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Would Totem Arro's be a significant upgrade from Kef Q150's

My listening room is on the long/narrow side 8' x 18' x 8' high. Therefore I listen in the nearfield, speakers (Kef Q150's) are 5' apart and myself 7' away from them. I very much enjoy the sound I'm getting from them. My setup is Yamaha A-S501 with chromecast audio going into the optical input, streaming Spotify premium. My speakers are 2' away from the rear wall and I find the bass is plentiful that I don't use a sub woofer. I have the opportunity to purchase a pair of used Totem Arro's which would work in my room as far as tower speakers are concerned. I am quite happy with the sound I'm hearing now, but if this would be a significant improvement I would purchase the Arro's and sell my Kef's. Type of music I listen to is a lot of acoustical, alternative/indie, a little classic rock.  
hagarthehorrible

Showing 3 responses by deep_333

deep_333
1,758 posts
 

Actually, @deep_333 , if I am reading the product description correctly, at $2200 a pair (?) they would be half the price of the M126be’s.

On edit: oops, I guess not, apparently that wasn't the pair price after all.

What??? That lil Revel Lackluster-Be was 4400 per pair?????? (facepalm)Thought it was 2200/pair. Harman PhD appears to have robbed you @immatthewj  He is still paying back his student loans w/interest maybe.

That tekton epic 15 is $2200/pair, shipping included and will beat the living daylights out of Lackluster-Be. 

Good luck.

 

deep_333
1,758 posts
 

@grislybutter , to begin with I thought I liked them, but now I am kind of feeling they may have actually been a lateral move. Not that I don’t think they sound good, just that maybe what I really wanted ("tell me what you want, what you really really want") was different. Horns maybe, or maybe the concentric driver thing. Second guessing myself has always been a curse for me.

Ah, the lackluster nature of the Revel (flair-less harman measurement phd’s safe CYA baby) has tormented good ol’ Matthew, it appears.

Try this, it’s like a hybrid of a horn and a concentric driver, a good attempt by a fairly eccentric guy at nullifying the cons of both...hard to beat for the price.

https://tektondesign.com/product/full-range-speakers/full-towers/epic-15/#color

(same price as the li’l Revel Lackluster-Be too, how does that add up? eh?? break it in for a few days. Send it back in 60 days if it didn’t stop the second guessing.)

 

 

 

deep_333
1,758 posts
 

Yes, i have heard both the floorstander and your bookshelf in that Revel Be series.

Get the ’upgrade package’ with the mundorf/clarity caps, binding post, etc as it is a sonic improvement. If you bought such things separately as a diy-er, it would cost you as much @immatthewj . You’d be hard pressed to find a company that operates on as much a razor thin margin as this one in this world of audiophilia.

Ignore the grill (a sonic detriment, especially with this mid array) unless you have a dog or kid waiting to destroy the speaker any minute. Ignore the high gloss and biwire. If one of the default paints don’t work, they give you a custom color option for an extra 50, i.e. as long as you nail the correct color for your room’s decor, you should be good.

I guess it is safe to assume that you have done a direct comparison between the M126be and the Epic 15, @deep_333 ? I guess I’d probably pop $100 for the grilles, $75 for biwireable, and I wonder what the $210 upgrade package is? I would probably have to look into that. I would not spend 1k for the high gloss option. I suppose that is part of the price of the Revels, because I do think that they are gorgeous, but I was and am more interested in spending $ on sonic technology.

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