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

I think any 2-way small-ish speakers will have limitations. I have been successful with subs and lucked out with speakers and I know it’s very personal, so the more I know the more I would keep my mouth shut. But if I couldn’t I would suggest that you are a British speaker person.

@grislybutter , I wanted to give some thought prior to typing a reply.

It is not that I do not LIKE the Revels, and it is not that I don’t think that they are BETTER sounding than the nearly 30 year old B&W 805s that they replaced. (Sorry, I guess that sentence was kind of a double negative which might be confusing if read quickly.)

I guess what it is, is that now they don’t sound that MUCH better to me than the B&Ws and I was hoping I would like them a lot more.

I felt that the ancient B&Ws were the weak link in my system and I was hoping that technology that was almost 30 years newer and hadn’t been run real hard and put away wet for many years over would simply blow them away, and that is not the way I now feel about them.

What they do that I like is that vocals sound more palpable between the speakers than with the B&Ws. Sometimes the B&Ws were sounding worn out and tired to me and the Revels do not sound that way. With the lights off the Revels do present the illusion of sound that is bigger than the room (the speakers and the walls "disappear") and they do not sound strained doing it. But the B&Ws did that. I guess I don’t know what a "slow" speaker sounds like, or at least if I do, it’s been many years since I’ve had a pair in my system, but with fast source material the Revels "sound fast" (to me) and they don’t sound strained doing it; but the B&Ws also "sound fast" to me with source material that goes fast, and they (the B&Ws) also did not sound strained.

I have to take into consideration hearing loss and my ever changing moods and the deficiencies in the listening environment my system is now living in, but really, in hind sight, I think what maybe I was looking for was something DIFFERENT than the B&Ws, and the Revels are probably really not different as far as principle of function. (And by that I mean as opposed to concentric drivers or horns or AMT tweeters or what have you.)

And I cannot honestly say I have been doing a whole lot of serious listening lately, and I guess I really need to start doing more of that versus lusting over a different speaker I don’t (yet) have. I do not claim to be a poster child for good mental health, and I am sure that this has an effect on why things sound one way to me one day and another way on another day.

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

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.

@decooney , did you ever drive the Totems with your V12?

@immatthewj decooney,, did you ever drive the Totems with your V12?

Yes. Apologize for the long answer. It was a pivotal point for me about "speakers" at the time, fwiw. Yes, Cary V12R tube amp. Cary SLI-80 tube amp. And, Cary SA-200.2 solid state amp, all around the same time. Also had a few loaner tube amps at the same time just to make sure I was making well rounded comparisons. Also had a few other manufacturer demo speakers I was asked to evaluate at the time, along with additional pairs I was testing with audio and home theater at the same time too. All the sudden I was rotating in every amp and speaker I could get my hands on to compare to. Some of this was a bit discouraging because I really wanted to keep my mighty Totems.

The 4-ohm 87db Totems did their best with the more powerful SS amp at the time. Sure, they’d play on the tube amps, but a more subdued result, when compared to the big 87lb SS amp was 350wpc at 4ohms. This was a good comparison lesson.

I later compared all amps again with my custom designed and built 92.5db 4ohm speakers which did very well, and notably better at low volume level listening.

Disclaimer: I do a lot of low volume level listening comparison testing too. This might be a bit "unfair" to some folks who just say "turn up the volume a little more". Dont ask why, but I seem to prefer lower 90-93db more responsive speakers at lower volume levels. Just something I prefer. And, I did NOT get a chance to try any of the later model 8-ohm or minimalist crossover-less speakers that Totem started making that were "supposed" to be more tube amp friendly. I had moved on by then, fwiw. This reconfirmed for me what good or better speaker matching was about, and for me always seems to be a chore.

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.