakers that can show advantages with any kind of amplification from mid-powered tube amps to high-powered SS amps. Stable 8Ohm impedance makes it drivable by any amp. Transperency, clarity tone or speed, control and punch is up to you to decide.
I've swapped them for Aerial 10T and paid almost nothing for that fantastic upgrade. Aerial 10t need minimum 250Wpc.
Lavardin is a really nice amp, but I don't think you're getting the most out of the Forests with it. I'm not a loud listener, but I've found the Forests need like 100 watts plus to open up. What to buy? That's another question. Perhaps a Supernait. Under 100 wpc, but otherwise gutsy. Simaudion also works well with Totem, although you don't want to lose your Lavardin tonality. Tough one. Your CD player could also use some updating IMO. Maybe that EE Minimax dac everyone is raving about? If you want to keep the Lavardin and dump the Forests, IMO, the Harbeth SHL5 would match well with the amp you have. I think you would have just a lovely pairing.