If I were you I wouldn't want to know which was preferred by most people. I would want to know which was preferred by me.
That pretty much means listening before you buy. But if you can't do that, you have to 1) try to find out how others describe the sound, and what gear they use the speaker with, 2) be ready to resell the first one and try the second if the first doesn't work out. The straw poll you're asking for won't be of much use.
I hope some folks who have actual experience of these units to share will help you out. I have heard lots of other Paradigms and Totems, and if I had to choose by that alone, I suppose I would go for the Totems. The Totems I've heard were IMHO better balanced in the mids, and more refined-sounding than what I've heard of Paradigms.
That pretty much means listening before you buy. But if you can't do that, you have to 1) try to find out how others describe the sound, and what gear they use the speaker with, 2) be ready to resell the first one and try the second if the first doesn't work out. The straw poll you're asking for won't be of much use.
I hope some folks who have actual experience of these units to share will help you out. I have heard lots of other Paradigms and Totems, and if I had to choose by that alone, I suppose I would go for the Totems. The Totems I've heard were IMHO better balanced in the mids, and more refined-sounding than what I've heard of Paradigms.